Electro-hydraulic “E-Pack” for the electric crane operation of the Demag AC 45 City receives coveted award.
On 24 September, the Zweibrücken-based crane manufacturer Demag was presented with this year’s ESTA Awards in the “Innovation Manufacturer” category for its electro-hydraulic E-Pack. Due to COVID-19, the prize of the European umbrella organisation for transport and crane companies was awarded online this year. The award was accepted by Director Product Management All Terrain Cranes, Dr. Frank Schröder, who sees the award as further proof of his company’s innovative strength and as further evidence of the successful integration with Tadano.
“As part of the Tadano Group, we can bundle competencies and thus benefit considerably from synergy effects. This puts us in a position to develop more innovative and customer-oriented solutions than ever before,” he emphasizes. At the same time, he thanked his colleague Dr. Ascan Klein, Director R&D, whose team was instrumental in developing the E-Pack for the Demag AC 45 City. “We see the ESTA award for our E-Pack as a great confirmation of our performance, of which we are very proud – especially since it comes from such a renowned body”, he explained. Accordingly, Demag attaches great importance to the award from this important industry association.
A portrait of the winner
The E-Pack is an electro-hydraulic system designed to be connected to Demag AC 45 City cranes. It features an integrated electric motor that makes zero-emission crane operation possible while significantly reducing noise levels. Potential applications for the E-Pack include crane jobs inside buildings, in dense urban areas, and at night in residential areas and other sensitive surroundings – in other words, under conditions in which the company operating the crane may have to face stricter emission-related requirements that make conventional crane operation with a normal diesel engine impossible.
In addition to zero-emission and low-noise operation, the E-Pack also comes with significant advantages in terms of cost: The intelligent electric motor control system ensures that only the amount of electric power needed to carry out the required functions will be used. This results in lower operating costs in comparison to a diesel system, and in addition reduces the operating hours of the engine.
The E-Pack is powered through the grid via a 230 V / 16 A connection and a 400 V / 63 A connection. A mode that makes it possible to operate the crane with a 230 V / 16 A connection and a 400 V / 32 A connection with reduced crane power is currently in progress.
The E-Pack can be used for all crane functions, as well as to run the hydraulic air conditioning system. When it comes to telescoping, luffing the main boom, rotating, and running the hoist without a load, there are only minor limitations in comparison to operation with the diesel engine.
When operating the crane with the E-Pack, the corresponding controls are seamlessly integrated into the IC-1 crane control system and can be used via the touchscreen in the operator cab. Among other things, this touchscreen can be used to select the operating mode for the E-Pack, start and stop the electric motor, and view the E-Pack’s status
When traveling, the crane can transport the E-Pack in the back with a special retaining system so that the E-Pack does not need to be transported to the work site separately.
Demag is planning to also offer the E-Pack for other AC crane models in the medium term.
