Cable reels make cranes more efficient

The port terminal in Tangier will receive 32 Hans Künz automatic stacking cranes (ASCs) which will be powered by Conductix-Wampfler’s High Dynamic SMART Drive motor driven cable reels. Specifically designed for dynamic crane applications they will be used to provide smooth supplies of energy and data for the ASCs.

Dinu Solomon, Conductix-Wampfler’s sales director for Germany and Austria, said: “Particularly in the field of ASCs, the requirements for travel and center-feed crossing speeds and for acceleration are becoming more demanding – the system limitations with regard to maximum cable loads are approaching.”

Conductix-Wampfler is supplying the SMART drive HD20 VFD variant, including SEW motors with integrated frequency-inverter control. This is designed to enable an operation with minimised cable pull and temperature fluctuations between –10°C and +45°C (14–113°F), with acceleration rates of 0.35m/s and at speeds of up to 210m/min.

The cable reels have optimized spools designed to have the lowest possible inertia and newly developed HD gearboxes, each with more than 20 different gear ratios.

The components make it possible to optimize drive design, reduce cable loading, and increase energy efficiency, claim Conductix-Wampfler.

The container-stacking area of the terminal is divided into 16 stacking blocks. Each will have two fully automated ASCs supplied by Hans Künz.

From 2019, the terminal will be able to cater for the new generation of ultra large container ships (ULCSs) with capacities of up to 20,000 teu, increasing the total capacity of the port to 9m teu.