Middle East Specialised Cables (MESC) of the UAE put the spotlight on its newly launched Pyro SI fire-resistant cables for fire alarm systems at the Gulf Industry Fair, a premier industrial showcase which was held last month (February 9 to 11) in Bahrain.

The screened, low-smoke halogen-free sheath cables can be used for fire alarm systems, voice alarm systems and emergency lighting for buildings. The cables can operate in temperatures ranging from 30 to 105 deg C and come in two, three and four cores. They meet international specifications such as BS 7629-1, BS 5839-1, BS EN 50200 and BS 6387.

MESC is a leading manufacturer of specialised, instrumentation, data, process control, and industrial cables in the Middle East. Its product range includes various grades of fire-resistant and fire-performance cables.

“MESC’s fire-resistant products have been successfully used by the oil and gas industry since the 1990s. These products are designed so that fire does not spread within the cable runs in a building or industrial facility,” says a company spokesman.

The design incorporates features to ensure that they generate very little smoke or acid gas, thus allowing people to escape a fire and minimise the damage to property and equipment. MESC cables are, therefore, well-suited for large public buildings, allowing evacuation to be carried out in an organised manner in case of a fire-related emergency.

MESC’s area sales manager K V Ramaseshan comments: “MESC is well known in the oil and gas sector but it has now diversified and forayed into the power and construction businesses since it has a large capacity to produce the required cables and a wider approval.”

Its cables are being used in some major projects in its domestic market, including the Sustainable City in Dubai.

“For the project, MESC is supplying its armoured flexible and single core cables and Cat 6 data cables worth more than Dh3 million ($816,782),” says Ramaseshan.

Another current project in Dubai is Mohammad bin Rashid City, where cables measuring a total of 200 km have been supplied by MESC including special flexible and low-smoke halogen-free cables to the tune of Dh2.5 million ($680,652).

In Abu Dhabi, its special rubber flexible cable, CU/EPR/SW4, is being installed on the Neighbourhood One Residences project in Masdar City. These cables have an operating temperature of 150 deg C.

In January, MESC launched a state-of-the-art fire performance laboratory at its UAE factory. The new fire testing facility, an upgrade to the company’s existing UAE factory capabilities, is one of the most modern test laboratories in the world. It allows MESC to conduct rigorous and comprehensive validation of a cable’s resistance to fire and propagation in accordance with various international standards. Tests that can be performed in the new facility include resistance to vertical fire propagation, checks for acid gas emissions, oxygen index, and smoke density.

“The safety of tenants and visitors is a matter of utmost importance within a building. Hence, it is imperative that an effective and robust fire safety system is put in place to prevent the spread of a fire. It is essential that the alarms, emergency lighting, and safety systems continue to function during the fire. With testing of cables to international standards, the chances of a mishap during a fire are greatly reduced,” says Ramaseshan.

MESC’s fire performance cables are independently certified by Underwriters Laboratories, Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB), and other leading standards organisations. MESC works closely with the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA), and UAE Civil Defence authorities to eliminate substandard cables in the UAE that are often a cause of fire breaks.