Completion of a $70m refurbishment and expansion of the Mumias Sugar mill in Kenya has moved a step closer with the commissioning by Street Crane of three new cranes for sugar cane handling.
Street’s involvement in the project dates back to 1995 when it supplied five process cranes for machine building and refurbishment. With Mumias producing 210,000t of sugar per year, the M2-rated factory cranes are used intensively during the two months of the year when sugar cane is not harvested, lifting machinery for the cane crushing and process plant to be stripped down, overhauled and rebuilt.
The newly-commissioned cane handling cranes each have two 10t hoists to handle the load and manipulate the clamshell can grab jaws. Rated M8 for intensive use, they are in continuous action when the mill is operational, offloading and loading raw cane from the yard to the mill. The large volume of material handled means that high travel speeds of 100m/min and 50m/min are specified for long and cross travel respectively. Lifting speeds are up to 32m/min. Crane operation is controlled from a high-level air-conditioned cab.
The value of Street’s contract to supply and install the eight process and cane handling cranes, completed in February, was $2m.
