Container Crane with Long-Traveling e-chain®

Rol-energy chain reduces drive power by 75%

An igus® cable carrier system with a 1,447 ft (441m) travel is being used for two container cranes at a coal power plant in Malaysia. Coal is unloaded from ships by two large container cranes and transported the 1.2 miles (2 km) to the power station by conveyor belt. The terminal has the largest capacity for unloading bulk goods in South East Asia. The quay of the new terminal is about 2,723 ft (830m) long and 66 ft (20m) deep, so ships as big as the Panamax and Capemax can dock. The container cranes unload the coal at docking stations on a man-made island situated approximately 1.2 miles (2 km) offshore. They can unload up to 1,500 tonnes per hour.

Cable carriers from igus® were selected for the two container cranes at the terminal. They were installed as a fully pre-harnessed readychain® cable carrier system to supply energy and data to the trolley and cabin ride.

Profile

What was needed: Crane operator's cab: E4/4 energy chain (type 4040), load handling device (trolley): Rol-E-Chain 5050R.21/21/21.250.0, chainflex cables, stainless steel guide troughs and housing
Requirements: corrosive environmental conditions, dust generation
Industry: Crane, ship unloader
Success for the customer: complete energy supply solution from a single source, reliable solution for highly corrosive environmental conditions

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Problem

In the town of Lumut in Malaysia, the planned construction of a modern coal-fired power plant for the operator Lekir Bulk Terminal Sdn Bhd. was a major project. The coal for the power plant is delivered by ships, and for further processing, moorings for the cargo ships have been created in an artificially created island about 2 km off the coast, which are served by two large ship unloaders. The ship unloaders each have a travel distance of 441 m and were built by the Koch company in Wadgassen in Saarland. For the energy supply system, the operator was looking for a mature system that could also withstand the local environmental conditions and cope with the high load caused by the continuous operation of the system.

Solution

The operator finally decided on an e-chain system from igus. Today, the crane operator's cab is supplied with a 4040.25.150.0 chain. Due to the high travel speed in combination with the very high filling weight of 41.03 kg/m, a 4-belt chain was used for the trolley using the 2-center plate. Specifically, roller energy chains (Rol-E-Chain) are used here, which are equipped with stainless steel bearings to withstand the highly corrosive pollution of the sea air. The weight of an e-chain including cables is almost 2.5 tons. The e-chains are filled with medium-voltage cables of the type CF Crane 50/6.6/10KV or CF Crane 35/6.6/10KV, a fiber optic cable with 6 fibers 62.5/125 and a water hose, as the dust development is constantly suppressed as far as possible with water mist when unloading the ships due to the high dust development. Furthermore, all energy chains are completely equipped with stainless steel guide troughs and protected from the effects of the weather and high UV radiation by an enclosure.

igus® energy chain on a long travel crane application

Hoist equipment (trolley):

Travel: 90 m
Speed: 189.6 m/min
Acceleration: 1 m/s2
Fill weight: 41.03 kg/m
energy chain Rol-E-Chain 5050R used 21/21/21.250.0
All cables: igus® chainflex®

Special features of this chain: It has been operated here with a 4-band chain using 2 extension links due to the high speed in combination with the very high fill weight of 41.03 kg/m. The energy chain cable carrier together with its cables weigh almost 2.5 tons.

Supply for the crane operator's cabin:

The crane operator's cabin is supplied with igus® cable carrier type 4040-25-150-0.

Travel: 239 ft (73 m)
Speed 1.1 ft/s (0.33 m/sec)
Acceleration: 1.64 ft/s2 (0.5 m/s2)
Various cables from the chainflex® program

igus® cable carrier on a long travel crane application

Longitudinal travel (cross travel)

(cross travel) 1,447.8 ft (441.3 m)
Acceleration at 0.3 ft/s2 (0.1 m/s2)
Speed at 1.6 ft/s (0.5 m/s)

The energy chain cable carrier is filled with medium-voltage continuous-flex cables from the CF-Crane range, a fiber-optic cable, as well as a fine spray water hose to minimize the dust generated while unloading.

Tools & Configurators

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