When you distribute power to equipment using electrical busbars, it is important to seal every penetration in a safe way. As cable and pipe sealing specialists, we have a great track record when it comes to customizing sealing solutions for various busbar entries.
Whether you work with bare copper busbars, light aluminum busbars or epoxy-insulated busbars, or if you are active within power transmission, BESS (battery energy storage systems), data center construction or any other industry, you can turn to us for assistance. With non-conductive materials, we customize mechanical seals to ensure protection – without creating any conductive path or affecting the busbar’s electrical insulation properties. The modular design of our seals is present also in our customized versions, which simplifies installation, inspection, maintenance, and future upgrades.
- Fire protection
- Ingress protection (IP, NEMA ratings)
- Airtightness
- Pest and rodent barrier
Tailor-made, tested and verified busbar seals for electrical safety
We adapt our mechanical seals to the exact dimension of your busbar while maintaining the crucial distance to surrounding conductive materials. Thanks to non-magnetic stainless-steel components, non-conductive polymer materials and our unique Roxylon™ rubber, we minimize the risk of interference with the electrical installation. Roxylon™ has excellent electrical insulation properties and a Comparative Tracking Index (CTI) of 600, which is the highest material classification. You can thereby get a reliable seal for your busbar.
Busbar firestops for your specific requirements
The growing power demand and increasing power density within BESS, hydrogen and data center applications drive the need for high-capacity electrical highways. When you rely on small-footprint busbars instead of large cable bundles, you need to seal them in a similarly area-efficient manner. We are ready to customize solutions that meet specific needs and requirements regardless of environment: it can be for a busbar in an EV battery pack, an E-house, a substation, a hydrogen electrolyzer or a nuclear power plant. It can be a busbar bulkhead penetration, a busbar switchgear entry, or a large isolated-phase busbar linking a turbine generator to a power-plant transformer. The customized solutions are often tested for ingress protection as well as fire performance in various structure types, steel, concrete or sandwich panels in accordance with EN1366 or the IMO FTP Code.
Examples of customized busbar penetration seals
Our customized sealing solutions for busbar entries often combine ingress protection and fire performance with temperature control. Some of our customers have also made sure that their busbar penetration seal solution is certified. See the following examples.
Temperature simulations
Here are some examples of how Roxtec temperature simulations can be presented.
Figure 1: Uninsulated, 25W/(m2K) HF, 5°C ambient temp.
Figure 2: With insulation, 25W/(m2K) HF, 5°C ambient temp.
FAQ
Electrical busbars are conductors that collect and distribute power within an electrical system. They are used instead of large cable bundles for supplying multiple circuits, devices, or loads. A busbar is typically a strip or bar made of copper, aluminum or special alloys for specific environments. A busbar may be bare and insulated by air, or insulated with epoxy, heat-shrink material, or molded insulation. Several busbars can also be fully enclosed in protective metal housings, known as a busway or bus duct.
The key advantages include lower electrical resistance, higher current-carrying capacity, reduced voltage drop, better heat dissipation, simpler maintenance and expansion, more compact installations, greater reliability, and lower fire risk.
It is recommended to use a mechanical seal for a busbar entry. A mechanical sealing solution, like Roxtec, can be manufactured according to the busbars dimensions while maintaining the required separation from surrounding conductive materials. Roxtec Roxylon™ rubber has a Comparative Tracking Index (CTI) of 600, indicating very high resistance to surface tracking in electrically demanding environments. Such a mechanical seal can therefore provide a compact, flexible, and robust interface around the busbar.
Do you want to know more about our sealing solutions for busbar penetrations?
Let us know if you would like some more information, discuss a busbar penetration seal challenge or if you want us to develop a customized mechanical solution for your busbar.
