German multinational building materials company Heidelberg Materials is investing heavily in the reduction of CO2 emissions in cement production. As part of this it installed a silo at the Schelklingen cement plant for storing aggregates that can reduce the proportion of clinker in the cement.
Clinker is fired from limestone in a rotary kiln at 1,450 degrees Celsius. This process releases CO2 which damages the climate. “The less clinker we need for cement production, the less CO2 is released into the atmosphere,” explains Frank Hartwig, the project manager responsible for new builds and modifications at the plant. “Therefore, we want to replace the clinker in the cement with other suitable materials. We can store 1,500 tonnes of them in the new silo. The dosing station in the so-called penthouse above it feeds the aggregate straight into the cement production process.”
To instal the silo commissioned German crane and heavy haulage services specialist Schmidbauer.
Schmidbauer used its one-and-a-half-year-old Liebherr LTM 1650-8.1 with three transport vehicles for the counterweight and two vehicles for the luffing jib.
The two crane operators Stephan Pirner and Robert Halsner used the Liebherr eight-axle crane for initial assembly work and the two main hoists, each of around 53 tonnes. They set up the crane with 145 tonnes of ballast and a 31.5 metre luffing jib for the work.
After installing the bottom part, the actual silo was put in position.
A day later, the penthouse, which weighed around the same, was mounted on top of the silo. The biggest challenge was to attach the load to the sloping penthouse roof. A special chain system, whose length can be adjusted pneumatically, was used to level the huge component.
“This is the best crane I have ever used,” said Stephan Pirner, who has worked for Schmidbauer for 27 years and has operated large cranes from various manufacturers for 23 years. “The setup process is particularly efficient. Liebherr has designed it in such a way that very little physical work is required from the crane operators.”
His colleague Robert Halsner, a crane operator for seven years, said: “The LTM 1650-8.1 is really user-friendly and very flexible to use with VarioBase and VarioBallast. And it is extremely powerful.”
Project Manager Hartwig is also pleased with the installation of the new silo system: “In recent years, our company has made a number of investments for the future here at the site. More projects are already planned, so it's good to be able to rely on competent partners.”
