Reliable and Easy to Use
In all installations, 3M™ ACCR delivers superior performance consistent with design requirements.
With 3M ACCR, you make no compromises on your design, operating or installation standards. You can operate 3M ACCR at 210° C while using the same design standards as ACSR and getting the capacity increase you need and can rely on for decades, even after continuous high temperature operation.
Reliable Performance
Easy To Use
Industry Validation
Quality Control
Accessories
Field Installations
Upgrade With Confidence
Reliable Performance
3M™ ACCR was developed with a focus on reliability, from the choice of chemically compatible, corrosion-resistant materials used in the conductor, to the strength provided by a multi-strand core surrounded by full strength aluminum zirconium, to a thorough testing regimen.
- First, the core of the conductor is a metal-based, inorganic material. The core is thermo-chemically stable at temperatures that are significantly higher than the operating or emergency temperature of the conductor, 210° C continuous, 240°C emergency.
- Second, the conductor is durable, with a life expectancy of 40 years or more, even after operating at high temperatures.
- Third, 3M ACCR is corrosion resistant. There is virtually no galvanic coupling between the core and the stranded aluminum wires, which would otherwise result in corrosion. No protective coatings are required for the core, unlike steel cores that require galvanized coatings or carbon fiber polymers that require a glass barrier.
- Fourth, the composition is unaffected by ultraviolet light or humidity and retains strength after long-term exposure to both.
- Fifth, the use of all aluminum-based materials results in a partition of mechanical and electrical load between the core and the outer aluminum, which offers additional safety.
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Easy To Use
3M ACCR was designed specifically to use installation hardware and procedures very similar to those for ACSR. Because it uses hardened aluminum outer wires and has a high modulus, it is less prone to bird caging during installation than conductors such as ACSS and ACCC that use annealed aluminum. And the stranded core construction and available round or trapezoidal outer wire construction are familiar to installers.
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Industry Validation
3M is recognized within the industry for establishing an understanding of high temperature conductor behavior and validation of this critical aspect of performance. 3M ACCR was developed and tested over a number of years by a 3M-led team of industrial companies, independent test laboratories, and utilities with a focus on reliability. This includes key measurements in the laboratory of high temperature creep and other key conductor properties, validated against performance at an outdoor test facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as various field installations.
3M’s expertise in understanding and qualifying new conductors has been recognized in the U.S., where we are serving as the chair of the IEEE task force to develop guidelines to qualify this class of conductors. You can also rely on 3M's well-established reputation and credibility as one of the most innovative corporations in the world across its numerous businesses.
Field & Lab Tests
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Quality Control
3M ACCR is manufactured using the same systems approach to quality that has proven successful throughout 3M. Each process step is monitored, controlled and tested to ensure the highest quality while meeting or exceeding all customer specifications.
3M methodology includes Six Sigma, continuous improvement, and real time control charting. These continuous checks and balances build on each other throughout the manufacturing process to ensure a finished product in which you can have complete confidence.
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Accessories
To build confidence in performance, 3M and its team undertook a thorough series of tests on a variety of accessories. Terminations (also called dead-ends), joints (also called mid-span splices or full-tension splices/joints), suspensions, jumper connections, and dampers are commercially available from 3M or directly from Preformed Line Products, which provides helical-rod hardware, and from ACA Conductor Accessories, which provides compression hardware. All hardware is rated for high-temperature operation. Only accessories tested and approved for high temperature operation are to be used with 3M ACCR.
Accessories
Installation Guide
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Field Installations
3M ACCR is installed and operational on a number of critical utility sites. These include installation sites where 3M ACCR has been used to interconnect different types of generation, such as combined cycle generators and hydro-electric dams, to the transmission network, as well as installations in which 3M ACCR is the primary path to serve rapidly growing urban areas, including downtown businesses and municipal facilities (airports, sports arenas, etc.). It has also been installed in areas with harsh environments to give you confidence it will perform in extreme circumstances. Figure 1 lists some of these installations.
| Utilities and Sites Where 3M ACCR Is Being Used |
Application |
Operating Since |
| Xcel Energy |
Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Installation procedure validation |
2001 |
| Hawaiian Electric Company |
Oahu, Hawaii |
Corrosive environment |
2002 |
| Western Area Power Administration |
Fargo, North Dakota |
Heavy ice and wind loads |
2002 |
| Bonneville Power Administration |
Washington State |
High temperature operation |
2004 |
| Western Area Power Administration |
Phoenix, Arizona |
Installation validation |
2004 |
| Salt River Project |
Phoenix, Arizona |
High current operation |
2004 |
| Pacific Gas & Electric |
Santa Clara, California |
High temperature operation |
2005 |
| San Diego Gas & Electric |
San Diego, California |
EPRI test |
2005 |
| Xcel Energy |
Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Environmentally sensitive area and river crossing |
2005 |
| Arizona Public Service |
Phoenix, Arizona |
Dense population and underbuilds |
2006 |
| Western Area Power Administration |
Arizona/California Border |
High growth |
2007 |
| Aha Macav Power Services |
Needles, California |
Increased reliability |
2007 |
| Platte River Power Authority |
Fort Collins, Colorado |
Increased reliability |
2007 |
| Shanghai Electric |
Shanghai, China |
Cost and time savings |
2007 |
Customer Installations
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Upgrade With Confidence
3M™ ACCR is operating in many commercial installations, including extreme environmental and operating conditions on critical lines. In all cases, 3M ACCR has consistently delivered outstanding performance consistent with design requirements.
Ensure a successful project with:
- A line of 3M ACCR conductors in a variety of standard sizes and constructions (See Product Data & Design Guides)
- A reliable solution that has successfully undergone stringent and thorough testing and is in operation in critical commercial applications supplying power to major cities; (See Field & Lab Tests and Customer Installations)
- Installation procedures similar to those used for conventional ACSR, minimizing installation-related outages and disruptions; (See Installation Guide)
- A full set of accessories that are similar to conventional accessories but designed for high-temperature operation; (See Accessories)
- A knowledgeable and dedicated team that understands overhead transmission and has broad experience on the subject, including materials science, conductor mechanics and behavior, accessories, and transmission line design and installation; (See Get Started)
- The benefits of 3M’s global technological resources, which have been proven in the world’s most demanding marketplaces.
Enjoy the peace of mind of a technology backed by the technical, financial and manufacturing resources of 3M.
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