Capital Equipment News May 2018

MATERIALS HANDLING NEWS

New Potain components unveiled at Intermat

Manitowoc used Intermat 2018, held from 23-28 April in Paris, France, to showcase key new innovations, the first of which is the 75 HPL winch. The 75 HPL is suitable for all top slewing cranes. It comes in four versions, from 10 to 16 t capacity, making it adaptable to most work sites. The 75 HPL winch’s increased hoisting speeds enable quick load handling and shorter hoisting cycles, resulting in increased productivity for customers. Temperature monitoring of the motor and reduction gear helps to increase service life, and for CCS cranes this can be displayed on the display inside the cab. What’s more, the new winch architecture makes components easy to access, giving quick access for servicing and checking reduction gear oil levels. Other features include a lower level of vibration and reduced noise levels, an optimised power network that automatically adapts to the electrical network, and smooth and precise operation thanks to new service break controls. The second new product feature previewed at Intermat was the Potain Cab-IN, the company’s inside mast

The 75 HPL is suitable for all top slewing cranes.

“The first installation for Air Products went so well that they requested we manage the entire project for the second tank, including transporting the tank from Germiston to Newcastle, cranage and rigging,” explains Hawkins. Air Products manufactures, supplies and distributes industrial and specialty gas products and chemicals to customers in South Africa and internationally in the steel, stainless steel, chemical, petrochemical, and engineering industries. Hawkins reports that in addition to providing incident-free heavy lifting services to Air Products, Babcock has successfully completed various other heavy lifts in the last few months. The company places emphasis on safety and training and prides itself on its safety record, which currently stands at 20 years without a single product fail or injury. In February 2018 Babcock received an order from Transnet to upright an operator lift. Developed for Potain top slewing cranes in partnership with GEDA, an industrial elevator and construction lift manufacturer, the Potain Cab-IN allows for fast and easy travel to and from the cab, fits inside all K-mast systems and is compatible with all Potain bases/chassis. It also boosts cost efficiency, as it does not incur additional transportation costs or require extra storage space on the yard. The Potain Cab-IN will be released in late 2018.

180-tonne electric locomotive that had derailed in Katu. As the line could only be isolated for three hours, the recovery of the locomotive was undertaken utilising a Liebherr LTM1400 and LTM1500 in tandem to place the locomotive back on the tracks. “Babcock provided the cranage and rigging and the successful outcome has since resulted in Babcock receiving further orders for locomotive recoveries from Transnet,” says Hawkins. Earlier this year Babcock was called on by Sappi Ngodwana to install 10 evaporator columns, ranging in mass from 36 to 74 t, as well as the offloading of a complex cooler weighing 95 tonnes. These lifts once again utilised the 500-tonne Liebherr LTM1500 mobile crane. During Sappi Ngodwana’s annual shutdown in May, Babcock will be removing an existing cooler and installing a new cooler using a Liebherr LG1550; a 600-t lattice boom crane with 200-t counterweights on the carrier deck. b Furthermore, Manitowoc highlighted its remote crane diagnostic system, Crane- STAR Diag. CraneSTAR Diag is part of a new generation of remote maintenance support from Manitowoc. The telematic device is available on all Potain CCS and MCT cranes, and offered as an option on Hup cranes. Remote access to the crane’s operating and maintenance information reduces maintenance time allocation and potential downtime on site. b

Large lifts for Babcock’s plant division

Babcock’s safety first philosophy has resulted in its plant hire business receiving two orders from Air Products South Africa to install two 88-tonne cryogenic tanks at its plant in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. Following the first successful, incident-free heavy lift in 2017, Air Products contracted Babcock to undertake the transport, cranage and rigging to install a second cryogenic tank at the same plant this year. The cryogenic tanks are used to store CO 2 . The second installation will be undertaken using the Liebherr LTM1500 500-tonne mobile crane and multi-axle trailer, which was also used for the first lift. Despite it being an extremely large crane used for heavy lifts, the Liebherr LTM1500 is quick and easy to erect. Michael Hawkins, Heavy Lift Manager at Babcock, says that the first tank was installed within four hours using a team of four Babcock employees and six rigging specialists.

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