Keppel Integrated Engineering contract Konecranes to supply cranes for energy from waste plant

Keppel Seghers, the environmental technology division of Keppel Integrated Engineering Limited (KIE), has contracted Konecranes UK's Industrial Crane Division to supply the cranes for the £233-million EPC contract to build an energy-from-waste CHP (combined heat and power) plant for the Greater Manchester region.


The order totaling £4m is in two parts. The first is for the five cranes that will operate within the plant. Two are 15t GL Waste Grabbing cranes, two are 6t GL Ash Handling cranes and the last one is a 3t GL Residue Ash Handling crane. All of these cranes will operate fully automatically on a 24/7 basis and Konecranes engineers will have the ability to monitor the crane operation from onboard modem links.


The second part of the order is for 2 Konecranes LV Goliaths. The waste for processing in the plant will be delivered in containers by train, 3 trains per day initially then up to 5 train loads per day later as the plant gradually reaches it's optimum performance. The two 25t goliath cranes, having a span of 23 metres will unload the containers from the trains onto trucks or to storage, then, from the storage area to the trucks later, as demand requires. Then, after the trucks have been taken to the waste pit and emptied they are returned to the cranes where they are then loaded back on the trains. The cranes are equipped to accept a 6Kva High Tension power supply, this high voltage is then fed into an HT transformer on each crane via a motorized cable drum, where we step it down to 415v then it goes to our control system to power the crane motions. The cranes have KONECRANES DynA Inverter control on all motions + ESR (Extended speed range) on the hoist plus DynAReg Network braking where we take the energy normally lost in resistance banks during the lowering motion and feed it back into the network/grid to reduce running costs and conserve energy and KONECRANES unique DynAPilot control for anti-sway where load stability is controlled and monitored without operator intervention.


All electrical control panels are housed in air conditioned E-houses, in a separate control room for the automated cranes and locally mounted on the goliath cranes, allowing good access for maintenance and service whatever the weather or environmental conditions at the time. The cranes have condition monitoring, PLC control, overload protection, festooned cross crane cables.


The cranes will be manufactured at Konecranes UK East Kilbride factory in Scotland and are to be delivered in July 2011.