igus’ plastic energy chain at a lignite-fired power station in the Czech Republic is ready to stand up against extreme conditions.
Measuring in at a world-record 615m travel, igus’ plastic energy chain at the lignite-fired power station in Tušimice, Czech Republic, is the longest in the world.
And regardless of it running 24 hours a day or standing idle for a month, the roller energy chain system has been going strong for a decade without missing a beat.
In normal operation, lignite (brown coal) is extracted from the opencast mine and conveyed directly into the lignite-fired power station. If production is interrupted, it is vital supplies continue to go on generating energy.
The operators of the power station, ČEZ Group, achieve this goal by stockpiling large quantities of coal nearby.
The coal at Tušimice is stored in a long heap on the periphery of the power plant site. A stacker is used to pile the coal automatically on the heap. To supply the stacker with energy, data and media, ČEZ Group opted for an energy chain system from igus.
This led to an energy chain boasting a record-breaking 615m travel, with 10 years of reliable operation in an award-winning application.
The application in Tušimice was awarded the 2010 Golden Vector Award, which igus initiates every two years to select the toughest and most exciting energy chain applications.
The 5050RHD energy chain is used at the Tušimice power station – the ‘R’ in the name stands for ‘rollers’.
“By using a roller, the coefficient of friction on long travels drops dramatically, when the upper run of the chain runs on the lower run,” igus sales and marketing head of engineering project Frank Schlögel said.
“Because of the lower friction, up to 57 per cent of the required drive energy can be saved. Which, of course, is all the more worthwhile on record-breaking travels like this one.”
With his project engineering team, Schlögel supervises special projects around the globe and accompanies customers from the first design and detailed planning stages up to assembly and even maintenance.
Before the igus energy chain system was installed at Tušimice, a cable drum was used. But the icy Czech winter often caused the cable to freeze, which could result in failures and unplanned shutdowns. These problems have been a thing of the past for 10 last years.
Working with project manager Hennlich, a Czech-based stocking distributor, igus developed a complete package for the application. Since installation, only regular visual inspections have been carried out, with just 10 crossbars having been replaced over the entire period.
Two more systems are being moved with roller energy chains along with the 615m travel – a 400m and a 150m travel. The two systems supply the reclaimer, which removes the coal from the pile and transfers it to the conveyor belt that runs to the power plant.
Reliable routing and safe overall concept
Inside the system are various chainflex cables from igus, which have been developed specifically for use in energy chains. In addition to the chainflex motor and control cables, a fibre optic cable is used for data transmission.
“Bus cables are out of the question for these long travels, as the signal strength would be insufficient,” Schlögel said.
A water hose is also routed in the chain together with a heating cable that prevents the water from freezing inside the hose, which is used for dust control.
Electronic monitoring carried out on the Tušimice energy chain systems since commissioning measure the push/pull forces of the chains, with the system able to be switched off if the forces become too high.
In recent years, igus has further developed this form of condition monitoring, or i.Sense, and today offers machine builders modules for monitoring and predictive maintenance. Under the smart plastics range, this includes break (i.Sense EC.B) and push/pull (i.Sense EC.P) monitoring modules.
The system can be switched off in the event of a chain break to avoid further damage.
To complement this measure, the abrasion monitoring module (i.Sense EC.W) measures the wear of the energy chain continuously to provide a reliable indication of the remaining service life of the system. This enables a planned replacement of the system without sudden failures.
While the system is occasionally not used for periods, when the time comes and the coal needs to be conveyed, the operator can trust that the system will work reliably regardless of the season.
This feature appeared in the June 2025 issue of Australian Mining.
