Automatic synchronisation for power plant lift  

Tradelossa, a Mexican company specialising in logistics solutions for ultra-heavy project cargo, oversized, manoeuvres and assemblies, has used its new Enerpac Super Boom Lift SBL1100 hydraulic gantry to install a 324-ton gas turbine at the Salamanca Combined Cycle Plant in Mexico. To accurately lift and position the gas turbine during construction of the 836 megawatt (MW) power plant, Tradelossa fabricated a 22m header beam, one of the longest used with an SBL1100 gantry.

The layout of the power plant construction site meant the 11m long, 4.9m high and 4.3m wide gas turbine needed an extra long header beam to allow it to be positioned correctly. Tradelossa engineers designed and constructed a 22m header beam, however, the cable controlling the gantry’s Enerpac side shift units needed to be extended. With technical support from Enerpac, Tradelossa produced an extension cable allowing the gantry and side shift units to be controlled as a single integrated lifting system from the SBL1100 Intelli-Lift wireless control system.

The capability of the SBL1100 gantry was proven during the turbine lifting manoeuvre, which started with a longitudinal movement of 11.80m, then a transverse movement of 9.50m, finishing with a vertical movement of 3.40 m. “Overall, the operation took just over four and a half hours, a speed record time in Mexico for this type of manoeuvre. This was our first project with the SBL1100, and we were impressed with its performance,” says Fernando Miranda Herrera, manager of engineering and maintenance at Tradelossa.

Ahead of the turbine move, Tradelossa engineers received three days of intensive training at the Monterrey Tradelossa facilities to understand the SBL1100 gantry and side shift operation.

Equipped with three stage lifting cylinders, the Enerpac SBL1100 lifts upto 12m at the top of the third stage and can handle up to 1178t at the top of the first stage. As standard, the SBL1100 features an Intelli-Lift wireless control system allowing unobstructed views of the load. The wireless system ensures automatic synchronisation of lifting and side shift units with accuracy of 24 mm and automatic synchronisation of travel with accuracy of 15 mm.

The Enerpac modular electric powered, header beam side shift units allow gantry users to customise the ‘below the hook’ distance to suit header beam dimensions and project requirements.