E-Crane equipment remains popular in the coal handling arenaE-Crane Worldwide is a modern, state-of-the-art engineering and heavy equipment construction company, based in Adegem, Belgium and with subsidiary companies for sales management, technical support and service in The Netherlands (E-Crane International Europe) and Ohio, USA (E-Crane International USA). E-Crane Worldwide develops turnkey material handling solutions with engineering services, equipment manufacturing, erection, operator/maintenance training and custom-tailored ongoing service programmes for its clients.
EQUIPMENT MANUFACTUREDThe standard E-Crane product line consists of five series of balanced hydraulic cranes (E-Cranes): 700 Series, 1000 Series, 1500 Series, 2000 Series, and 3000 Series. The E-Crane is a truly revolutionary material handling machine as its main design feature is a parallelogram style boom configuration which allows the machine to be in near perfect balance throughout the duty cycle.
The E-Crane is specifically designed for barge unloading processes. Anything from coal to limestone to fertilizer to scrap steel can be handled. The E-Crane is a truly versatile machine in that it can easily switch between commodities and still offer the high production required at many ports and industrial facilities.
Half of the near 20 E-Cranes in operation today in North and South America are in the power sector. The E-Crane is a perfect solution for power plants because of the versatility to handle both the fuel for the plant and the other materials needed for air quality control processes. American Electric Power is the company’s largest customer, along with other US-based utilities such as Southern Company, Power South, Ohio Valley Electric Corp, and Cleco, amongst others. The US inland waterways is by far the most populated area for E-Cranes as there are many different ports and stevedoring facilities that desire a high production machine with high reliability and low reoccurring maintenance costs. Terminal management firms such as Kinder Morgan have realized the advantages of the E-Crane versus other more traditional pieces of equipment.
The E-Crane is placed firmly between production line excavators (or material handlers) and large scale dedicated unloading structures. Even the smaller E-Cranes offer much more unloading capacity than the standard excavator. The larger E-Cranes can compete with dedication systems in terms of production and come in at only a fraction of the installed cost with even less annual maintenance costs. The E-Crane product line is rated for barge offloading from 500tph (tonnes per hour) to 2,000tph.
E-Crane promotes a ‘turnkey’ style approach to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. It now offers its customers complete barge offloading solutions including hoppers, feeders, barge positioning systems, and even floating solutions mounted on deck barges. It uses its expertise in barge offloading to design the most efficient systems so its customers can get as much out of their machines as possible. E-Crane’s customers are satisfied as well since this eliminates much of the headache of procurement and project management that goes into these types of projects.
In recent years E-Crane has spent a lot of resources developing its customer service department. ECI–USA has made investments in more warehouse space and increased inventory along with additional field service engineers. It now has more than 95% of all spare parts for its customers on hand in its warehouse and its increased field service staff has secured full maintenance contracts with many of our customers. E-Crane also offers a means of remote troubleshooting via secure cellular connection with its customers who demand minimal downtime.
THE EQUILIBRIUM DESIGNThe ‘E’ in E-Crane stands for Equilibrium. The E-Crane design is based on an ingenious parallelogram-style boom that provides a direct mechanical connection between the counterweight and the load. This unique four-bar mechanism system ensures that the E-Crane remains in near perfect balance throughout its working range. Compared to conventional cranes that require as much as 80% of their available energy just to move the boom, stick, and grab, the E-Crane makes gravity work for you instead of against you, reducing horsepower requirements and power consumption by up to 50% and significantly reducing maintenance and operating costs.
The E-Crane series offers models with up to 50 tonnes duty cycle capacity due to their movable counterweight and fixed parallelogram linkage as well as up to 150ft/50m of horizontal and up to 100ft/30m reach below grade. Its modular design allows each E-Crane to be tailor-made to the client's specific requirements.
RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTSE-Cranes now come with a new, reliable and user-friendly control system called the EMM, or Electronic Machine Manager. This built in system is a huge innovation in data collection technology, and allows for real time data collection of things such as running time, how many times the E-Crane hits a fault while in operation, whether there is an overload or overheat, and more. Some even stream live, real--time video of the E-Crane while in operation.
ORTS: grabbing coal and other bulk commodities for 40 years
ORTS GmbH Maschinenfabrik is a major manufacturer of grabs for bulk handling applications. The company can trace its history back to 1972, when it was founded as an engineer office and consulting company, specializing in the constructions of grabs (main business) and other types of bulk handling equipment.
To start with, it dealt only with construction and sales, with the manufacture of all appliances taking place at well-known companies in Northern Germany.
In 1985, the company set up its own workshop, and the name ORTS GmbH Maschinenfabrik was adopted.
In the early 1980s, ORTS started offering grabs with 100% enclosed buckets to protect the environment from fugitive dust.
At the end of 1990s, ORTS took over the last drawings from the bankrupt grab manufacturer ZGS (formerly TAKRAF VEB Schmiede und Schweißwerk Zwickau SSW), the leading grab manufacturer in the former East Germany (GDR/DDR). Because of the long, nearly 30-year partnership that it enjoyed with the bankrupt company, ORTS is able to provide, as far as the drawings are available, former customers from ZGS with spare parts for their grabs.
ORTS GmbH Maschinenfabrik remains extremely busy. Among recent activities, the company has delivered two mechanical four-rope grabs, type 2S-4-1B, to a customer in Indonesia.
Each of the grabs has a clamshell capacity of 24m3, and they are both designed to handle coal. This Indonesian customer is a new one for ORTS, and placed the order with the company after it was recommended by another customer. ORTS was able to convince the Indonesian purchaser of the high quality of the construction, design and technical features of its grabs — as well as its competitive pricing.
ORTS has also won an order for its electro-hydraulic grabs for four newbuild bulk carriers, along with the crane equipment to operate them. For this contract, ORTS was in competition with several other manufacturers of bulk handling grabs; it won the contract because of the quality of its grabs, its pricing matrix and the fact that all its grabs are ‘Made in Germany’.
This year, ORTS is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Since it started operating, ORTS has built some of the world’s largest grabs. With its advances in technology over the years, it has introduced new types of grab, including the first radio-controlled diesel- hydraulic motor grab (DHS-B), which came from ORTS’s drawing board.
ORTS has been so prominent in the development of grab technology that even other grab manufacturers have bought its drawings and constructions because of its outstanding designs and technologies.
Procon Engineering: continuing to pull its weight in the coal handling market
Industrial belt weighers play a vital role at ports and terminals for dynamically weighing bulk coal with applications covering both static and mobile installations. Belt weighing is an effective solution for accurately weighing large quantities of bulk material in applications where static weighing is either impractical or process limiting. Belt scales operate by continuously weighing the material as it travels across a predetermined length of conveyor belt above the weigh carriage (weight per unit length). This is then combined with the measured belt speed to give the throughput weight per unit time (typically in units of tonnes per hour or tph). Finally the integrated ongoing totalized weight is calculated. Throughput capabilities of such weighers typically range from less than 5tph up to 12,000tph.
By the nature of the applications, the majority of belt weighers typically operate in harsh working environments, often with minimal and infrequent maintenance. Belt weigher accuracy depends on a number of factors, including the number of rollers on the weigh carriage, the weighing technology used and the uniformity of the material being weighed. Other contributory factors that can affect accuracy include belt tension and tracking, unwanted material build up around the weigh carriage and calibration frequency. Accuracies of better than ±0.5% can be achieved for free flowing product and moisture content compensation measuring systems, used in conjunction with the belt weighers, can further improve performance. With commodity prices increasing steadily, ensuring long term accurate weighing is essential. Even small error changes, resulting in unwanted material giveaway, can make a significant difference to bottom line profitability
A high proportion of belt weighers use strain gauge load cells to support the weigh carriage and although these provide good serviceability, they can be unreliable long term in harsh outdoor environments. To overcome this shortcoming, Procon Engineering has continued to develop its unique Resometric Belt Weighers. These robust weighers have proved to be significantly more reliable than conventional load cell based units in arduous applications. The units provide a unique combination of features that ensure the key factors influencing belt weigher performance are maintained in service over long periods of time.
At the heart of the scale is the Digital Resometric force transducer or resonator, which provides unequalled levels of measurement performance that is repeatable for extended periods. The resonator has no moving parts and is pre-loaded to a default level by the applied force from the weigh carriage. As the force varies with the load passing over the carriage rollers, the resonant frequency changes in proportion to applied load. This change in frequency is processed by the electronics and when combined with the belt travel speed, provides accurate throughput and totalized weight readings.
Lateral chains are fitted between the weigh carriage and the rigid conveyor to prevent any unwanted side forces being introduced through factors such as poor belt tracking or material asymmetry. As a result, once the weigh carriage is installed and aligned, it only sees the vertical forces produced by the material being weighed. Periodic calibration checks can be carried out simply and expediently by utilizing the built-in roll-over calibration weights fitted across the weigh carriage. These have a cam at each end and under normal operating conditions the weights sit free of the weigh carriage on the outside frame.When calibration is carried out, they are simple rotated so that the weights rest on the live weigh carriage.
RESOMETRIC BELT WEIGHERS IN ACTION
The long-term stability and reliability of resometric belt weighers makes them ideal for applications at ports and terminals. Over 20 such weighers are continuing to provide accurate and trouble free weighing on equipment operating in the tough working environment at the EMO terminal at Rotterdam. The weighers are fitted to giant mobile stacker reclaimers and in conveyor belts at several locations at the terminal.
EMO bv (Europees Massagoed-Overslagbedrijf) operates the largest dry bulk terminal in Europe, specializing in the unloading and storage of iron ore and coal from around the world. The company, which operates 24 hours a day, 360 days a year, handles over 35 million tonnes of raw materials annually, playing a vital role in the supply chain of iron ore and coal needed for the European steel and power generation industries.
Procon Engineering has a long-standing relationship with EMO, stretching back more than 25 years and the weighing equipment has proved to have outstanding reliability and long- term accuracy. EMO operates five Krupp/PWH stacker- reclaimers fitted with Procon Belt Weighers rated up to 7,000tph, four PHB/PWH/MAN ship-unloaders and three barge loaders. EMO’s project assistant Ab van Doorn is more than satisfied with the Procon equipment and as he explains:“The weighers operate in one of the most arduous environments imaginable and they have to withstand extremes of weather with little time for maintenance. Although the weighers are a relatively small part of the giant equipment working at the terminal, their importance cannot be underestimated. Any downtime is costly and very inconvenient, and as a result, reliability is vitally important.”
Unlike fixed inclination weighing applications, the belt weighers on the booms of the stacker reclaimers are subjected
to constantly changing angles of operation. This would normally introduce significant cosine weighing errors due to the apparent change in the suspended weigh carriage mass. To automatically compensate for the changing angles of operation, the weighers are fitted with Procon’s proprietary Astatic Mass Zero Compensation system.
The belt weighers are checked for calibration on a regular basis against two Weights & Measures-approved reference Procon belt weighers at permanent locations on site and also a train loading scale.
On the other side of the world, Procon Resometric Belt Weigher systems are playing a pivotal role in the handling of coal at the rapidly expanding Tianjin Port on China’s north eastern sea board.
The belt weighers have a throughput capacity of 7,000tph and have been supplied to contractors Voest-Alpine Material Handling GmbH (VAMH) to form integral parts of its giant mobile coal reclaimers (VARL) and stacker-reclaimers (VASR).
As VAMH’s senior project engineer, Johann Tielitz explains: “The belt weighers are a critical part of our equipment and we need to know they will provide long term reliability and accuracy. We have developed a strong working relationship with Procon Engineering and experience shows that their equipment exceeds our expectations.”
The contract for the belt scales follows on from the successful installation of a total of three Procon belt weighers
supplied to VAMH for Tianjin and a further nine belt weighers for stackers and reclaimers at the Baoshan Project in Shanghai. Procon has also supplied a further six belt scales on fixed conveyors at Tianjin.
CONCLUSIONBelt weighers play an important part in coal handling and processing activities worldwide and their accuracy can have a major impact on profitability. Although higher accuracy belt weighers may cost more initially, this additional premium is rapidly countered by the improved performance and reliability, bringing a relatively short-term return on investment.
Dos Santos International fixes a sticky situation
When it comes to materials handling, there are plenty of conveying solutions to choose from. While all of them share the common focus of transporting material from one point to another, not all of them share the same efficiency and capability. Various materials have different properties such as size, abrasiveness and moisture which can diminish the efficiency and suitability of some conveying solutions. Such was the case at a major steel producer in Northern Spain. The plant had previously installed a vertical pocket belt system to elevate raw coal to the blast furnace coal grinding plant. PHB Weserhu¨tte S.A. (PWH) of Gijon, Asturias, Spain stepped in to offer a system expansion which included increased throughput to a new and existing pulverizing plant. The pocket belt, which served the pulverizing plant, proved to be problematic as it did not completely discharge the moist coal. The carry back created a continuous clean-up problem. A representative at PWH contacted Dos Santos International when the company began to focus on a more efficient means of high-angle conveying that could completely discharge the coal without any carry back.
PWH recognized the capabilities of the DSI Snake Sandwich High Angle Conveyor. The DSI Snake utilizes conventional, smooth rubber belts that completely discharge the material and scrape clean by belt scrapers. This advantage solves the problem of losing material to carry back on the pocket belt system, while still allowing the high angle path. The new DSI Snake replaced the pocket belt and provided the additional capacity for the new pulverizing plant. A bifurcated discharge chute with flop gate, allowed direction of the coal flow to either plant. The Snake elevates 250tph (tonnes per hour) of coal at a 75° angle. The DSI Snake proved successful in rectifying this sticky situation and offering a more efficient solution.
The success of this conveyor system did not go unnoticed. Since this installation, two additional DSI Snakes have been installed in Spain for Repsol Refineries. The first was installed for the Muskiz Refinery near Bibao in northeastern Spain. The second is at the Cartagena Refinery on the Mediterranean Sea in southern Spain.
The DSI Snake at the Muskiz Refinery elevates coke and delivers the hot product to a truck load-out system. Designed to operate in an enclosed, potentially explosive environment, this Snake is subject to, and compliant with, the latest and strictest ATEX standards.
The second DSI Snake at the Cartagena refinery is of ‘C-shaped’ profile. The refinery expansion consists of two complete storage facilities. The first one is for petroleum coke storage and the second is for sulphur storage. The DSI Snake is part of the sulphur storage facility. Its function is to transport the solid particles generated during the solidification process at the plant, and to temporarily store them in piles to be taken to the port facilities.
These two DSI Snakes for Spain are part of a growing list of installations for Dos Santos International which includes a variety of applications throughout the world. DSI offers many unique systems from stationary units in all sizes, to fully mobile high-angle shiploaders designed to accommodate wharves with limited space. The versatility of the DSI Snake is demonstrated with each application, but the full potential of the system will only become realized as more units are installed for the wide range of industries that have yet to implement this well- established technology.
Core SystemsTM design delivers conveyor uptime: a ‘Superior’ solution
Utilizing the expertise of the Superior Industries’ knowledgeable engineering, manufacturing and sales teams, the company’s Core Systems Design consulting service
designs and supplies tailored power transmission components to provide a complete, custom drive package for each unique,
conveying application. In addition to ensuring optimum efficiency and uptime, the single system provider and tailored approach, eliminates hassles by allowing the customer to work with a single company for both the machine and components. Installation is easy and simple with the entire drive system delivered in one complete, assembled package.
The Core Systems Design approach is a customized conveyor drive replacement service. Ideal for applications where minimal downtime is crucial such as coal, power generation plants and mines, Core
Systems Design creates optimum conveyor efficiency and uptime for customers by ensuring drive components are ideally suited for the particular job specifications. The process investigates unique jobsite factors such as type and weight of material, average daily output, conveyor profile and ideal conveyor speed to ensure optimum power requirements are met.
In addition to the thorough consulting portion of the Core Systems Design service, Superior’s team of engineers employs Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with every design. This technology identifies crucial stress points and predicts potential failures, allowing the engineering team to adjust the design accordingly.All Core Systems Design manufacturing team members are certified by the American Welding Society and fully trained in weld inspection and x-ray capabilities.
Fully customizable to each customer, the drive system package can incorporate any number of components, from a few select replacement parts to a complete power transmission operating system. Superior manufacturers its own pulleys and take-ups, with standard pulleys offered in diameters up to 60 inches, face widths up to 120
inches and shafting up to 15 inches. Custom pulleys are available upon request. The
company works with top distributors to source additional requested components like bearings, gearing, couplings
and bushings. Superior stocks or has quick access to these power transmission components, enabling
the company to provide fast turnaround time on every Core Systems Design package. Delivery on standard products
exceeds industry standards and expedited service is available in as little as 24 to 48 hours from initial call
to final delivery. Additionally, each custom-engineered drive assembly is delivered as a pre-assembled package,
eliminating costly labour and hassle involved in onsite assembly while greatly reducing
installation time. Assembly drawings and all industry leading brands of power transmission components are available upon request.
To optimize convenience, reliability and peace of mind, the entire system is engineered and built by Superior, and is guaranteed to work with the existing machine. In addition, the Core Systems Design service is backed by the company’s two- year warranty with extended plans available on request. Furthermore, the shaft on each assembly is protected by a specially developed rust prevention treatment for
added performance and longevity.
ABOUT SUPERIOR INDUSTRIESEstablished in 1972, Superior Industries has a reputation
for engineering and manufacturing groundbreaking, bulk
material handling conveyors and cutting-edge
components. From its headquarters in Morris,
Minnesota, USA, the manufacturer serves bulk
handlers with stackers, transfer conveyors and stationary systems
plus idlers, pulleys and accessories to lower operating costs and increase production. The company manufactures from two additional plants in Arizona and Georgia.