E crane feature dci oct14

E-Crane

The ‘E’ in E-Crane stands for equilibrium, the principle upon which the cranes’ innovative technology is based. However, it is so much more than just that.

The ‘E’ also represents: v clean Electric operation; v productivity enhancing Ergonomic controls and cab for the crane operator; v Effortless operation with state-of-the-art technology; v Exact grab placement using proven hydraulic systems; and v Energy-saving Economic solution

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E-Crane® Worldwide is the original balanced crane designer and manufacturer. The company, based in Belgium, with subsidiary companies in The Netherlands and in the USA, has been providing reliable solutions for the past 20 years to the recycling and bulk handling industries. With a global network of agents, it offers local support from certified E-Crane service engineers.

E-Crane offers tailor-made solutions to meet its clients’ needs for high productivity and reliable handling of scrap, grain, coal, cement clinker, or any other bulk material, while striving to optimize operations, increase efficiency, and lower costs.

ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT

the ultimate bulk balancing act

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When Sherwin Alumina needed to find a replacement for its TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS old continous ship unloaders (CSUs), research showed E-Crane to be the perfect and reliable solution for its bauxite Type 2 × 18450 GA-E ship unloading needs. While the CSUs are impressive Location Gregory Texas, USA mechanical designs, the reality experienced by Sherwin of Application Offloading bauxite from Handymax constant and high cost of maintenance along with poor and Panamax ships reliability has caused major unloading delays and brought about Mount High gantry on rail huge demurrage costs.

Lift Capacity 32 US tons/29 metric tonnes each The two E-Cranes were purchased fully assembled ready Reach 147.5ft/45m for pick-up at an offsite location for less than half of the cost Attachment 17yd³/13m³ clamshell grab of one of the old CSUs new in the 1980s. The average cycle Power source 800hp/600kW electric motor time of the E-Cranes is 60 seconds, and peaks of over 1,000 wet metric tonnes per hour are reached. The fully customized E-Cranes were delivered to the customer’s dock exactly one year after the initial down payment. A special heavy lift shipping method was utilized to minimize downtime at the customer’s dock.

Immediately, the E-Cranes proved to be reliable and cost effective ship unloaders. No more demurrage costs, low maintenance costs, minimum downtime. Port manager at Sherwin Alumina, Bally Kissoon, says, “I wish all our equipment was working like the E-Cranes!”

ENERGY SAVINGS THANKS TO BALANCED DESIGN Lower energy consumption means lower costs. With traditional hoisting machinery, the payload, working tool, and steel

construction have to be raised, but the E-Crane’s balance compensates for all but the payload. It goes without saying that this results in important energy savings.

To be balanced at any given position, the counterweight has to continuously compensate for the load. As the load increases, the counterweight must also increase in weight. Alternatively, instead of increasing the counterweight, it could be moved further rearward from the centre of rotation to compensate for the increase in the load.

For example, a one-tonne load at a 20ft radius gives a forward load moment of 20. This load moment would then be equalized or counterbalanced by a 4-tonne counterweight at a distance of five feet, having rearward load moment of twenty (20 × 1 = 4 × 5).

Since adding counterweight is often neither practical nor, in some cases, recommended, true balance of a fixed counterweight crane can only be achieved at one specific radius. Any variation caused by changing the radius at which the load is lifted, destroys the balance.

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WHY A BALANCED DESIGN IS BETTER FOR BUSINESS Balance is one of the key factors for any crane in the industry.

Without the right balance, a crane will lose its stability. To avoid this, all cranes know the principle of the ‘counterweight’. In most cases, this counterweight is at a fixed point on the crane. On an E-Crane, however, the counterweight is linked to the stick, so it can automatically compensate for the lifted load.

The balance crane provides a fail-safe system which guarantees that the crane will always be in balance. The link between the stick and counterweight creates a four-bar mechanism, which ensures that the counterweight continuously balances the total weight of the steel structure along with half of the operational load. As the lifting radius is varied, the change in the load moment is automatically equalized by the moving counterweight.

ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT

Sherwin Alumina: handling bauxite and alumina

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handling application.

The E-Crane is purpose built for a range of dedicated tasks including: v offloading Panamax/Handymax-sized vessels; v barge loading/unloading; v shiploading/unloading; v feeding hoppers; and v stockpiling.

Lowman Power Plant: coal and limestone cargoes When PowerSouth Energy Cooperative upgraded its Lowman TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Power Plant on the Tombigbee River for flue gas desulphurization (FGD), E-Crane offered a turnkey solution to Type 18264 PD-E the increased material unloading and river level problems: an Location LeRoy, Alabama, USA E-Crane floating terminal consisting of two barges (2000 Series Application Offloading coal and limestone E-Crane and conveyor back-up), a hopper, a barge-haul system, from barges and a barge-breasting system.

Mount Barge-mounted “E-Crane maintenance is simple, quick and easy. The ELift capacity 30 US tons/27 metric tonnes Crane is much safer and more reliable than the old gantry Reach 86.6ft/26.4m rope crane. And the E-Crane system is easy to operate, so the Attachment 25yd³/19m³ clamshell grab fatigue factor is less. With the floating terminal, the barges are Power source 600hp/450kW electric motor always at the same level as the E-Crane making it easy to bring them into position, unload them, and move them on,” says Mike Barton, Utility Supervisor at Powersouth Energy.

“The E-Crane system has cut our unloading time in half, cut our maintenance time dramatically, and just generally simplified our lives and reduced our costs substantially,” adds Tom Noble, Department Supervisor at Powersouth Energy.

ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT

PROVEN SOLUTION FOR BULK HANDLING Designed specifically for barge and ship unloading, E-Crane is a proven and trusted solution in many bulk material handling industries. Most dedicated systems for offloading coal, limestone and other bulk materials are costly, inflexible and require an expensive, hard to maintain infrastructure. The versatile, flexible E-Crane is just the opposite. E-Crane’s modular design and custom solutions make it the ideal equipment for any bulk

OCTOBER 2014

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American Electric Power, the major electric utility company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio is one of E-Crane’s largest customers in the US with no fewer than eight E-Cranes in operation.

The relationship between the two companies is a testament to AEP’s desire for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly bulk material handling equipment and E-Crane’s ability to support this desire with the required project management, parts, and maintenance services.

In 2012, the latest E-Crane for AEP was installed at the Clifty Creek Power plant near Madison

ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT

Co-operation between AEP and E-Crane continues

Indiana. The 1500 series E-Crane is used for unloading limestone for the flue gas desulphurization (FGD) process that takes place at the plant. Along with the crane, E-Crane also designed and provided a receiving hopper and barge haul system for Clifty. The hopper was designed by E-Crane engineers and was installed simultaneously with the E-Crane in May of 2012. A barge haul system, consisting of wire rope strung between two opposing winches, was also installed. The wire rope is connected to the barge and the winches either pay-out or take-up rope to move the barge downstream or upstream.

In 2008, E-Crane developed a similar project for AEP at Ohio Valley Electric Corporation’s (OVEC) Kyger Creek plant in Cheshire, Ohio. Both cranes have a 15.5t lift capacity and 29m reach.

CLOSE

CONSULTATION: SIMULATIONS ENHANCE CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

FLOATING TERMINALS Ten years ago, E-Crane delivered the first barge- and shipmounted E-Cranes to offload barges and small ships. E-Crane has adapted this great concept for the offloading of ships up to Panamax-class and has more than 15 units successfully operating worldwide.

These barge- or ship-mounted E-Cranes have been developed

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In close co-operation with clients, E-Crane’s engineers understand the project goals and lend suggestions from extensive past experiences.

Utilizing state-of-the-art 3D software, animated ‘real-time’ examples of a working machine at the customer’s facility can be produced.

This can be done from multiple viewpoints, simulating views in the ship or barge. For optimum productivity with the E-Crane, a wide variety of attachments are available, tailored to the specific job requirements.

E-Crane International produces and sells a large family of attachments including: v low-headroom hydraulic clamshell grabs; v hydraulic clamshell grabs; v hydraulic pig iron grabs; v hook attachments;

v spreaders; and v quick disconnects.

The E-Crane product line offers exceptional all-round flexibility and versatility. Using a ‘Series Built’ family of standard components adds value to its client partners.

Lowers are available in fixed or freestanding pedestals, rail, crawler and rubber tyre models with high or low portal carriers.

The upper is built around a wide range of boom and stick combinations, allowing for a tailor-made ‘custom’ material handling solution at off-the-shelf-prices.

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v the complete terminal can be relocated quickly and cost effectively if required; v the minimum investment combined with a short delivery time provides for an excellent return of investment; and v the option to have a floating buffer storage to smooth out any peaks and valleys between inbound and outbound material deliveries.

These advantages combined with the state-of-the-art, proven E-Crane technology result in excellent productivity and an extremely versatile; fully integrated solution for today's bulk handling industries.

TURNKEY BULK MATERIAL HANDLING SOLUTIONS E-Crane offers more than just the crane. It also offers turnkey bulk material handling solutions to optimize entire operations. It can help to streamline facilities by working with customers to provide other services and equipment including: v hoppers (can be attached to the E-Crane); v barges; and v barge haul systems.

ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT

in close co-operation with the company’s clients. The concept of a floating bulk handling terminal is well suited for both port operations (ship-to-shore) as well as midstream transfer (bargeto-ship and ship-to-barge).

The E-Crane organization is always open minded when it comes to solving clients’ special needs and requirements. This renowned ‘can-do’ attitude has resulted in cutting-edge solutions that have successfully served E-Crane’s customers world-wide.

The development of the E-Crane® Floating Bulk Terminal is another logical step in the evolution of this unique material handling concept.

Floating transloading terminals address a host of material handling needs that are present in today’s rapidly changing environment. This concept offers the following benefits: v the complete terminal can be built and tested and then floated to its final destination; v the terminal can be located at the closest possible location to the mine at the preferred transfer point near the enduser; v all this with limited local regulatory requirements;

Midema Midstream Transfer Facility This client required a floating E-Crane designed for ship-toquay discharging of Handy and Handymax vessels with shipto-ship and midstream transloading capabilities of breakbulk commodities on the Congo river.

E-Crane supplied a 400tph (tonnes per hour) midstream breakbulk transfer station for Seaboard’s MIDEMA grain terminal in Matadi, Democratic Republic of Congo.

As in many ports in Africa there are major port congestion problems. This, combined with the lack of new and reliable dockside equipment, was a major bottleneck in

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MIDEMA’s grain supply chain.

The new floating terminal has greatly improved the capacity, efficiency and flexibility of the ship unloading operations.

Conceptual design studies were carried out in close co-operation with the customer to determine the optimum floating terminal concept with particular emphasis on the optimum placement of the E-Crane. Crane and barge fit together ‘hand in glove’.

The advantage over other floating crane concepts is the fact that the counterweight moves not only up and down but also back and forward resulting in a very small tipping moment. This means less barge movement and the result is less friction between the floating terminal and the vessel, more precise and faster grab positioning as well as more comfort for the operator and the crew working on board of the floating transfer station.

With this new E-Crane floating terminal, Seaboard offers the owners, operators, and charterers of cargo vessels a very competitive alternative to traditional shore side terminals and berthing. In addition, it offers comprehensive assistance with all facets of cargo movement through its terminal.

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