Liebherr's giant arrives in China

Photo: Liebherr

The LH 150 ET Gantry Port Litonic, world’s largest electrically-operated port handling machine with gantry undercarriage is also the company’s first ever produced of this scale. It was handed over and commissioned in DaFeng Port in the Chinese province of Jiangsu.

All components were developed, produced and tested by Liebherr, from the attachments to the work equipment, the hydraulic cab elevation and uppercarriage, as well as the rail-mounted portal of the giant machine.

The giant, weighing approx. 200 tonnes, is fitted with Liebherr's standard ERC system in addition to the engine power and can also store energy when lowering equipment available. This allows the machine to achieve an output of up to 614 kW at a 30% energy saving rate. An integrated high-voltage transformer reduces the 10 kV supply voltage of the local mains network to 400V which is then used to operate the 400 kW electric main drive.

Due to off-centre positioning of the uppercarriage, the LH 150 ET Gantry Port Litronic can cover the entire working area of a 10k tonne timber-handling ship and over 70% of a 30k tonne counterpart of such vessel with its 16.5 m long angled boom, and 15 m long straight stick. Operator's cab is freely positionable and fitted with a hydraulic quick coupler system, allowing to change the mechanically operated attachments from within.

DaFeng Port's technicians were included at each step of the manufacturing process in order to familiarize themselves with every aspect of the machine. Liebherr aslo provided the necessary operator training.

The colossus follows two Liebherr A 934 C material handling machines and will improve the efficiency of large-scale timber handling operations at DaFeng.

Ji Xiaobo, General Manager, DaFeng Port, said after receiving the symbolic, golden ignition key, "The use of the electrically operated port handling machine is of huge importance to DaFeng Port and our goal of developing DaFeng Port as a 'green port'. The LH 150 ET Gantry Port Litronic will also help DaFeng Port achieve an annual handling capacity of 100 million tonnes."

Lin Feng, Vice General Manager, DaFeng Port, added, "The LH 150 ET Gantry Port Litronic is 2.5 times more productive than jib cranes for unloading wood. This shortens the waiting times of the ships and significantly reduces the cost of unloading the timber per tonne […]."