Onderzoek naar kraan-concepten voor afhandeling van grote containerschepen (summary)

Delft University of Technology

Faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Transport Technology

B. de Nekker Onderzoek naar kraanconcepten voor de afhandeling van grote containerschepen. Literature survey, Report 2000.TT.4884, Transport Technology.

Since Maclean Trucking started using the container in the late 50's in the United States, containerisation has expanded enormously. Container ships are getting bigger to reduce the transport cost per container, which results in extension of the loading times and unloading times of a vessel.

To minimise the total transport cost of each container, a ship must be loaded and unloaded as quickly as possible. With a maximum loading time for a vessel of 24 hours and maximally six cranes working at a ship, the average loading capacity for each crane must be 50 containers per hour (cph). For this report a survey is made, of recent crane designs which concern the increase of the capacity. By means of an evaluation of the survey, new crane ideas for the future are generated.

Recent crane concepts are compared on the basis of information from specific journals and patents. Of each crane concept the technical features are discussed, the operation of the crane is explained and an analysis of the capacity has been performed.

The crane with a double trolley on a raised quay of Incomaas has the highest theoretical capacity (110 cph), while the crane with a single trolley on a raised quay of FAMAS is the most reliable crane, due to the simple crane cycle. Resulting from an evaluation of the survey, three new ideas might be interesting to take a closer look at. The outcome of a simulation for all cranes will complete this report.

Reports on Transport Engineering (in Dutch)