Liebherr reviews the 2010 mobile harbour crane market

And with no manufacturer able to ignore the demand for sustainable, environmentally sensitive operations and the requirement for low-emission cargo handling equipment, Liebherr has responded by introducing its Pactronic® Hybrid Drive System to the market on the new LHM 550.

According to the company, the new hybrid drive addresses the two critical issues of increasing handling performance and reducing fuel/power consumption.

Power enhancement is achieved done by adding an additional energy source to the drive system; in this case a hydraulic accumulator. Charging of the accumulator is done by regenerating the reverse power while lowering the load. The stored energy of the accumulator is then transferred back to the system when the crane requires peak power during hoisting. And compared to the conventional diesel/electric engine, the combined hybrid drive leads to a reduction of fuel/energy consumption (litre/ton) as well as up to 30% emissions depending upon the operation.