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Benefit from maintenance-free energy chains on the port crane and intermodal crane

We will find the right cable guidances and cables for your crane.


Why should I use an energy chain for cable guidance on the crane? With heavy cable loads, long periods of use and a wide variety of weather conditions, cable guidance in cranes must deliver top performance. The energy chain for port cranes and intermodal cranes scores here with corrosion-free and maintenance-free materials and long service life.
Energy chains therefore prove to be particularly reliable cable guides in places where deadlines are tight but operational safety still has priority. The low-maintenance and quiet energy chains can prove their worth, especially in comparison to busbar systems, festoonings and motorised drums. And so more than 10,000 ports already rely on the system.
On this page you will find an overview of our energy chains, cables, guide troughs and our sensors for port cranes and intermodal cranes.

Energy chains for cranes

Energy chain on crane

Cables for cranes

Cables for cranes

Sensors for cranes

smart plastics cranes

Energy chains for port cranes and intermodal cranes

Unplanned downtimes must never occur on the harbour or intermodal crane. This poses extreme demands on the cable guidance on the crane. If the trailing cables, the cable guided in an energy chain break, or if the cable guidance itself is defective, crane operation will inevitably come to a standstill.
At the same time, these systems must be able to easily handle special loads over travels of sometimes more than 1,000m.
Such risks can be minimised with special energy chains for cranes. Thanks to the development of specialised solutions such as the roller energy chains even long travels are possible with low drive power. At the same time, this reduces wear and tear and maintenance costs. And thanks to optional sensors the safety of the chain and cable can be further increased.
P4HD

P4HD - The e-chain with the longest service life

The further developed P4HD energy chain has been developed for the next generation of container cranes. The rol e-chain® is suitable for very long travels with high dynamics. Thanks to optional sensors (i.Sense and i.Cee), failures can be prevented before they happen.
Find out more about the P4HD
Sample banderole P4HD.56R
Energy chain sample

Request today for free: P4HD.56R

We want a 15-year service life for e-chains on cranes. This can be found in our development goals and the functional specifications for the new P4.1HD product range.


▶ Find out more here

P4.1

P4.1 - The universal energy chain

The P4.1 is suitable for long travels of more than 1,000m and for high additional loads. Thanks to the possibility of an optional addition of sensors (i.Sense and i.Cee) for condition monitoring or predictive maintenance, the operational safety of the chain increases further.
Find out more about the P4.1
White paper on STS cranes and Triple-E container ships
The future of STS cranes and energy chains

Triple-E container ships and STS cranes

STS cranes are changing. Ever larger container ships (Triple-E) will require even larger cranes in the future. You can find out exactly how this affects STS cranes and energy chains here.


▶ Find out more here


Accessories for energy chains

Guide trough

Guide troughs

  • Available in stainless steel or aluminium for seawater resistance to EN6060 and weight reduction
  • Available as cost-effective and corrosion-free plastic trough
Find out more about guide troughs
Clamps

Clamps "chainfix CFXL"

  • To relieve heavy-duty cables
  • Strain relief even for hoses and cables with large diameters
  • Easy to retrofit in the energy chain
Find out more about chainfix CFXL
Floating moving end

Floating moving end

  • To compensate for long travels
  • Small, lightweight and cost-effective
  • Compatible with isense EC.P
  • Can be combined with various energy chains
Find out more about the floating moving end

Cables for port cranes and intermodal cranes

Cables that run in energy chains on the crane are subject to high mechanical loads, as are trailing cables. The long travels and tight bend radii inevitably lead to cable stress. For this reason, we test our chainflex cables in 700 daily tests in our in-house test laboratory. This allows us to issue a four-year guarantee on all cables. Incidentally, all of our TPE cables come with UL approval and are UV-resistant.

chainflex control cables CF9 and CF10

In our range of control cables, we offer the strength that is required for long travels on cranes thanks to various numbers of cores, diameters and outer jacket materials.
Discover control cable CF9 | Discover control cable CF10
Discover all control cables
chainflex control cable

chainflex motor cables CF37/38, CF330/340

Motor cables must also always move reliably and without failure. For example, when supplying the hoist on crane systems over long travels, with high mechanical stress and outdoor temperatures of -40° to +50°.
Discover CF37Discover CF38Discover CF330Discover CF340
Discover all motor cables
chainflex motor cable

chainflex fibre optic cable CFLG.LB

Available in various mechanical versions, you will always find the right fibre optic cable for your crane application. We deliver in different OM classes and fibre diameters.
Discover fibre optic cable CFLG.LB
Discover all fibre optic cables
chainflex fibre optic cable

chainflex data cable CF11

The CF11 data cable can be used for long travels of more than 400m without any problems. Together with the UV resistance and high load limit, it is particularly suitable for outdoor applications such as on cranes.
Discover data cable CF11
Discover all data cables
chainflex data cable

Your advantages with chainflex cables

UL certificate

UL certified

We also offer a UL cable (Underwriters Laboratories) for each chainflex cable type.
UV logo

UV-resistant

Suitable for outdoor applications: Our cables are all UV-resistant.
36-month guarantee

Guarantee

Thanks to our daily laboratory tests on chainflex cables we offer a four-year guarantee without hesitation.

Sensors for port cranes and intermodal cranes

Sensors on the energy chain or the cables on the crane ensure a high degree of safety and certainty, particularly over long travels. On large structures and long energy chains, a cable rupture or defect in the energy chain is not easy to find. Added to this is the pure maintenance time. Such failures can quickly become very expensive, especially in busy container terminals. With the i.Sense and i.Cee sensor technology for monitoring or predictive maintenance of chain or cables, such problems can be avoided.
i.Sense condition monitoring

i.Sense condition monitoring

i.Sense smart condition monitoring sensors are used to continuously monitor the operating condition of moving components. They can perform various functions, depending on the application. In energy chains, they are used to monitor push/pull forces (i.Sense EC.P) and to identify chain ruptures at an early stage (i.Sense EC.B).
Find out more about i.Sense
i.Cee predictive maintenance

i.Cee predictive maintenance

i.Cee sensors continuously measure the clearance between the pin and the hole in a chain link. Together with the movement data of the system, the expected remaining service life of an energy chain is determined. If necessary, a warning is then automatically issued to replace or repair the chain. The result: More safety, lower costs.
Find out more about i.Cee
White paper on maintenance of e-chains
Guide for designers

Case study: How sensors strengthen STS cranes

In this exclusive case study at the crane operator EMO B.V., the use of networked sensors in STS cranes at the port of Rotterdam is presented. Thanks to the implementation of the sensors, the cranes now achieve running performances of up to 375,000km.


▶ Find out more here


Application examples. Here customers trust in energy chains.

In the video, those in charge at the Port of Virginia explain why the port is using energy chains for its new STS cranes. After equipping eight STS cranes with e-chains in a project, maintenance costs were reduced to a minimum while durability increased. Or as Jeff Johnston, in charge of maintenance at the Port of Virginia, summarises:
 
"[...] Reliability, easy maintenance and peace of mind."

Jeff Johnston, Crane Maintenance Manager at Port of Virginia
The Port of Virginia relies on energy chains. In the video, various project managers explain where they see the greatest advantages.

And many other success stories ...

STS, ASC, RTG, RMG, shipyard crane, indoor crane. Our energy chains can be used practically anywhere. We will show you what this can look like in concrete terms using selected success stories:

User reports: Port and intermodal cranes
User reports: Indoor cranes
User reports: Shipyard cranes
User reports: Bulk handling cranes


▶ Find all success stories here

White paper on requirements for STS cranes

System comparison - e-chain vs. festooning, motor cable drum and busbar system

Energy chains systems instead of festooning Energy chain system instead of festooning
In wind and fluctuating temperatures, cables are protected and safely guided by energy chains. Downtimes are minimised as a result.
Energy chain systems instead of motor cable drums Energy chain systems instead of motor cable drums
No slip ring on long travels. Guide all media safely in one system. Travels of up to 1,000 metres.
Energy chain systems instead of busbar systems Energy chain systems instead of busbar systems
Deliver data, energy, fluids and air safely in a single energy chain system. For narrow compact spaces and fast lane movement. 

Tested for use on cranes in the largest test laboratory in the industry

With travels of several hundred metres, we don't want to leave anything to chance. Our energy chains and cables are therefore subjected to daily endurance tests on special test rigs for industries such as the crane sector. For example, on our outdoor test facility with a simulated travel distance of up to 400m for our roller energy chains and chainflex cables. Here you can find out more about our test laboratory. 
A look at the chainflex and e-chain test laboratory Take a look at our chainflex and e-chain test laboratory, where 10 billion cycles are tested annually.
Long travels in outdoor tests Up to 400m of travel can be achieved on our 200m long test track for energy chains.

Brochures for the crane industry




The terms "igus", "Apiro", "chainflex", "CFRIP", "conprotect", "CTD", "drylin", "dry-tech", "dryspin", "easy chain", "e-chain", "e-chain systems", "e-ketten", "e-kettensysteme", "e-skin", "e-spool", "flizz", "ibow", "igear", "iglidur", "igubal", "igutex", "kineKIT", "manus", "motion plastics", "pikchain", "readychain", "readycable", "ReBeL", "speedigus", "triflex", "robolink", "xirodur", and "xiros" are legally protected trademarks of the igus® GmbH/ Cologne in the Federal Republic of Germany and where applicable in some foreign countries.

igus® GmbH points out that it does not sell any products of the companies Allen Bradley, B&R, Baumüller, Beckhoff, Lahr, Control Techniques, Danaher Motion, ELAU, FAGOR, FANUC, Festo, Heidenhain, Jetter, Lenze, LinMot, LTi DRiVES, Mitsubishi, NUM,Parker, Bosch Rexroth, SEW, Siemens, Stöber and all other drive manufacturers mention on this website. The products offered by igus® are those of igus® GmbH