Robust roller energy chain on ship unloaders over 400m travel

• What was needed: Crane cab: energy chain E4/4 (type 4040), load handling attachment (trolley): Rol-E-Chain 5050R.21/21/21.250.0, chainflex®-cable, stainless steel guide trough and enclosure
• Requirements: Corrosive environmental conditions, dustgeneration
• Industry: Crane, ship unloader
• Customer success: complete energy supply solution from a single source, reliable solution for highly corrosive environmental conditions

In the village of Lumut in Malaysia, the planned construction of a modern coal-fired power plant for the operator Lekir Bulk Terminal Sdn Bhd. has resulted in a major project. The coal for the power plant will be delivered by ship, and for further processing, berths for the cargo ships have been created on an artificial island approx. 2 kilometres off the coast, which will be served by two large ship unloaders. The ship unloaders each have a travel of 441 metres and were built by the Koch company in Wadgassen in Saarland. For the energy supply, the operator was looking for a sophisticated system that could also withstand the local environmental conditions and the high load caused by the continuous operation of the facility.

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