Wear-resistant plastic e-chain® under high acid load in indoor cranes

e-chain® and plastic trough made of chemically resistant plastic have been in operation for years

Along the pretreatment line of a hot dip galvanizing plant, conditions are difficult: workpieces have to first be cleaned in diluted hydrochloric acid to ensure that they are as clean as possible. As a result, the hydrogen chloride content of the air along the pretreatment line is around 2 percent. This means that the indoor crane and the components on to it are subjected to exceptional acid exposure. Plastic energy chain systems have been proving their worth in the energy supply to the process cranes at Wiegel for several years. They move in plastic troughs made of the chemically resistant material igumid® EG+, which enables the system to easily cope with the aggressive conditions.

Profile

What was needed: energy chain system E4/4 including guide trough
Requirements: due to a high hydrogen chloride content in the air of the pretreatment line of approx. 2 percent, all components in the plant are exposed to a high acid load. A wear-resistant solution needed to be found for it.
Industry: crane
Success for the customer: the chemical-resistant material igumid EG+ ensures high resistance despite the high hydrogen chloride content. The material also has very low water absorption, which enables increased resistance to aggressive chemicals.

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Problem

In the past, cable festoon systems were used in the pretreatment line of Wiegel's hot dip galvanizing plants. Cables and hoses were suspended and moved on small trolleys. A disadvantage of this technology, however, is that at the end of the travel, a cable station takes up a lot of space. For this reason, the space of the pretreatment line cannot be completely sealed off. The rollers of the cable trolleys also fail after some time, because the C-profiles in which they are guided become corroded and sharp-edged due to the acid exposure. As a result, the rollers quickly wear out.

Solution

The project management of the technology department at Wiegel Verwaltung GmbH & Co KG decided at this point in favor of polymer e-chains® from our product portfolio, which offered the customer two advantages above all: a tight-sealing solution for the area of material preparation, which was previously not the case with a festoon system, as well as high wear resistance.
The first energy chain was used in a Wiegel plant in 2015. The next application followed a year later, where we supplied both the E4/4 series energy chain and the new plastic trough made of the chemical-resistant material igumid® EG+. This ensures a high resistance to chemicals, so that the use of the guide trough is ideal for use in hot dip galvanizing or, for example, fertilizer production. The igumid® EG+ is characterized by very low water absorption. This offers increased resistance to aggressive chemicals. The material can be used in a temperature range of 0 °C to +100 °C with its clearly optimized sliding properties for the guide trough and also for most series of e-chains. Since both the e-chain and the trough in the complete system consist of the chemically resistant material, they are very good gliding partners.

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Trouble-free in all plants

So far it has become clear that the energy chains from igus are working well and reliably at Wiegel. "The experience gained since 2015 shows that the use of an acid-resistant energy chain in the area of the pretreatment line for energy and signal transmission was the right decision", concludes Ronny Horn, Project Manager at Meissner Krane. "In all factories, the systems have been running trouble-free since their commissioning." And Peter Zorn from Wiegel adds: "The plastic trough was very important to us. Neither 304 nor 316 stainless steel would have withstood these environmental conditions. Equally important to us was the fact that the wall around the pretreatment line can now be completely closed and we also have much less maintenance with the new system." These requirements have so far been fully met. Energy chain systems from igus will also be installed at the next Wiegel plants that will be retrofitting Meissner cranes.

In the pretreatment lines of the galvanizing plants of the Wiegel group, energy chain systems from igus supply the process cranes with energy and data.

Before the actual galvanizing, the workpieces must be pretreated to rid the workpieces of grease, rust and scale.

In the enclosed pretreatment line there is an HCl condensate of about two percent in the air.

A few years ago, Meissner Krane and Wiegel started modernizing the energy supply of the cranes and used energy chain systems.

The side plates of the guide trough are connected by hand and lock without tools. The clamping mechanism especially designed for the system keeps it secure and robust.

The chains move in plastic troughs made of the chemically resistant material igumid EG+, and as a result the system easily copes with the difficult conditions.

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