capacity truck, for instance, he or she
can advise SmartGrip to fill the grab
with 40 t. This feature eases the
operation of the crane operator.
Case study 1: Saqr Port,
United Arab Emirates
Situation
Saqr Port is located at the northern tip
of the United Arab Emirates, with
access to the Arabian Gulf, and is the
Middle East’s major port for bulk
cargoes, aggregates, pipes, cement,
coal and other raw materials
imported for the local industries.
With its geographical position and
superior intermodal connections, the
port is also well-known for highly
efficient material handling and
premium infrastructure. The port’s
expertise has attracted additional
business, which has led to increased
cargo volumes, over the past 5 yr.
Task
Saqr Port handles several materials
with densities up to 2 t/m
3
and loads
on average around five ships per day.
The most common material is
limestone, which is characterised by
small rocks. When the grab is closed,
some of these rocks are compressed,
which results in intense shaking and
stress for the crane structure, due to
strong dynamic forces. Thus, in order
to minimise forces acting on the crane
structure, a smaller grab (22 m
3
) was
used, which naturally reduces
turnover.
Solution
Saqr Port decided to install SmartGrip
on its newest mobile harbour crane, a
LHM 550, to improve limestone
handling. This innovative system
optimises grab filling rates in a
self-learning process, which results in
more turnover, zero overloads and less
stress for crane and operator. For the
new LHM 550, the SmartGrip
parameters (e.g. closing speed, slack
rope values) have been specifically
adapted for the rocky limestone
material.
Performance
Thanks to the installation of SmartGrip,
Saqr Port has been able to use the
bigger grab (32 m
3
) without additional
stress for the crane structure. As a
result, the average limestone load has
increased by more than 30%, leading to
increased turnover. It also has
additional benefits: time-consuming
overloads have been completely
eliminated and, due to very smooth
force effects, shaking has dramatically
decreased, leading to more driver
comfort and extended life span of the
crane.
Case study 2: Port
Polnocny, Poland
Situation
In 2013, two LPS 600s started operation
in Port Polnocny, Poland. Both
machines are equipped with the
Pactronic hybrid power booster. This
cutting-edge hydraulic hybrid drive for
cranes leads to an increase of up to 30%
turnover capacity. Like others, Port
Polnocny is constantly looking for new
ways to enhance productivity. The
launch of SmartGrip offered a new
possibility to increase their port’s
efficiency.
Task
Port Polnocny mostly unloads coal,
which is wet in the majority of cases.
The customer reported overloads in
serving wet coal with a density of
approximately 1 t/m
3
. The main
problem after closing the grab is the
weight of the load plus the
deadweight of the grab presses on the
underlying coal. This circumstance
leads to adhesive forces between the
grab and the rest of the coal in the
hedge. The grab sticks in the material.
By pulling out the grab, the crane
behaves like a fishing rod, which
means as long as the grab is sticking,
the crane is stretched. When the grab
breaks out of the material, large
Figure 3. Loss in turnover and overloads are possible without SmartGrip.
64
|
World Coal
|
June 2015
