Reliable e-loop® cable guidance for top drives

Weather resistance with easy maintenance, assembly, and disassembly

Deep drilling rigs with top drives are used to extract oil from the earth. The conditions there are often extreme: Wind and weather, dirt and rough handling of the rigs and equipment have an impact on the machine components. Until now, manufacturers and operators have relied on so-called service loops for cable routing, but these often cause a number of problems. The cables can move in the service loop as they do not have a defined bend radius. In extreme wind conditions, the loosely hanging service loop can get caught in the mast or on the lighting system and break off. Another problem is replacing the entire hose package if a cable is defective. igus® has developed the e-loop® so that cables with large cross sections and high weights can be safely guided in suspended applications.

The e-loop® combines the advantages of a plastic energy chain with those of a high-strength tension cable. The tensile forces are transmitted to the mounting bracket and the structure through the tensile cable inside the energy chain. The e-loop® is not only used in the oil and gas industry, but also in the offshore industry, onshore power supply, in construction machinery and in wind turbines.

Guide cables safely in one system
Resistant to weathering and dirt
Protection against impacts thanks to robust PU outer body
Cable can be added or replaced, even during operation
Double screw locking of all elements for high operational safety

Buy e-loop® now

This is how the e-loop® is constructed

1) The inner body consists of four injection moulded parts. Two of these form the crossbar in the chain link and are screwed together (so that they cannot be lost). The screw connection clamps them onto the hauling rope.

2) Outer protectors made of impact-absorbing PU protector ensure that the energy chain and the cable are protected in the event of hard impacts.

The individual chain links are clamped onto the high-strength hauling rope. The rope itself is a plastic fibre rope and has a permissible tensile load of 50 kN.
The mounting brackets of the e-loop® are stable steel mounting brackets. The plastic fibre rope, which absorbs the entire tensile force of the e-loop®, is integrated into them.

e-loop® Product selection

Dynamic, full-webbed | for almost all applications

Part No.	Inner width Bi: [mm]	Outer width Ba [mm]	Bend radius [mm]	Cable diameter [mm]	Fill weight [kN]
ELP.220.01.D	150	220	380	38	4
ELP.300.01.D	230	300	500	75	7
ELP.430.01.D	360	430	680	108	11
ELP.TD.300	230	300	500	75	50

Static, semi-rigid | for purely static cable routing

Part No.	Inner width Bi: [mm]	Outer width Ba [mm]	Bend radius [mm]	Cable diameter [mm]	Fill weight [kN]
ELP.220.01.S	150	220	175	38	4
ELP.300.01.S	230	300	210	75	7

The most exciting projects with e-loop®

Top Drive - Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia

The top drive from the Indonesian company Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia is a little bigger than a hand drill. It gives the drill string on an oil rig a clockwise torque to drill a hole in the seabed. Downtime is a no-go here. In the years 2022 to 2023, for example, losses of USD 733 million were incurred due to damage to the service loop, as a consequence of which the upper drive could not be operated. The designers have therefore modernised the cable system. The chainflex® cable is now used (u. a. CFSPECIAL.572.4000.01) and energy chain from the e-loop series® (ELP.300.26248). The system now runs more reliably. According to Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia, the technicians also have more confidence in the new system, which is easier to install and check. Whereas a cable installation used to take up to twelve hours, today the work is completed in half the time.

Full functionality in spite of a snowstorm - top drive

For a Canadian oil drilling company, an e-loop energy chain solution from igus guarantees that the top drive, which lowers the drill pipe into the earth and pulls it out again, is always safely and reliably supplied with energy and signals even after heavy storms.

Learn more

Bucket wheel excavator

The e-loop is used in a bucket wheel excavator made by Holcim (Germany) GmbH. The modular system made of high-performance plastic always enables a defined bend radius and can handle vibration and impacts. Instead of the planned eight hours of installation time, work with the e-loop was completed after just four hours.

Learn more

Top drive System

The e-loop modular energy chain system is being used in a drilling rig in the oil and gas industry. The igus e-loop has made it possible to improve the service life of the drilling rig and considerably reduce costs. Moreover, the cables in the mast can no longer become tangled.

In-house test laboratory for the e-loop®

Load test of the e-loop
Endurance test of a fully assembled e-loop® with cable filling for 500 t Top Drive. The test is carried out in the open air with all environmental influences and simulation of wind and vibrations.

Result: The test has now run 170,000 double strokes - that corresponds to 4.5 years in continuous operation. All weather-related influences have no effect on the function of the e-loop. The e-loop® is unaffected by lateral impacts, shocks or vibrations.

Breaking test of the e-loop
Test set-up: The e-loop® is swung from a height of 10 metres onto a safe and hits it with full force.

Result: The test shows that the e-loop® withstands the impact without any problems and is therefore impact-resistant and break-proof.

white paper

e-loop® in vertical drilling rigs

A newly developed alternative to service loops on vertical drilling rigs is characterised by a significantly longer service life under extremely unfavourable environmental conditions.

Download white paper now

white paper

e-loop® in adverse conditions

e-loop® is used under adverse conditions, e.g. in bucket wheel excavators, ship unloaders and in the construction of offshore wind turbines.

Download white paper now

The assembly of two chain links of the e-loop®

e-loop® in the factory

FAQ - Frequently asked questions for e-loop®

A service loop is used to feed cables and hoses in suspended applications, e.g. as a power supply to the top drive. To this end, cables are often cast together in a dress pack.<br />
To ensure that heavy cables with large cross-sections can be reliably guided in hanging applications, igus has developed the e-loop as an alternative to the service loop. The energy supply system is a round, three-dimensional modular system that can move strain-relieved cables with a defined bend radius. The cables can be used individually and replaced during maintenance. The chain links are also replaceable at any time.

The new energy supply system from igus is built around a high-tensile plastic rope that absorbs the tensile forces of the cables. The rope is made of a synthetic plastic fibre, so it is shatter-proof, weather-resistant, flexible, and corrosion-free.

Unhook, lay down, unscrew, exchange cable(s), screw shut, remount. That's all it takes regarding maintenance thanks to the simple modular setup of the energy chain. For the rarest of cases you should always have a replacement chain at hand to avoid downtime.

igus® supplies the e-loop® just as you want it: either fully assembled or ready-made, on drums or pallets. There is a defined thread at the end of the e-loop for additional mounting. Our installation team is happy to take care of the assembly.

The individual chain links are all secured with screw connections so that no components can fall off.