The Bleiloch Dam is the largest artificial area of water in Germany. The upper reaches of the Saale in Thüringen were dammed back in 1932. Since then, power has been generated in a pumped storage power plant, the peak output of the two pumped storage units being 80 megawatts.
If a winch moves from the overhead crane to the portal crane, technical control is taken over by the portal crane’s remote control
The local conditions are almost Alpine, the plant can only be reached on foot or by means of a funicular railway, which connects the forecourt with the access road to the power plant.
The pumped storage power plant has two 100/25t bridge cranes and a 25t portal crane used to move machines and equipment in the engine room and on the neighbouring throttle valve forecourt.
The pumped storage power plant has two 100/25t bridge cranes and a 25t portal crane used to move machines and equipment in the engine room and on the neighbouring throttle valve forecourt
The bridge cranes of the engine room can be mechanically connected with the portal crane. The travelling winch can then be passed over from the bridge crane onto the winch rail of the portal crane on a piece of rail attached to the building. To do this, gaps in the rails of 20mm must be overcome. The solution enables loads weighing up to 100t to be transported.
The modernisation process was based on a standard developed by Saalfelder for the flexible replacement of hosting equipment in wind power stations. This made it possible to plan and deliver quickly. The electrical equipment for the internal crane units and the portal crane was installed separately. In order for the portal crane to also be fully functional in winter, a temperature-based rail heating system was installed.
The local conditions are almost Alpine, the plant can only be reached on foot or by means of a funicular railway, which connects the forecourt with the access road to the power plant
Emotron VFX variable speed drives were used to control the hoisting gears of the cranes. With the application of a nominal load of 110% it was possible to achieve a ratio of almost 1:1 between current and torque.
The variable speed drives have a high protection class (IP54) and are protected against dust and spray water. They could therefore be installed outside the equipment cabinets on the crane bridges and the winch.
Lothar Sendzik, crane manager of Emotron, who developed the solution with Uwe Bergmann, project engineer at Saalfelder Hebezeugbau, said: “Costs are reduced since smaller equipment cabinets can be installed for the crane control and it eliminates the need for traditional solutions that demand the design and cabling of numerous coupling relays, or a PLC.”
Functions such as riding, lifting, deviation monitoring and speed are controlled via a crane I/O option board in the variable speed drive, one for each gear group.
A HBC-radiomatic radio controlled system was installed, while a transmitter in the engine room can be used to operate the two bridge cranes, either separately or in tandem. If a winch moves from the overhead crane to the portal crane, technical control is taken over by the portal crane’s remote control. To assist the operator, the selection or release of the transmitter is indicated on an illuminated panel.
If a winch moves from the overhead crane to the portal crane, technical control is taken over by the portal crane’s remote control emotron 5 The pumped storage power plant has two 100/25t bridge cranes and a 25t portal crane used to move machines and equipment in the engine room and on the neighbouring throttle valve forecourt emotron 4 The local conditions are almost Alpine, the plant can only be reached on foot or by means of a funicular railway, which connects the forecourt with the access road to the power plant emotron 3 Emotron VFX variable speed drives were used to control the hoisting gears of the cranes. With the application of a nominal load of 110% it was possible to achieve a ratio of almost 1:1 between current and torque emotron 2 The electrical equipment for the internal crane units and the portal crane was installed separately emotron 1
