27.04.2011

Comansa improves productivity

Tower crane manufacturer Linden Comansa has introduced a new highly efficient hoist controller and improved motor design that boosts speeds by up to 70 percent.

The new hoist drive/control system, called Effi-Plus, can increase overall tower crane productivity by up to 29 percent, according to the manufacturer. The new system allows much faster lift and lowering speeds when handling lighter loads, drastically shortening the hoist cycle time.

Effi-Plus has been applied to the 24, 37, 50 and 65kW drives of the LC1100, LC2100 and LCL-luffing-jib series of tower cranes. The company has been fitting it since January and says that it is not charging extra for it.
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Comansa is claiming up to 45% efficency improvements with its new Effi Plus hoist control system

The changes mean that the well-proven drive configuration -electric motor-brake, gearbox, drum, frequency inverter, brake resistor- remain unchanged.

The company also says that as the motor power stays the same, the energy consumption does not change. The control system simply accelerates and decelerates faster and more smoothly, while running to higher speeds when the load being lifted is lighter. Speed improvements depend on the load, the crane model and the hoist power fitted, but range from a low of 25 to a high of 73 percent. The efficiency claims of between 14 and 29 percent are based on the assumption that average loads lifted are just 25 percent of maximum capacity.

Finally the hoist drum capacity has also been increased on some models by up 45 percent, allowing the crane to operate at a higher level.