High speed, long travels: safe cable guidance for 12 STS cranes

• What was needed: E4/4 Heavy Duty energy chain, chainflex® cable, Condition Monitoring System
• Requirements: A cable routing system was needed that would allow long travel distances and heavy cable weights and work reliably over the long term. As the trolleys travel up to 240 metres per minute, the system also had to be designed for high travel speeds.
• Industry: Cranes
• Success for the customer: The energy chains are characterised by their particularly high material strength and service life and can also cope with higher pulling and pushing forces. Another advantage is the weight saving compared to a conventional system. Built-in sensors also monitor the compressive and tensile forces of the energy chain and allow preventive maintenance measures to be taken.

In the port of Antwerp, a new energy supply concept consisting of cable and cable routing was to be found for 12 new ship-to-shore cranes. A particular challenge for the system was posed by the large-scale installations, which required 260 metres of cable to reliably supply the main trolleys with power and data. In particular, this required robust cable guides that would work reliably over the long term. As the trolleys travel up to 240 metres per minute, the system also had to be designed for high travel speeds. And to avoid having to further increase the drive energy required for the already heavy cable, another focus was on a particularly lightweight implementation of the system.

Today, 260 metre long e-chains® of the E4/4 HD system are used for the STS cranes, in which various cables such as fibre optic cables from the chainflex® cable portfolio are installed.
The abbreviation "HD" (Heavy Duty) characterises the chain's ability to work without any problems even with particularly heavy cable weights and long travel distances. The system achieves this thanks to the particularly high material thickness and service life of the chain elements, which can also cope with higher tensile and shear forces. Another advantage is the weight saving compared to a conventional system, which means that the drive power for the trolley and the system weight for the crane girder can be reduced.
There is also a roller energy chain on the crane for each Centenary trolley. These two chains run in a channel system. The attachment point of the Centenary trolley on the water side is located on the boom, which means that the main trolley can still work with the boom raised. The Centenaries can also be moved when the boom is raised.
Finally, due to the demanding application environment, the so-called i.Sense condition monitoring system was installed to prevent damage and downtime. The system monitors the compressive and tensile forces of the energy chain and improves operational safety through preventive maintenance and fine-tuning of the system. In the event of a fault, an alarm message is generated immediately and sent by email or text message, for example. The error message can therefore be analysed at any location.