BRUNNHUBER CRANES GERMANY modernizes a crane for coil transport for a world market leader in steel industry

The Process Crane of a hot rolling mill had reached the end of its theoretical remaining useful life and consequently it was absolutely necessary to take appropriate measures, not least because an expansion of production was planned in the hot rolling mill.

BRUNNHUBER CRANES GERMANY realized the extensive modernization within 1 week in shift operation

As the crane for coil transport is an integral part in the production chain, its modernization was carried out in shift operation during a one-week downtime of the plant. During this time the specialists from BRUNNHUBER CRANES GERMANY had plenty to do in order to adhere to the timetable for restart of production. The main assemblies of the machine were replaced and a hoist with lifting capacity of 40,0 t – precisely a BRUNNHUBER Heavy Load Winch – was installed. The supporting framework of the crane was strengthened for long-term realization of the operator’s high demands. Instead of making a new investment the customer opted for a modernization of the existing crane by BRUNNHUBER CRANES GERMANY.

To bring up the drive components of the slip ring rotor and of the contactor technology to the most modern standards again, on this occasion they were converted to frequency-controlled drives with energy recovery. This allows adaptation of the driving dynamics to the special demands of production. Furthermore the complete electrical equipment was replaced. In order to make sure that the crane will withstand the ambient temperatures of 60°C, temporarily even 90°C, it was housed centrally in the air-conditioned BRUNNHUBER container for electrical equipment. For the same reason the new crane driver’s cabin is air-conditioned and equipped with glare-free safety glass. In addition to that monitors for the warehouse management system and for the camera surveillance of the coil tongs were installed.

The crane control system was equipped with interfaces to the local warehouse management system and to the wireless local area network. In order to assure a smooth production flow a remote maintenance system was installed that allows access to the crane control in case of failure – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

After reconstruction by BRUNNHUBER CRANES GERMANY the crane for coil transport is going to be operated safely and without disruptions again 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and it will have to handle around 3.000.000 loading cycles over a time period of 25 years.

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