In launching its Model 3 harbour crane, Gottwald Port
Technology GmbH (Gottwald), a subsidiary of Demag Cranes
AG, has expanded its current range of Generation 5 harbour
cranes. As the successor to the Generation 4, HMK 260, the
new Model 3 takes over the slot as the entry level model for the
100-tonne class in Generation 5.
“With its Model 3 harbour crane, Gottwald has launched yet
another future-orientated handling machine,” explains Dr.
Mathias Dobner, executive vice president and member of the
executive committee of Demag Cranes AG responsible for R &
D / Engineering. “This crane has improved working speeds and a
greater radius than its predecessor, and it also features
innovative drive technology and design, such as the three-phasepowered
hoist and slewing gear units and a broad range of
options, including an energy-efficient hybrid drive. All in all,
Model 3 is a handling machine that is designed to combine high
handling rates with excellent efficiency, which means that it is an
ideal extension to the existing family of Generation 5 machines.”
After Gottwald initially launched its Generation 5 family of
cranes at the beginning of 2006, consisting at that time of
models 6, 7 and 8, the large crane family, the company then
added its compact Model 4 at the end of 2007 as the next step
towards filling the medium-sized family.
In line with the company slogan, ‘You Name it, We Crane it’,
Gottwald’s Generation 5 harbour cranes offer maximum lifting
capacities of 200 tonnes, working radii of up to 56 metres and
are constructed using a ground-breaking modular design
principle as mobile harbour cranes, portal cranes, floating cranes
on barges, combinations of portal and floating cranes and
pedestal-mounted cranes.
The numerous types and variants available, on the one hand,
and the company’s Advance Order Programme, on the other,
ensure that customers are provided with individual solutions
while minimizing delivery lead-times and the specific investment
costs for the machine and quay infrastructure. The many
terminal operators all over the world who have bought the
hundreds of cranes since the introduction of Generation 5 have
benefited from this concept.
 
ENTRY INTO THE 100-TONNE CLASS— HIGHWORKING SPEEDS,
LARGE RADIUS, EXCELLENT EFFICIENCY
With its broad range of 100-tonne harbour cranes, Gottwald
meets the requirements of all types of vessels, terminals and
cargo handling. As the entry model in this class, Model 3, with
its maximum lifting capacity of 100 tonnes up to a radius of 20
metres, is the youngest addition to Gottwald’s medium-sized
crane family, which is characterised by its compact, functional
construction and quick, easy access routes for crane personnel.
Model 3 cranes are particularly suited to rapid container and
general cargo handling alongside vessels up to standard class.
For handling bulk materials, this new Gottwald universal machine
has a 34-tonne and 28-tonne motor grab curve with A7 and A8
classification respectively.
With its maximum radius of 46m, an installed maximum
output of 895 kW and hoisting speeds of up to 120m/min,
Model 3 demonstrates a radius 2 metres more than that of its
predecessor, the Generation 4, HMK 260, and increased working
speeds to enable improved productivity.
Model 3 is available in three variants, and, as usual with
Gottwald harbour cranes, as a rubber-tyred mobile harbour
crane, a rail mounted portal harbour crane, a floating crane on a
barge and as a pedestal-mounted stationary crane.
 
PROVEN TECHNOLOGY COUPLED WITH INNOVATIONS
IN DESIGN AND DRIVE TECHNOLOGY
To ensure safe, ergonomic, economical and environmentally
compatible crane operation, Model 3, like all the Generation 5
machines, is equipped with numerous practical enhancements as
standard, backed up by a range of optional features. These
include individually steered axles, tight turning circles and crab
steering to provide optimum manoeuvrability and automation
features for repetitive motions like propping the crane.
The optional load guidance system including linear load
motion, load anti-sway, point-to-point handling and hoisting
height limiting, assist the crane driver in achieving high handling
rates.
“In line with our philosophy of blending proven technology
with innovation, Model 3 continues our tradition of using fieldtested,
reliable Gottwald harbour crane technology together
with many new features,” enthuses Dr. Dobner.
Gottwald is also pioneering new drive concepts by using
three-phase-powered hoist and slewing gear units. “In this field,
we are taking full advantage of technical progress and economic
efficiency in three-phase technology for drive motors of a size
suitable for these applications,” says Dr. Dobner. Added to this
are the changes to the crane’s construction which take into
account the very compact design of Model 3, such as the new,
space-saving hoist drive.
 
ELECTRICAL DRIVES, OF COURSE
Like all of Gottwald’s harbour cranes, Model 3 also uses
electricity as its energy source — which is the most popular
form of energy in ports and terminals due to its cost
effectiveness and environmental friendliness. The on-board
diesel-powered generators meet the requirements of EU
Directive 2000/14/EC and provide optimum efficiency, low fuel
consumption and minimum exhaust gas emissions on the site.
As one would expect, Model 3 can also be powered from an
on-shore power supply, which improves the efficiency of the
machines still more. Crane owners benefit both from the energy
recovered from the crane’s lowering and braking motions and
from the fact that exhaust gas emissions from the crane are zero
and noise emissions in the terminal are also reduced.
 
FIRST TIME – THREE-PHASE TECHNOLOGY FOR HOIST AND
SLEWING GEAR UNITS
With the new Model 3, Gottwald is expanding its electric drive
concept by employing three-phase technology for its hoists and
slewing gear units. “As the pacesetter in mobile harbour cranes
and their drive technology, Gottwald has for years been using
reliable DC drives for its hoists and slewing gear units in cranes
of all sizes,” explains Dr. Dobner. “By now employing threephase
current, we are integrating technology that has proved
itself in numerous industrial applications and in mobile handling
machines of corresponding sizes.”
The advantages include:
  regular maintenance of carbon brushes no longer required;
  reduced power surges for the generator due to the
sophisticated design;
  simplified integration of energy storage media (ultracaps); and
  mitigated line-side harmonics in power supplies.
 
NEW HYBRID DRIVE— FUTURE ORIENTATED AND SUSTAINABLE
If the local quay infrastructure does not allow the Model 3 crane
to be connected to an external power supply, the new, optional
Gottwald hybrid drive is the key to improved efficiency,
reductions in fuel consumption in a double-digit percentage
range and lower exhaust gas emissions. A further benefit of the
new hybrid drive is that the diesel engine has quieter running
characteristics, which reduces noise emissions.
In Gottwald’s hybrid drive — a combination of an on-board
diesel-powered generator and electrostatic short-term energy
storage — the energy recovered during the crane’s lowering and
braking actions is stored and then made available to the crane’s
power system for the next work cycle. The short-term storage
medium is provided by electrostatic wear and friction free
double-layer capacitors (ultracaps), which store the energy as
electricity so it does not have to be converted, have a high
efficiency rating, power density and cycle rate, which makes them
ideally suited to the tough conditions of professional crane
operation. Together with the hybrid drive, the use of dynamic
brake resistors improves energy management by producing
significant fuel savings.
 
MORE CHOICE FOR CRANE OPERATORS
“The launch of Model 3 makes a further universally applicable,
electrically powered handling machine available to the market.
Electric drive technology from Gottwald stands for maximum
energy efficiency — particularly the use of external power which
increases the machines’ efficiency and the use of the new hybrid
drive open up a new field of potential cost reductions coupled
with sustainable environmental protection,” emphasizes
Dr. Dobner. “As the technological leader in this field, we are
convinced that our new Model 3 is a milestone — not just in
the many faceted 100-tonne cargo-handling segment, but also in
terms of energy management, which is playing an ever more
central role in our customers’ investment decisions.”