A complete ABB crane systems solution has helped create the world’s first fully automated bulk cargo terminal in Shanghai.
Three giant unmanned cranes are remotely operated from a central control room to achieve new industry benchmarks in speed, efficiency and productivity.
“The solution revolutionises the way that bulk materials like coal, minerals and grain are loaded and unloaded at non-container ports and shipping terminals,” ABB said.
“It enables port operators to evolve from the comparatively inefficient and error-prone world of manned cranes - where each crane has its own driver who receives instructions via radio from a quayside control room - to a fully automated, unmanned world of precision handling where each crane is programmed to operate automatically and is monitored and controlled from a single central control room.
”The solution coordinates the operations of the terminal cranes into seamless cycles, thereby optimising equipment use, reducing cycle times and establishing new standards of efficiency, productivity and safety, as well as significantly reducing the need for manpower.”
ABB designed and delivered the groundbreaking solution for the recent expansion and modernisation of Luojing port, Shanghai. The cranes include the world’s first fully automated grab ship unloader (a large clamshell bucket which unloads up to 50 tonnes of material at a time), the first fully automated stacker/reclaimer crane in China, and a fully automated ship loader.
The pioneering grab ship unloader (GSU) utilises an innovative ABB technology called Target Position Sensor (TPS), which detects the position of any object with centimeter accuracy and enables fast approach to target with optimum path control and without collision between the bucket and the ship.
TPS is a highly successful technology that ABB developed to enable ship profiling, chassis alignment and obstacle surveillance during loading and unloading operations at container terminals. It is installed in more than 150 ship-to-shore and rail-mounted gantry cranes worldwide.
