In fact, you can reflect on how well the industry is doing by measuring their sales but this remains somewhat mysterious. “Due to corporate limitations, I’m not able to give you the final sales results or a reference list for 2010 (this will be presented in January 2011) but sales of Liebherr Mobile Harbour Cranes are about the same as in 2009 (>70 units). About half of them were delivered in four-rope configuration for dedicated bulk handling,” said Joachim Dobler, Marketing Mobile Harbour Cranes/Reach stacker at Austria-based Liebherr-Werk Nenzing. This would indicate that things are not all bad. But what have other manufacturers done in the past year?
Rulmeca
In July 2010, Italy-based Rulmeca announced that their subsidiary Rulmeca Tianjin Co Ltd completed the delivery of rollers for the second phase of the important project of China Resources Cement (Huarun Group) in Fengkai, China, the longest belt conveyors ever built in Asia. Rulmeca Tianjin received the order at the beginning of 2009 for more than 180.000 rollers for 2 belt conveyors lines of 40km for the limestone handling to link the quarry to the cement plant in Fengkai, China. The 2 lines of parallel-long distance curve belt conveyors feed one of the biggest cement plants in the world with limestone at 30,000 tonnes per day. Every line is composed of 3 curved overland conveyors (11, 12 and 17km) powered by a total of 19 groups of 750kW with a belt speed of 5m/s. The curved conveyors were designed to cross over 25 mountains but also roads and rivers.
Taim Weser
Taim Weser, Spain, is reporting to have delivered their new mobile, rail-mounted loader for cereal loading to the Port of Marseille (Port Autonome de Marseille – PAM), the most important port in France and the third-largest in Europe. The new cereal loader, which is provided with the most advanced control technology, will allow the increase of the French port’s bulk shipping management capacity. In 2008, the PAM embarked on a modernisation and expansion process that included, amongst other actions, the implementation of a new logistic export structure. To this end, it turned to the technology of Taim Weser, which has been in charge of the design, installation and commissioning of a mobile, rail-mounted ship and barge loader for cereal (wheat, corn, rapeseed, dry peas and barley), which has been installed on the Gloria quay at Port-Sant-Louis. Last October, once the loader assembly and commissioning were complete, Taim Weser technicians, together with the client’s specialised personnel, conducted the corresponding no-load and load testing to verify that the installation worked properly. After passing all tests, the new loader is fully operational and on the 15th of November it loaded its first ship. It is a machine designed to operate 2,000 hours per year and will be used for the loading of 80 to 205m-long ships and barges with a capacity ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 tonnes. The loader has a 38m-long boom that is luffable so as to allow the passage of ships when in the parked position. A telescopic chute travels along the entire length of the boom and is equipped with a telescopic nozzle with a trimmer on the end for the correct distribution of cereal inside vessel holds. It is fitted out with its own PLC, which performs control functions together with the different control instruments and safety elements its is provided with, such as limit switches, collision sensors, an anemometer, level probes, etc. With the arrival of the new loader the terminal will be able to manage a higher cereal shipping throughput and speed up all loading and unloading operations.
Liebherr Werk Nenzing
According to the company, this year’s main developments are the patented Pactronic Hybrid Drive System and the new LHM 550. The Mobile Harbour Crane range with performance ranging from 40 tonnes to a maximum of 208 tonnes is again expanded with a new model. With a maximum lifting capacity of 144 tonnes and maximum outreach of 54m the impressive range of application comprises highly efficient container handling up to 38 cycles per hour. The bulk version has a 48m boom and is designed for a bulk handling capacity of up to 1800t/h. The new LHM 550 is truly a milestone in the development of mobile port equipment say Liebherr. It is the first Mobile Harbour Crane running with a hydraulic, hybrid drive system [Pactronic] which was first introduced to the market in May on the new LHM 550, it will then be gradually rolled out on more crane models and by 2013 Pactronic will be offered on Liebherr’s entire mobile harbour crane range. Pactronic brings efficiency to a new level with turnover performance increases by 30% and at the same time fuel consumption decreases by 30% (for further information see article on Mobile Harbour Cranes).
Tenova TAKRAF
Earlier this year, Tenova TAKRAF, Italy, accomplished the refurbishment of a large bucket wheel excavator (BWE), built more than 27 years ago by the company. The big machine left the erection yard perfectly in accordance with the budget and timing of the project, looking like a brand new machine and it travelled on its all new crawler tracks to its operating place in the Sibovc mine of KEK Kosovo, where it commenced to work immediately. The complete mechanical and electrical revamping was realised in less than two years by the consortium TAKRAF/ABB/Vattenfall Mining Consulting and local partners. The whole machine, of more than 1500 tonnes of weight, was dismantled in large sections and then refurbished or replaced in some parts to be finally reassembled and commissioned. For the ILVA steelworks in Taranto, Italy, the company received the Provisional Acceptance Certificate (PAC) for the modernisation of a grab ship unloader. The unloader is one of the worlds largest in terms of operating capacity – more than 3,000tph of iron ore and coal – and size: it will unload ships up to 325,000dwt. May was an important month for Tenova TAKRAF as it received contracts to supply a pet coke handling system in Saudi Arabia, a turnkey system for Mauritania and a new stacker for Vale. Gulf Consolidated Contractors (GCC) awarded the contract to Tenova for a pet coke handling system, storage and ship loading system for their new Jubail Export refinery in Saudi Arabia. Tenova will be working in partnership with PHB Weserhutte and will be responsible for the design, supply and site delivery of a handling system comprising a conveyor belt system plus one scraper in the refinery area, an overland conveyor covering a distance of 25km from the refinery to the port, a system of conveyor belts plus two scrapers and one ship loader in the port area. The system will be used to store, transport and load petroleum coke, a solid residue obtained from petroleum refinement processes. The company also signed a contract for the turnkey supply of a ship loader and a conveyor system to Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM), a state-owned company in Mauritania. The new ship loader has an iron ore capacity of 12,000t/h and is part of a project for the expansion of the Zouerate mine. The extracted ore will be transported by rail from the mine to the Nouadhibou terminal for export. For the Vale terminal at Ponta de Madeira in Sao Luis do Maranhao, Brazil, Tenova received the Provisional Acceptance Certificate (PAC) from the customer for an iron ore stacker with a capacity of 20,000t/h and 55m boom length. The fabrication of the steel structures has been carried out at the TIMEC plant, China, also part of the Tenova group. Due to financial problems of the erection partner, the final erection activities have been performed directly by Tenova Italimpianti do Brazil. The stacker was part of a contract, which also included the design and turnkey supply of one bucket wheel reclaimer with a capacity of 11.000t/h, and with a 50m boom length and two identical stackers of 16.000t/h for the Carajas mine site, currently under final erection stage. In June, Tenova TAKRAF signed another important contract with Brazilian mining giant Vale. The contract includes a
new giant iron ore stacker on a turnkey basis with a nominal capacity of 16,000t/h and with a project capacity of 20,000t/h. The stacker, which will have a 55m boom will be installed at the Ponta de Madeira terminal as part of Vale’s plans to expand the terminal to 130 million t/y. The stacker is scheduled for delivery 730 days after the contract date and covers optional supply of an identical machine.
Total Soft Bank
South Korean Total Soft Bank announced the launch of its MOST (Multi-purpose Operation System for Terminals). The TOS system is an easy-to-use web-based system for multi-purpose terminals handling all kinds of cargos such as liquid bulk, dry bulk and break bulk. MOST offers users an ability to grasp and manage the whole work process of a terminal with computerised and automated solutions. From small- and medium-sized conventional terminals to large-scaled multi-purpose terminals, MOST can provide them the most time- and cost-effective results in terminal operations.