Two 8t double-girder EOTs working at a new facility of a Bordeaux wine growers association are the first cranes ever used in a wine fermenting cellar, according to Demag Cranes & Components SAS, the French subsidiary of the German crane and hoist manufacturer.
The 17m span cranes roll along 95m and 61m runways in a new facility of L’Union de Producteurs de Saint-Émilion. They are at work lifting and transporting 600-litre vats of grapes from the grape receiving area to the 1,700 m2 fermenting cellar. Here, they distribute the grapes to one of the 140 tanks during operation times of 16 to 24 hours a day during the harvest season. Crane travel speed is 2m/min, 10m/min or 40m/min, crab travel speed is 2m/min, 5m/min, or 20m/min and hoisting speeds are 1.6m/min and 16m/min. All motions have frequency inverters.
The cranes pick up the vats with electromechanical grabs specially developed for the job. They feature three pivoting arms. The vat bottoms are opened and closed by pneumatic valves.
The driver operates the crane from a cab, and receive instructions by radio and a Modbus factory data network. Some of the crane’s operations have been automated. The process begins when one of the crane operators drives the crane to one of the eight pick-up stations for vats, which are located on a so-called carousel in the grape receiving area. Once there, the crane operator starts the automatic sequence, which is monitored by sensors. The crane first positions its grab above one of the already filled containers, then lowers it until its arms interlock with the vat. The crane then raises the vat to the highest lifting position and holds it to prevent any sway.
Then, under manual control, the crane travels to a fermenting tank as specified to the crane operator by radio. Again under automatic control, the crane positions the vat centred above and about 200mm higher than the fermenting tank, then opens its bottom, closes it, and raises it back to the highest lifting position.
After changing once more to manual control mode, the crane driver then travels either to another fermenting tank or returns to the grape receiving area, where the crane is automatically centred above one of the stations of the carousel, deposits the vat and releases it.
