Preparation of Self-limiting Heating Cables with Excellent Processability, Mechanical Properties and PTC Effect via Thermal and Electrical Treatments

Polymer/conductive filler composites have been widely used for the preparation of self-limiting heating cables with the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) effect. The control of conductive filler distribution and network in polymer matrix is the most critical for performance of PTC materials. In order to compensate for the destruction of the filler network structure caused by strong shearing during processing, an excessive conductive filler content is usually added into the polymer matrix, which in turn sacrifices its processability and mechanical properties. In this work, a facile post-treatment of the as-extruded cable, including thermal and electrical treatment to produce high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/carbon black (CB) cable with excellent PTC effect, is developed. It is found for the as-extruded sample, the strong shearing makes the CB particles disperse uniformly in HDPE matrix, and 25 wt% CB is needed for the formation of conductive paths. For the thermal-treated sample, a gradually aggregated CB filler structure is observed, which leads to the improvement of PTC effect and the notable reduction of CB content to 20 wt%. It is very interesting to see that for the sample with combined thermal and electrical treatment, CB particles are agglomerated and oriented along the electric field direction to create substantial conductive paths, which leads to a further decrease of CB content down to 15 wt%. In this way, self-limiting heating cables with excellent processability, mechanical properties and PTC effect have simultaneously been achieved.

Performance evaluation of two types of heated cables for distributedtemperature sensing-based measurement of soil moisture content

Distributed temperature sensing(DTS)using heated cables has been recently developed for distributed monitoring of in-situ soil moisture content.In this method,the thermal and electrical properties of heated cables have a significant influence on the measurement accuracy of soil moisture content.In this paper,the performances of two heated cables,i.e.the carbon-fiber heated cable(CFHC)and the metalnet heated cable(MNHC),are studied in the laboratory.Their structures,uniformity in the axial direction,measurement accuracy and suitability are evaluated.The test results indicate that the MNHC has a better uniformity in the axial direction than CFHC.Both CFHC and MNHC have high measurement accuracy.The CFHC is more suitable for short-distance measurement(500 m),while the MNHC can be used for longdistance measurement(>500 m).

A distributed measurement method for in-situ soil moisture content by using carbon-fiber heated cable

Moisture content is a fundamental physical index that quantifies soil property and is closely associatedwith the hydrological, ecological and engineering behaviors of soil. To measure in-situ soil moisturecontents, a distributed measurement system for in-situ soil moisture content （SM-DTS） is introduced.The system is based on carbon-fiber heated cable （CFHC） technology that has been developed to enhancethe measuring accuracy of in-situ soil moisture content. Using CFHC technique, a temperature characteristicvalue （Tt） can be defined from temperatureetime curves. A relationship among Tt, soil thermalimpedance coefficient and soil moisture content is then established in laboratory. The feasibility of theSM-DTS technology to provide distributed measurements of in-situ soil moisture content is verifiedthrough field tests. The research reported herein indicates that the proposed SM-DTS is capable ofmeasuring in-situ soil moisture content over long distances and large areas.