speedpipe
For optical networks and above all for optical connection technology, there are bundled empty pipes that are laid in the ground and in buildings and into which the optical fibers are later blown. These empty pipes are called speed pipes.
Speedpipes are protective pipes made of polyethylene with a corrugated, highly conductive inner coating. They are supplied in bundled form in a pipe bundle. Several Speedpipes are combined in a larger empty pipe and form a pipe bundle, a Speed Bundle Pipe or a Multitube. If several Speedpipes are located next to each other and connected to each other or are located in a flat empty pipe, this is referred to as a flat liner.
Depending on the diameter of the speedpipes, such a pipe bundle can consist of twenty or more speedpipes. The thin speedpipes into which the glass fibers are blown have a diameter of 3 mm to 20 mm. Depending on the diameter, they are referred to as micro speedpipes or mini speedpipes. They are made of low- pressure polyethylene (HDPE or PE- HD), which is also known as hard polyethylene. It has excellent sliding properties for blowing in the glass fibers. It is also cold-resistant and can be used permanently at temperatures of up to 90 °C. To distinguish the microducts, they are dyed in different colors. In order to keep the resistance during the blowing-in process as low as possible, the inside of the Speedpipe has sliding ribs over which an optimum air cushion is built up during blowing-in. This means that distances of more than one kilometer can be bridged with the blow-in technology.
Speedpipes are often laid in optical connection technology for the various FTTx technologies. For example, in Fiber to the Home( FTTH), the speed pipes are routed to the apartment, in Fiber to the Curb( FTTC) to the street distributor, and in Fiber to the Building( FTTB) to the technical room of the building. The optical fibers are later injected into the speed pipes using compressed air.