Plastic Versus Steel Cable Carriers

The first cable carriers were made from steel so, as is often the case, the assumption is that the older the technology, the better it is. However, nowadays plastic cable carriers can achieve almost anything steel can. Made from a high performance polymer blend, they offer lower cost, reduced weight and are corrosion resistant.

Plastic cable carriers have replaced steel on most types of automated machinery in recent years. This is because plastic cable carriers are lighter weight and so enable a higher number of cycles, faster speeds, and an increase in production throughput. The cost advantage is another reason for the use of plastic cable carriers in this area.

Steel cable carriers still dominate in some industries, such as on boom trucks, and also the steel working and mining industries. This is not to say that plastic cable carriers can not be used in applications in these environments, but these industries have been slow to change.

Plastic cable carriers can be used in offshore applications such as oil rigs, as well as brick plants, coal-burning power plants, road construction vehicles, refuse incineration plants, tunnel drilling machines, steel mills, waste handling, mining, and more. They can handle heavy loads, high speeds and long distances.

One example is a long travel application over 1,447 feet on two ship-unloading cranes at a coal power plant in Malaysia. Plastic cable carriers were installed as a fully pre-harnessed system and supply energy and data to the trolley and cabin. The cranes unload up to 1,500 tons of coal per hour at docking stations on a man-made island situated roughly a mile offshore.

In the USA, Virginia International Terminals operates and maintains six cranes to handle containers and break-bulk cargo in its second largest ship-to-shore terminal. One of these cranes is a 30 year old Paceco crane.

igus® has developed a special material for high temperatures - igumid HT ('HT' for high temperatures) - to withstand hot flying debris, such as metal chips, up to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit and higher. This was previously only possible with steel chains.

igus® also recently unveiled the largest plastic cable carrier in the world in the form of E4.350 (pictured: right). Energy Chain® E4.350 is wear proof, maintenance free and resistant to seawater and mineral oil. The giant cable carrier was primarily developed for demanding applications exposed to ice, wind, storm, salt water, oil and drilling mud in applications on offshore oil-drilling platforms. E4.350 can move nearly 50 feet up and down, which guarantees any heavy hydraulic cables are protected and guided when a drilling rig is skidded on to an oil platform, or during a drilling head’s stroke, for example.