Reliable e-loop® cable guidance for top drives

Weather resistance with easy maintenance, assembly, and disassembly

Getting oil out of the ground requires deep drilling rigs with top drive systems. They often involve extreme conditions: wind and weather, dirt, and harsh handling of systems and equipment affect machine components. For cable guidance, manufacturers and operators have so far relied on service loops, which often entail a number of problems. Cables can move in the service loops, which have no defined bend radius. In extremely windy conditions, the freely hanging service loop can get caught in the mast or lighting system and be torn off. Another problem is that the entire hose package must be replaced if one hose is defective. To reliably guide cables, even those with large cross sections and great weight, in hanging applications, igus has developed the e-loop.

The e-loop® combines the advantages of a plastic energy chain with those of a high-strength tension rope. Inside the energy chain, the rope transfers the pull force to the mounting brackets and the structure. The e-loop is used not only in the oil and gas industry, but also in the offshore industry and for onshore power supply, construction machinery, and wind turbines.

Guide hoses and cables reliably in a single system
Resistant to weather and dirt
Protects against impact due to robust PU outer body
Cables can be added or replaced, even during operation
Secondary locking tension for all bolted connections offers great operational reliability

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ASME Annual Woelfel Best Mechanical Engineering Achievement Award

The e-loop received the ASME Woelfel Best Mechanical Engineering Achievement Award at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas.

How the e-loop is designed

1) The interior consists of four injection-moulded parts. Two of them form the crossbar in the chain link and are screwed on (so that they are captive). As they are screwed connections, they are clamped onto the pull rope.

External protectors made of shock-absorbing PU protector material make sure that the energy chain and the cables are protected in case of severe impacts.
The individual chain links are clamped onto the high-strength pull rope. The rope itself is a plastic-fibre rope with a permissible tensile load of 50kN.

4) The e-loop's mounting brackets are strong steel mounting brackets. The plastic-fibre rope, which absorbs the e-loop's entire tensile force, is an integral part of the brackets.

Request a project with e-loop now

Request a project with e-loop now

To e-loop product selection

Dynamic, crossbars every link | For almost any application

1Applies to chain lengths of up to 50m. Max. additional load for longer energy chains upon request.

Part No.	Inner width Bi [mm]	Outer width Ba [mm]	Bend radius [mm]	Cable diameter [mm]	Fill weight [kg/m]¹
ELP.220.01.D	150	220	380	38	50
ELP.300.01.D	230	300	500	75	50
ELP.430.01.D	360	430	680	108	70
ELP.TD.300	230	300	500	75	50

Static with crossbars every 2nd link for purely static cable guidance

1Applies to chain lengths of up to 50m. Max. additional load for longer energy chains upon request.

Part No.	Inner width Bi [mm]	Outer width Ba [mm]	Bend radius [mm]	Cable diameter [mm]	Fill weight [kg/m]¹
ELP.220.01.S	150	220	175	38	50
ELP.300.01.S	230	300	210	75	50

The most fascinating projects with e-loop

Top drive - Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia

The top drive from the Indonesian company Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia is a little bigger than a hand drill. It gives the drill string on an oil rig a clockwise torque to drill a hole in the seabed. Downtime is a no-go here. In the years 2022 to 2023, for example, losses of USD 733 million were incurred due to damage to the service loop, as a consequence of which the upper drive could not be operated. The designers have therefore modernised the cable system. chainflex® cables (including CFSPECIAL.572.4000.01) and energy chains from the e-loop® series (ELP.300.26248) are now being used. The system now runs more reliably. According to Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia, the technicians also have more confidence in the new system, which is easier to install and check. Whereas a cable installation used to take up to twelve hours, today the work is completed in half the time.

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Full functionality in spite of a snowstorm - top drive

For a Canadian oil drilling company, an e-loop energy chain solution from igus guarantees that the top drive, which lowers the drill pipe into the earth and pulls it out again, is always safely and reliably supplied with energy and signals even after heavy storms.

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Bucket wheel excavator

The e-loop is used in a bucket wheel excavator made by Holcim (Germany) GmbH. The modular system made of high-performance plastic always enables a defined bend radius and can handle vibration and impacts. Instead of the planned eight hours of installation time, work with the e-loop was completed after just four hours.

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Top drive System

The e-loop modular energy chain system is being used in a drilling rig in the oil and gas industry. The igus e-loop has made it possible to improve the service life of the drilling rig and considerably reduce costs. Moreover, the cables in the mast can no longer become tangled.

In-house test laboratory for the e-loop

Load test of e-loop®

Continuous test of a completely harnessed e-loop with cable filling for 500t top drive. The test is carried out in the open air with all environmental influences as well as a simulation of wind and vibrations.

The result: The test has run 170,000 double strokes, corresponding to 4.5 years of continuous operation. No influences due to weather affect e-loop functionality. Side impacts, bumps, and vibrations do not impair the e-loop.

Break test of the e-loop®

Test setup: the e-loop is swung from a height of 10m onto a safe and hits it with full force.

The result: the test emphasises the e-loop's shatter-proof and shock-resistant design as it withstands the impact without problems.

White paper

e-loop in vertical drilling rigs

A newly developed alternative to the service loops on vertical drilling rigs offers significantly longer service life under extremely tough environmental conditions.

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White paper

The e-loop under adverse conditions

The e-loop is used under harsh conditions, e.g. in bucket wheel excavators, ship unloaders and offshore wind turbine construction.

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Assembly of two chain links of the e-loop

e-loop in the factory

FAQ - frequently asked questions about e-loop

A service loop is used to guide cables and hoses in hanging applications, e.g. as an energy supply on the top drive. For this purpose, the cables are often cast together in a dress pack.
To ensure that heavy cables with large cross sections can be reliably guided in hanging applications, igus has developed the e-loop as an alternative to the service loop. The energy supply is a round, three-dimensional modular system that can move strain-relieved cables with a defined bend radius. The cables can be used individually and replaced during maintenance. The chain links can also be exchanged at any time.

The new energy supply system from igus is built around a high-tensile plastic rope that absorbs the tensile forces of the cables. The rope is made of a synthetic plastic fibre, so it is shatter-proof, weather-resistant, flexible, and corrosion-free.

Unhook, lay down, unscrew, exchange cable(s), screw shut, remount. That's all it takes regarding maintenance thanks to the simple modular setup of the energy chain. For the rarest of cases you should always have a replacement chain at hand to avoid downtime.

igus delivers the e-loop the way you want it: either completely assembled or harnessed, on a drum or pallet. There is a defined thread at the end of the e-loop for additional mounting. Our installation team is happy to take care of the assembly.

The individual chain links are secured with screw connections so that no components can fall off.

The e-loop is UV-resistant outdoors and lasts for at least six years.

The maximum tensile strength is 50kN.