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The new Gottwald ASC Automated Stacking Cranes and straddle carriers work on the quayside at Antwerp Gateway hand-in-hand |
Düsseldorf, 22. Juni 2007 –
As pioneer and pacesetter in the field of automated port technology, Gottwald Port Technology
(Gottwald) has recently enhanced its line of automated products – in addition to Automated Guided
Vehicles (AGVs), that have already proven themselves many times over, working successfully in
fleets at the terminals at ECT and CTA, and future at Euromax, Gottwald now also offers the
Automated Stacking Crane (ASC). From several points of view, the ASC is both a novel and a
resilient automated container stacking crane that can work hand-in-hand on quayside and landside
with different kinds of transport vehicles such as AGVs, straddle carriers, road and terminal
trucks.
The two modules at Antwerp Gateway on Deurganckdok (Belgium) have demonstrated in practical terms their capability. In each module, two ASC cranes – so-called "twin ASCs" – serve a total stack length of 41 TEUs, working together on a single set of rail tracks. "With its 1-over-5 solution, spanning nine rows of containers and providing excellent stack density, the ASC guarantees the best possible area utilisation," explains Dr. Mathias Dobner, Gottwald's CEO. And Ralf Konnerth, Gottwald's Senior Project Manager for the pilot installation adds: "In March 2007, all four ASC cranes successfully completed a 48-hour endurance test, performing a total of 3,300 container moves under real-life terminal conditions. During testing, the cranes demonstrated all the technical requirements stipulated by the Antwerp Gateway consortium, headed by DP World in their Tender Specifications – including the speeds for the individual assemblies and rates of acceleration and deceleration."
On completion of the test, Bruno De Jonghe, Director Projects and Technical Services Europe/Africa at DP World, who is well acquainted with Gottwald crane technology, stated: "The performance demonstrated by all four cranes during testing fulfilled our expectations completely. All the conditions for signing the hand-over certificate were met." Hand-over was also the starting signal for commercial operation. We are beginning to gradually fill both modules, one of which includes a reefer container system, with containers and to integrate them step-by-step into the terminal operation."
The two new modules supplement the existing container stack area of Antwerp Gateway Terminal that began service in 2005. At Antwerp Gateway, all on-shore functions are performed including horizontal transport to quayside and landside storage and removal of containers with straddle carriers in conventional solutions consisting of up to 1-over-3 container units. To increase stack capacity and boost productivity of the terminal, DP World and its four partners plan to gradually change their operation from straddle carriers to ASCs and to also implement ASCs in the upcoming terminal expansion. According to De Jonghe, straddle carriers will then only transport containers from the ship-to-shore cranes to the stack area. "Recent simulations have shown that we can achieve the best possible productivity and thus cost-efficiency while protecting jobs of the workforce with the combined straddle carrier/ASC operation."
The interplay between straddle carriers and the ASC functions perfectly. Once the straddle carrier has exactly positioned the container in the interchange zone on the quayside of the ASC, the stacking crane, in fully automatic mode, picks it up and places it in a slot pre-defined by the Terminal Operating System (TOS) in the container stack. For stack-to-quay container transport, the sequence is simply reversed: the ASC sets down the container with the highest level of precision on the positioning marks where a nearby straddle carrier picks it up. The sophisticated Gottwald safety technology permits straddle carriers and ASCs to work in the same area at the same. Consequently, Belgian safety authorities have consented, for the first time, to allow the simultaneous operation of both types of machines within the interchange zones. For landside container transfer from stack, the ASC on the landside, in fully automatic mode, transports the container to the edge of the respective interchange zone, command is then assumed by the control centre that, in semi-automatic mode, sets down the container on the waiting road truck by means of an innovative camera system. For landside container transfer to stack, the sequence is reversed: the ASC, in semi-automatic mode, picks up the container from the road truck and then, in fully automatic mode, transports the container to the stack.
The use of "twin ASCs" not only guarantees the terminal operator of Antwerp Gateway simultaneous container handling on both quayside and landside, but also allows concurrent operation of both cranes in a confined space as long as the cranes maintain a distance between them of two 20-feet containers when working in parallel. In addition, the interchange zone on the quayside with a length of four TEUs has been designed in such a way that the landside ASC can assume the jobs of the quayside ASC when the latter has been travelled to maintenance position. The same applies to the landside interchange zone with its length measuring two TEUs plus the ASC maintenance position, so as to be able to serve the landside with the quayside ASC. The operation of the container stack module is guaranteed even when one of the two ASC should break down or must undergo maintenance thanks to the system configuration. All in all, the two pilot modules as a result of their configuration, modes of operation and the crane features offer the best prerequisites for extraordinarily high productivity.
"The new Gottwald ASC provides operators of medium-sized to large container terminals that currently operate their container stack in a conventional manner a multitude of possibilities," says Dobner. "With the new technology, we are addressing, in particular, terminals that need to increase both stack capacity and boost productivity in the space available to hold their own in face of tough competition. We are focussing on those terminals, like Antwerp Gateway, that are considering, as a serious option, using automated stacking cranes instead of straddle carriers in their stack operation. Thanks to our state-of-the-art simulation and emulation software, we are in a position long before the first cut of the spade or the receipt of a purchase order to provide a true-to-reality picture of future terminal layouts, including the operation of terminals being planned by Gottwald. "
In addition, the new Automated Stacking Cranes are an important component in the realisation of automated overall solution in the port that aim to incorporate both automated container transport and automated container stack systems. Dobner comments: "With the Automated Stacking Cranes – and its management software, we are following up our success story with Automated Guided Vehicles seamlessly. We are now the only supplier to actually be able to supply an automated system from A to Z with all the required hardware and software components."
The Automated Stacking Cranes work as so-called Gottwald "twin ASCs" on a single set of rail tracks. This configuration allows terminal operators to save a significant amount of space – up to 18% compared to other well-known configurations such as the "cross-over twin" (two ASCs operating on two sets of rail tracks in each stack module) or "tri" ASCs (three ASC operating on two sets of rail tracks in each stack module), and yet allows for redundancy in each stack module, a requirement that customers often demand. Consequently, additional stack modules and a greater number of spreaders can be installed in the same confined terminal space when Gottwald twin ASCs are used, thus increasing the overall terminal performance. Moreover, with the new ASC concept Gottwald continues to pursue its goal of minimising the costs for the required rail infrastructure. This goal is achieved through the choice of crane design. The classic rail track and sleeper system entails comparably low investments costs in relation to a concrete beam system or piling rail system and offers other benefits relating to the maintenance of the system.
While the Gottwald ASC in Antwerp Gateway Terminal currently spans nine rows of containers in a 1-over-5 solution, DP World and its partners plan to implement ASCs that span 10 rows of containers in the expansion phases of the terminal. Gottwald ASCs are not restricted to a span of nine or 10 container rows, but rather the same model can be supplied with a span of eight or even 11 rows depending on customer requirements, thus demonstrating that they are well suited to meet very different kinds of challenges with respect to dwell time and handling frequency of containers and the resulting stack width due to these determining factors.
Particularly innovative is the lifting system including its rigid, vertically arranged beam for hoisting and lowering the containers. On the one hand, this system guarantees safe operation and quick and especially accurate positioning even up to wind forces of 10 on the Beaufort scale. On the other, it does without the multiple rope deflection arrangement associated with conventional rope field solutions. Thanks to this concept, the service life of the ASC hoist ropes is significantly longer and time-consuming rope adjustments are not required. Gottwald has naturally designed the system in such a way that energy is fed back into the system when the lifting system is lowered, which has a positive effect on power consumption and sizing of the entire system.
While rope field solutions due to their small rope field angle tend to be subject to greater swaying motions and unintentional contact with the high container stacks when containers are being positioned in the lowest slot next to high container stacks, the rigid beam permits safe and accurate positioning in every position in the container stack even in confined spaces. The ASC shows its strength best – precise positioning – in the quayside and landside interchange zones where experience has shown that the effects of wind are the greatest.
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