Big Cranes, needed or not??

Big Cranes,
needed or not??
History-Introduction
Richard L
Krabbendam
Heavy Lift
Specialist &
Founder Krabbendam
Advies Service
WhenIstartedmycareerinHeavyTransport&LiftingwithBigLift,backin
1973,wewereveryproudthatweownedthebiggestmobileCraneinEurope.
ItwastheGottwaldMK500truckcrane,whichwasboughtin1968byvan
TwistinDordrecht,whowasacquiredbytheHollandAmericaLinein1971
togetherwithVanDerLaanShipping&Tradingandcontinuedtooperate
underthenewname“BigLift”.In1968,whenitwasintroduced,itwaseven
thebiggestcraneintheworld.Withamax.liftingcapacityof350tonsat6m
radiusand18mboomlength,andaliftcapacityof250Tonswith18mmain
boomand8mfly-jibataradiusof10m,it”only”hadaloadmomentof
250x10=2500Ton-meter.
Ithadamax.mainboomof101mandwithfly-jibcombinationof83mmain
boomand75mFly-jibit'stopsheavereachedatamaxheightof162m.The
weightofthe350Tonsmainblockwasanimpressive6Tons(seepictures
Fig.1+2above).WhatadifferencewithtodaysmonstercraneslikeMammoet's
PTCDS-200,SarensSGC-120andALE'sSK350andothers.TheALESK350
standsoutwiththebiggestloadmomentof350,000ton-meterandamax.lift
capacityofupto5000Tons!
Fig.1 the 350 tons Main block of the MK500
January 06, 2015
Fig.2 The Gottwald MK500 from 1968
lifting a 100 tons test load
Heavy Haulers - 39
Whatwillbethelimit?
Aquestion,weaskedourselvesbackin1973,
walkingaroundtheyardandlookingatourbig
machinesofthosedays.Thequestioncanbe
answeredsimplybysaying:YES,wecanbuiltany
typeofcrane,providedthereisamarketforitand
thatitcanbeoperatedeconomically.Atfirstglance
youwouldsay:“Howcansuchabigcrane,which
costsmanymillionsofDollarsmakeanymoney?”As
themobilization,riggingandrentalcostarehighas
wellandinmanycasesalsorequiresquitealarge
cranetohelpittobeputtogether.Lookatitfroma
differentperspective:Whatsavingscanbemade
whenweuseamuchlargercranethenoriginally
planned?Letstakeasimpleexample.
ExchangeofaReactorandRegenerator
HeadatanOilRefinery.
TypicalweightsforanOilRefineryreactorareinthe
rangeof200-400TonsandaRegeneratorHeadwith
itsCyclonescanbeasheavyas200-600tonsor
more.Thisworkcouldprobablybedonebyusinga
largecrawler-ortruckcraneintherangeof6001000tonsandshouldbepositionedasclosea
possibletothefoundationofthereactorand
regenerator.(Seefig.3atright).Bypositioningthe
craneascloseaspossibletothefoundationand
riggingthecraneatthatposition,meansthatthe
plantmustbeshutdownandallproductioncomes
toahalt.TherevenueofaRefineryinfullproduction
Fig.3 The Mammoet PTC200-DS lifting a Pressure vessel
January 06, 2015
caneasilyruninthehalfmilliondollarsperdayor
evenhigherfigures,soincasewecanlimitthe“out
ofproductiontime”theRefinerycansavesignificant
money.Howcanwelimitthe“OutofProduction
time”?Justbyhiringinasignificantlybiggercrane,
thatcandotheplannedliftsfromoutsidethePlant
boundary.Suchcranesareavailablenowadaysand
althoughthecostmayrunintothemillionsof
Dollars,intheoverallpicture,youjustneedto
comparethe“Plantoutofproductiontime”against
theextracostofhiringinamuchlargercrane.By
riggingtheverylargecraneoutsidetheplant
boundary,theplantitselfcanstayinproductionand
makemoney.MostoftheselargecraneshaveanAframeboomdesignandarebrokendowninsections,
withinstandardcontainersizes,somobilizationand
demobilizationcanbedoneefficiently.Thecounter
weights(upto5000Tons)arecreatedbyempty
containersizeboxes,whichcanbefilledonsitewith
sand,oreorotherheavybulkmateriallocally
available.
SomeTypicalliftingcapacitiesforthese
largeCranes
ALEownsandoperatestwooftheselargecranes,
oneistheSK190,withamax.loadmomentof
190,000ton-meterandthebiggestoneistheALE
SK350withamax.loadmomentof354,000ton
meter.InthefieldthismeanstheSK350canlifta
loadof525Tonatanoutreachof108m(based
onaringdiameterof61.4mwitha141mmain
boom.TheALESK350isofaveryparticulardesign
(inhousedevelopment)inwhichthecounterweight
ispositionedintheCenterofthecrane,withthe
boomslewingaroundthiscentrallypositioned
counterweight(inthiscase4000Tons).WhydoI
sayoutreachhere,insteadofradius?Normallythe
SK350isonlyoutfittedwiththatpartofthering
structure,thatisonlycoveringthearea,overwhich
thecraneneedstoslew.(SeeFig.4+5above).
Outreachisnowtakenfromtheboompivotpointto
theCenteroftheload.Toconvertoutreachinto
radius,youneedtoaddhalftheringdiametertoit.
Whichmeans,thecranecanliftaloadof525tonsat
aradiusof108+30.7=138.7m,resultinginaload
momentof138.7x525=72,817ton-meter.(Thenet
availableloadmomentis:108x525=56,700Ton
meter)TheSK350canbeoutfittedwithdifferent
ringdiameters,herebyevenincreasingit'salready
significantliftingcapacity.Witharingdiameterof
98.4m,theliftingcapacitywitha141mmainboom
isstill600tonsatanoutreachof108m(=157.2m
Heavy Haulers - 40
Fig.4 Side view of the ALE SK350 with 141 m main boom
radius;equivalenttoaloadmomentof94,320ton
meterandanetloadmomentof108x600=64,800
tonmeter).Thetermoutreachisinthiscranea
betterchoicethenradius,astheareawithinthering
isneveruseful.Typicallyonalltheselargecranesare
theA-Frameshapedmainbooms,whichobviously
canabsorbsideloadsalotbetterthenthesingle
boomsknowninconventionaltruck-orcrawler
cranes.
Fig. 6 The ALE SK190 lifting a 2200 Tons Pressure
vessel in Ruweis, UAE.
January 06, 2015
Fig.5 The counterweight of the SK350 is fixed in the
Center of the Crane. Different ring diameters are possible
Mammoet'sPTC200-DSandSarens
SGC120
LetusnowhavealookatMammoet'sflagshipthe
PTC200-DS(max.loadmomentof200,000ton
meter).Mammoetownsandoperatesalsotwovery
largecranes(PTC140-DSandPTC200-DS)withthis
typicalA-framedesign,onewithaload-momentof
140,000tonmetersandamax.loadmomentof
200,000tonmetersrespectively.TheMammoetDS-
Fig.7 Side view of the Mammoet PTC200-DS
with 140 m main boom
Heavy Haulers - 41
developedandbuiltringercranebasedonanAframemainboomonaringwithadiameterof28,4
mwith3600tonsofcounterweight.Thiscranethe
SarensSGC120hasamax.loadmomentof120,000
tonmeters.Themaxmainboomhasalength130m
andoffersaliftingcap.of536Tonsat120mradius
(equivalenttoanoutreachof105.8mandaload
momentof64,320tonmeterornet:56,708Ton
meter).Whenoutfittedwithamainboomandfly-jib,
theSarenscraneandcanlift307.5Tonsat130m
radius,equivalentto115.8moutreachand39,975
tonmeterloadmomentornet:35,608Tonmeter
(with130mmainboom+89.5mFly-jibitreachesa
hookheightof175m!)Theweightofthecomplete
30sheaveblockis102Tonsandmustbeaddedto
theloadbeinglifted.Eachandeverycranehasits
specificpro'sandcon'sandcarefullyneedstobe
investigatedforaparticularapplication.
Fig.8 Side view of the Mammoet PTC200-DS
200isbasicallyafullringercrane,whichoriginal
designwasmadebyHuismanEquipmentaroundan
existingDemagCC4800crawlercranebackin1996.
With3000tonsofcounterweightrotatingonthe
ring,witharingdiameterof41mand140mmain
boomthecranecanliftaloadof405tonsataradius
of141m(equivalenttoanoutreachof120.5mora
loadmomentof57,105tonmeterornet:48,802Ton
meter).Alsovariousringdiametercanbeselected
withtheappropriateloadchart.Stillnotasstrongas
theALESK350.AlsoSarenshasalargeinhouse
Fig.9 The SGC-120 lifting the dome of the Flamanville
EPR reactor building, which weighs 260t and has
a diameter of 43m.
PilotProjectsLaunchedforEmergencyCareofRoadAccidentVictims
TheMinisterofStateforRoadTransportandHighways,ShriPon.RadhakrishnaninformedtheRajyaSabha
todaythatinordertogiveaboosttoemergencycareoftheaccidentvictims,pilotprojectshasbeen
launchedbytheMinistryonGurgaon-JaipursectionofNH8,Mumbai–VadodaraofNH–8andRanchi–
Rargaon-MahuliaofNH33forprovidingcashlesstreatmenttoroadaccidentvictimsfor48hoursat
expenditureuptoalimitofRs.30,000.GPSenabledambulances,connectedwithacentralcontrolroom
throughatoll-freenumber1033,arestationedatdistanceof20kmtotransporttheinjuredtothehospitals
fortreatmentwithinthe‘GoldenHour’.TheMinistryofRoadTransportandHighways,underthescheme
“NationalHighwaysAccidentReliefServiceScheme(NHARSS)”provides10-toncranesandsmallmedium
cranesforhillyareasandambulancestoStates/UTsforreliefandrescuemeasuresintheaftermathof
accidentsbywayofevacuatingroadaccidentvictimtonearestmedicalaidcentreandforclearingthe
accidentsite.TheirdeploymentisdonebytherespectiveStateGovernments/UTsonNationalHighwayson
accidentpronestretches,havinganaveragedistanceof50Kms.Ambulances,RoutePatrolVehiclesandTow
AwayCranesarealsoprovidedatanaveragelengthof50kilometeronNHsentrustedtoNHAI.Listofall
Ambulances,Cranes&RoutePatrolVehiclesalongwiththeirlocationsisavailableonNHAIwebsite
www.nhai.org
January 06, 2015
Heavy Haulers - 42