Liebherr’s LHM 550 reduces handling times at Port of Odense

Initially delivered in May this year the LHM 550 has a 150t lifting capacity in hook operation and can be used to handle a variety of goods from containers to bulk commodities and general cargo.

Ole Kristiansen, a production manager at recycling firm H J Hansen, said with the new Liebherr crane unloading times for the firm’s operations at the port have been reduced by a third thanks to the crane.

Liebherr says this is due to the crane’s incorporation of Liebherr’s patented Pactronic hybrid drive system, which adds a second power source to the crane’s drive systems and increases the crane’s turnover capacity by 30%.

Kristiansen said: “Once each month our big scrap ship arrives to Odense Port Terminal and loads 30,000t metal scrap. In the past we had to spend 3 days and nights on this job, but with the new Liebherr LHM 550 we can make it in 2 days and nights.

He continued: “Moreover the mobility and outreach of the crane give us some quite new and flexible possibilities to place the scrap heaps strategically on the harbour areas.”

The Pactronic hybrid drive system works by using a hydraulic accumulator, which is charged through regeneration of the reverse power of the hoist when the crane is lowering a load.

The larger the load, the more power is accumulated in the system, and this can then be transferred back to the hoisting mechanism when large load is being lifted.

Liebherr says these energy savings can reduce fuel consumption and therefore emissions by 30%, and as the Pactronic drive consists only of steel Nitrogen and hydraulic oil it is 100% recyclable.