Modular cable guidance system from igus for safe shore-side power supply

The compact e-chain dispenser ensures an environment-friendly power supply in ports

The supply of ships with shore-side power is steadily growing, especially driven by the reduction of emissions at ports. To enable this, igus offers an innovative solution with the e-chain dispenser. Installed at defined mooring points, the modular cable guidance system enables the safe supply of energy, thanks to an extendable energy chain and highly flexible cables.

Ships need to supply the systems on board with energy even in ports. In order to reduce the CO2 emissions of the ships and to reduce the emission of fine dust and sulphur oxides, more energy supplies are increasingly taken from the land to the ship. Depending on the type of ship, the requirements for the cable guidance system in the harbour differ. For ferries, shore-side power is usually supplied with the so-called ‘cable dispenser’. This is a large, permanently installed crane, which allows one or several multi-core cables to be extended with a plug-in connection. The extended cable is unprotected and is heavily stressed during the connection due to the movements of tides and shafts as well as during loading and unloading of the ship. In order to safely guide the cables from land to the ship, the motion-plastics specialist igus has developed an alternative – the e-chain dispenser.

Cable guidance system with an extension length of more than 10 metres
The modular and compact system is fixed to mooring points in the harbour and has an extendable pivoting arm that bridges the distance to the ship. This allows the crew to easily connect the shore-side power connection to the ship. The arm movement and the extension of the energy chain of 10 metres and more are carried out by electric drives. These can be controlled via an operating panel on land or alternatively with a remote control on board. The three-dimensional triflex e-chain compensates for the cable-stressing motion. The first three e-chain dispensers from igus have already been successfully installed near Bergen, Norway.

Secure e-chain with flexible chainflex cables in a modular system
The e-chain dispenser consists of three components: the readychain, the e-chain magazine and the support structure. The readychain is a triflex multi-axis energy chain made of corrosion-free high-performance polymer material, which is filled with preassembled single core cables and is used in a push-pull module, the e-chain magazine. The triflex e-chain protects the highly flexible chainflex cables in three-dimensional movements and ensures a minimum bend radius and complete strain relief of the cables. Depending on the requirements, the energy chain can be equipped with single cores for medium voltage or low voltage. These are not only more cost-effective than multi-core cables, but have also been specially developed for use in energy chains. For choice, igus offers 403 cables with the DNV-GL certification for use in the e-chain dispenser. All chainflex cables are tested in the in-house test laboratory with a floor area of 2,750 square metre. The company igus is the only provider worldwide to extend a unique guarantee of 36 months for its cable range. The readychain can be configured with significantly smaller chain bend radius due to the small diameter of the individual cores This saves space and reduces the base area of the entire system. The readychain is then inserted into the e-magazine. This igus push-pull module allows different pull-out lengths of the energy chain. The support structure of the e-chain dispenser offers space for the installation of up to five e-magazines next to each other, in order to be able to perform the most diverse services for different ships.

The compact shore-side power solution fulfills the requirements of the international standard IEC 80005. The cable guidance system e-chain dispenser can also be supplied with traction and length monitoring in addition to the signals for alarm and disconnection of the power supply.

For more details, visit www.igus.in

Installed at defined mooring points, the e-chain dispenser enables the safe supply of ships with energy in the port, thanks to an extendable e-chain and highly flexible chainflex cables.