Overhead Crane Electrification via Festoon Systems

A festoon electrification system utilizes flat or round cable on a trolley traveling on a C track, square rail, or an I-beam. This method of overhead crane electrification provides direct contact, which provides greater resistance to wear on the system’s components.

Festoon systems are extremely reliable and can be used in all kinds of applications from indoor to outdoor applications, high heat environments, and in other demanding environments like in mills and at port facilities. They can also be used to safely provide power and control for explosion proof cranes.

Festoon electrification systems are most commonly found on bridge cranes, but can also be used on other types of overhead cranes like gantry cranes, some forms of monorail cranes, and jib cranes. However, some types of festoon track may not be recommended for monorail setups where there may be curves in the rail.

Types of Festoon Systems

Track-Mounted Cable Festoon Systems – effective cable management in light to medium-duty applications. Track-mounted systems allow you to organize and move cables and/or hoses for power and control circuits. These systems are reliable, efficient, easy to install, and have low maintenance requirements.

Track material can be made out of galvanized, stainless, or sometimes PVC materials for corrosive environments.

Can be run indoors or outdoors in dusty, dirty, or corrosive environments, in high-temperature environments, and can be used for applications that require an explosion proof design.

Square Rail Festoon Systems – Runs on a square or diamond-shaped track. This type of track is especially useful in dirty or dusty environments, can be used indoors or outdoors, and will work for applications that require an explosion proof design.

Perfect for monorail cranes as it can be configured to work in a straight, curved, or circular track design.

I-Beam Cable Festoon Systems – ideal for medium to high-duty applications and environments. Different carriers available from basic economic versions to custom-design. Ease of maintenance and high-reliability in any operating environment. Pre-assembled systems are available for easier installation.

Can be configured in a basic economical design or totally customized for specialized systems.

Built for demanding environments like steel mills, plants, and ship to shore cranes. They are simple to install and low-maintenance.

Advantages of Festoon Systems

A festoon system organizes and allows cable to stack up without twisting and the trolleys can accommodate multiple layers of cable.

Festoon systems are easy to maintain and have a pretty straight forward design and operation. They are hard-wired to operate in harsh or extreme temperatures and environments and can be configured in basic economic designs to accommodate a few light cables or can be totally customized with more complex cable packages for heavier-duty applications.

Encoder cables (and other types of cables) can also be run to the hoist motor from a control panel on the bridge crane for special and unique applications. Festoon systems may also utilize “plug and play” electrical connections made of male and female pin connector sets that make installation simple and easy.

Disadvantages of Festoon Systems

A festoon system is not ideal for use on runways that have multiple bridges. Each bridge must be wired separately which can cause complexities and isn’t a very cost-effective design. In addition, monorail systems that utilize a complex curve or track switch cannot use a standard C track or I-beam rail for power delivery.

Additionally, if the crane has a long runway system or wide span, you can experience festoon cable stack-up which limits the crane or hoist travel near the end stops.

If the environmental factors are not taken into consideration, stressors such as UV, oil, radiation, abrasion, temperature, and friction can cause the cable to degrade over time. Environmental factors must be considered so that the proper materials for the cable and cable jackets are selected during the design and manufacturing processes.

共有Facebook

Tweet

フォ

保存