energy chain for lock system: seawater-resistant at 40 m travel

• What was needed: readychain® energy chain system including pre-assembled chainflex® cable
• Requirements: A weather-resistant complete solution was to be found for the energy supply to the lock gates, which had to be ready for operation within a very short time. It had to be durable and fail-safe over a travelling distance of 40 m, in heavy weather conditions, salt water and sideways movements of the gates.
• Industry: Lock systems, shipping
• Success for the customer: With a pre-assembled readychain® complete system (consisting of energy chain, cable and connectors), installation was completed as quickly as possible. The polymer chain is resistant to seawater and is also designed to withstand the harsh weather conditions on site.

This large lock system is located in Nieuwdorp, a town in the Dutch province of Zeeland. To ensure that the large lock gates open and close reliably, cables must be safely routed from a supply building to the gates. The moving gates made it necessary to install an equally moving cable routing in the form of an energy chain. This was to run along the 40 metre travel per door. However, the operators of the system were also confronted with lateral movements of the gates of over 100 mm, which the e-chain® had to compensate for.
In addition, weather conditions and salt water had to be taken into account when designing the cable routing. In addition to frequent operation, changing temperatures, precipitation and corrosion over the course of the year also pose a permanent load on the cable solution.
In order to minimise downtime, the conversion time should be kept as short as possible. The best solution is a complete solution for simplified installation.

The operator received the desired complete system in the form of the readychain® energy chain (see Fig. 1, below). In addition to the energy chain itself, the scope of supply also includes the pre-assembled cables and, if required, the correct plug connections. As the polymer energy chain is corrosion-free, it is perfect for airlock applications. The e-chain® has been equipped with bend-resistant chainflex® cables, which are also designed for the harsh conditions on site and for movement on the over 40 metre long travel. For safe guidance, the energy chain and cable run in a special aluminium channel (Fig. 2). And thanks to the floating moving end, which is also installed at the end of the e-chain®, the lateral guide tolerances of the doors of over 100 mm are easily compensated (Fig. 3). The energy chain can therefore follow the movements and is not damaged. Everything was supplied complete with Harting connectors, which ensure the connection of the cable to the supply box above the interlock gate (Fig. 4).