Energy industry
STEPHAN, a Swiss specialist in structural steelwork and lifting equipment, designed an automated overhead travelling crane for a wood chip processing facility. Equipped with a Verlinde PDW open winch, the crane handles sustained operating cycles, long travel distances and high speeds while lifting loads of up to 10 tonnes.
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Founded in 1902 and based in Givisiez, STEPHAN specializes in structural steelwork, facades, lifting equipment and mechanical welding. The company employs almost 130 people at its 140,000 m² site and has worked with Verlinde as a lifting equipment supplier for nearly 30 years.
One of STEPHAN’s customers purchases wet wood chips from forestry operators, dries them and supplies the dry material to biomass heating plants. To support this activity, STEPHAN was commissioned to build an automated overhead travelling crane capable of distributing the wood chips between the receiving, storage and drying areas.
The application required a robust winch capable of maintaining a sustained output over long distances and at high speeds. The production hall measures 65 metres by 23 metres and is 16 metres high. Although the overhead travelling crane was a new installation, it had to be integrated into an existing former tile factory. The height of the crane also had to be optimized to maximize the available storage volume.
“In view of current environmental issues, energy production from biomass is one of the solutions of the future, and this type of heating system is expanding rapidly in Switzerland.”
Mr. Chevalley, Industry Manager at STEPHAN
Verlinde supplied a Verlinde PDW open winch and an end carriage to meet the application’s performance, capacity and speed requirements. Designed for heavy-duty applications, the Verlinde PDW range covers lifting capacities from 6,300 to 80,000 kg.
The overhead travelling crane lifts loads of up to 10 tonnes, including the grapple. It has travel speeds of 80 m/min and 50 m/min, together with a lifting speed of 30 m/min. The winch meets the required FEM M7 class of use as standard, avoiding the additional engineering required for alternative solutions.
The crane is automatically controlled by a PLC that receives information from sensors positioned throughout the production line. Wood chips are delivered into an initial hopper, where probes monitor the height of the piles. Once a defined filling level is reached, the crane moves the material to storage areas according to chip quality. The crane then transfers the chips to the dryer according to its filling level and moves the dried material to a storage area based on demand.
The installation handles up to 180 m³ of wood chips per hour. STEPHAN worked with an automation partner that supplied the crane management software, while STEPHAN SA installed the sensors and control cabinets.
“The savings generated by integrating the PDW winch enabled us to provide a competitive response to our customer, while offering a product recognized for its quality and performance.”
Mr. Chevalley, Industry Manager at STEPHAN
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Automated handling of up to 180 m³ of wood chips per hour
Lifting capacity of up to 10 tonnes, including the grapple
High travel and lifting speeds for sustained operation over long distances
FEM M7 class of use achieved with a standard Verlinde PDW winch
Reduced engineering costs while maintaining the required quality and performance
A valuable reference for future projects in the growing biomass energy market
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