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Konecranes America is the leading provider of severe-duty coker cranes for the petrochemical industry.
Twin 27-ton singleleg gantry cranes contracted by Foster Wheeler for Lyondell Citgo Refining’s Houston, TX coker operation, (pictured) in service for over 10 years, were the first to be designed with a traveling hopper integrated into the gantry. The location and structure of the hopper was designed to “hold and carry” a full load of coke to rail cars positioned past the pit, eliminating the need for expensive, maintenance-prone car-pullers and shortening cycle times. During initial performance tests, 27 rail cars were successfully loaded in one shift.
Working with Fluor and Bechtel, Konecranes is supplying the crane for Tesoro Corporation’s modification of its Golden Eagle Refinery in Martinez, CA. The Golden Eagle coker modification project employs a delayed coking process developed and licensed by ConocoPhillips, who also designed the specifications for the crane. The 44-ton bridge crane spans 142 feet and operates a 25 cubic yard mechanical bucket with a 3,000 ton-per-day handling rate. The crane has a number of value engineering features that reflect lessons learned during Konecranes’ long relationship with ConocoPhillips and several coker cranes it has built for them. Today’s modern coker cranes include Konecranes’ proprietary DynA line of load control technologies, which manage a number of critical functions to reduce structural stress, increase efficiency and prolong equipment life.
Konecranes America will supply two single-leg gantry cranes with similar value-engineering control features for a major expansion of the world’s largest refinery, Reliance Refinery in Jamnagar, India. Each of the cranes is rated at 35 metric tons, with 17 cubic-meter buckets. Each crane is designed to move 521 tons per hour.
Konecranes’ Load Control Technologies:
- DynATrak steering software is an automatic steering system for the bridge which prevents skewing and lateral forces that are detrimental to the crane wheels, runway rails and structure. By reducing stress on the runway, future maintenance issues can be reduced as well.
- DynAPilot load sway control minimizes load sway due to bridge and trolley motion, reducing collisions between the bucket and the pit walls or hopper and preventing damage. It also makes it easier to transfer a full bucket of material into the hopper without spillage. Sway control increases operator confidence, reduces training time and allows operation of the crane to its full potential.
- DynAGrab controls the two hoisting machineries that handle the mechanical bucket. A semi-automation feature allows the operator to program designated destinations for the bucket: if the operator presses the button for the hopper, the crane automatically goes there. It also allows teachable destinations, which can be employed at any part of the production process, from clearing the coke pit to placing the finished product on the conveyor that transports it to a barge or rail car.
- DynAReg eliminates maintenance-intensive resistors, and recycles braking power for other crane functions.
