CIMC Group in China is the largest manufacturer of steel shipping containers in the world and it supplies customers from a wide range of industries. They employ 5,000 people who produce 500 containers each day at their expansive facility in the Jiangshu province. One of CIMC’s customers, Intermodal Solution (ISG), was commissioned by a mine in South America which required a very specific type of container and this is what led to FPES (Excel Hydraulics) being invited to design-manufacture-install-commission a new hydraulic lid lifting unit for ISG.
The mine fills its containers with copper concentrate which is trucked to a sea port. They wanted steel lids placed on the containers at the mine site to secure the contents during transit. The lids would have to be removed on the wharves when the concentrate was emptied into the waiting ships, and then the empty container would be returned to the mine to be refilled.
FPES(Excel) started the project by requesting container specifications such as dimensions, power source, and un-laden/laden weight. We knew that it had to be integrated to ISG’s CAT Telehandlers which would be supplying the 12V power as well as the hydraulic fluids for the lid lifter.
FPES Project Manager Kevin McCaffrey designed the hydraulic and electronics systems. This included nominating the various commands that the driver of the CAT Telehandler would need to activate the lid lifter. Being a Premium Partner of the global Parker hydraulics corporation meant that Kevin had instant access to an enormous range of products as well as their tried and tested IQAN programmable control systems. Excel Hydraulics is a Build Centre for Parker’s IQAN and has integrated these panels into numerous applications. The steel frame subassembly was manufactured in Australia before disassembled and shipped to China – along with the necessary Parker products. Kevin arrived shortly after at the CIMC plant to supervise the project,
“ISG wanted four lid lifters constructed on CIMC’s site. The entire process of assembly, testing and commissioning took a week working alongside their engineers. To begin with, our subassemblies were combined with locally manufactured frames. We used the workshop overhead crane to individually lift the subassemblies and ensure correct proximity operation. We installed the hydraulic system to open and close the lid. This included 12mm tubing made at the site using special tools. The IQAN controller and electronics were installed and then we moved on to product testing.”
“The hydraulics and electronics were commissioned inside the workshop. We connected the lift mechanism to a 380V mobile hydraulic pack and a 12V battery power supply. We had to ensure that the Telehandler operator could only lift the container lid once the lid lifter is securely locked in the correct lifting position. We checked for any leaks, made some adjustments, checked all of the fasteners for tightness, and then it was time to trial the four lifters on actual sea containers.”
A forklift was used to position the lid lifter frame on an ISG shipping container in the CIMC yard.
“The equipment passed with flying colours. Excel Hydraulics was able to provide ISG with a one stop shop. We gave them engineering design, product development, sourcing the required hydraulic and electronics systems, managing the project, overseeing all of the project stakeholders, installation, testing and commissioning.” Click Here for more information.
Copyright FPES 2020