CONTAINER HANDLING CONTAINER HANDLING CARGO HANDLING EQUIPMENT HOW TO REDUCE AIR EMISSIONS Peter Söderberg, Vice President R&D, Kalmar Mobile Equipment; Ari Hirvonen, Product Manager, Intelligent Horizontal Transportation Solutions; Heikki Salonen, Product Manager, Intelligent Crane Solutions, Kalmar This paper addresses common causes New developments such as handling equipment such as reachstackers, of airborne emissions in container ports. electrification, hybrid technology, energy it is reasonable to expect that diesel power Container terminals utilise a wide variety of regeneration, and process automation will eventually be replaced by other power container handling equipment. This can be have significant potential to reduce or sources. divided into horizontal transportation such as even completely eliminate on-site air A major contributor to mobile equipment straddle and shuttle carriers, terminal tractors emissions caused by container handling electrification has been the transition from and Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs); yard equipment, but the choice of a horizontal traditional lead batteries to batteries using cranes including Automated Stacking Cranes transportation system itself has a major rapidly progressing Lithium-ion (Li-ion) ASC) and Rubber Tyred Gantries (RTG); Ship- impact on emissions. A terminal concept technology. Manufacturers are also looking To-Shore (STS) cranes; mobile equipment based on terminal tractors will necessitate into fuel cell power for mobile equipment, including reachstackers, empty container a relatively large fleet, as each container but this technology will likely take several handlers and forklift trucks, as well as road needs to be placed on top of the vehicle, years to mature. vehicles operating at the terminal. while horizontal transportation with For yard cranes, RTG electrification offers The potential for emissions reduction straddle or shuttle carriers requires fewer the most immediate way of reducing fuel differs substantially between these machines to handle the equivalent number consumption at the terminal and significantly equipment types. Vessels and road trucks of containers. decreasing emissions on-site. Noise emissions are the most significant sources of air are also of significance particularly for pollution at container ports, but this text ELECTRIFICATION MARKET terminals located in densely populated primarily addresses container handling In mobile equipment operating at container urban areas. Adopting hybrid and all-electric equipment, including STS and yard cranes, terminals, electricity-powered solutions technology for horizontal transportation horizontal transportation as well as mobile have been scarce. With full electrification systems and/or RTGs can significantly reduce equipment. gradually making its way to heavier container the noise footprint of the terminal. 74 EDITION 75: AUTUMN 2017 WWW.PORTTECHNOLOGY.ORG CONTAINER HANDLING CONTAINER HANDLING Diesel Electric RTG (5,000 hours per year) Annual CO reduction Annual CO reduction Consumption l/h CO kg/hour CO kg/year 2 2 2 2 in a 5 RTG fleet in a 20 RTG fleet 13 litres/hour 34.8 173,940 869,700 3,478,800 15 litres/hour 40.1 200,700 1,003,500 4,014,000 17 litres/hour 45.5 227,460 1,137,300 4,549,200 19 litres/hour 50.8 254,220 1,271,100 5,084,400 21 litres/hour 56.2 280,980 1,404,900 5,619,600 23 litres/hour 61.5 307,740 1,538,700 6,154,800 Electric RTGs produce zero CO2, NOX and PM emissions at the point of use 9 Emission factor used for calculations is 2.676 kgCO2e/l Potential CO2 emission reduction of RTG electrification SHIP AND ROAD EMISSIONS diesel-electric as a competitive choice is the at the quayside. Resultantly, a terminal Industry studies show that typically the most low price of fuel worldwide, compared to concept based on terminal tractors will significant source of airborne emissions at the cost of the advanced battery technology require a relatively large fleet, as each container terminals in developed countries required for hybrids. container needs to be placed on top of the is the container ship itself. Tightened IMO In the latest hybrid straddle carriers, vehicle. When horizontal transportation can regulations on nitrogen oxide and sulphur a regenerative energy system converts be handled by straddle or shuttle carriers, oxide emissions, along with increased electrical braking and spreader lowering the containers can be placed on the ground requirements for the use of shore power, energy into electric power that is stored in and fewer machines are required to handle have considerably reduced vessel emissions a battery. This system can save 10–15% in the equivalent number of containers. at many ports. total energy consumption and emissions Converting to fully electric opportunity A wider discussion of vessel emissions per vehicle per year. charging based shuttle or straddle carriers, is outside the scope of this paper, except Hybrid machines typically operate on such as the Kalmar FastCharge, will to note that faster ship turnaround times battery power with their engines switched eliminate direct emissions from horizontal enabled by optimised terminal processes off up to 30% of the time. This translates transport completely. will also indirectly contribute to reduced to commensurate reductions in emissions emissions. and fuel consumption. The most efficient TECHNOLOGY OPERATION hybrid straddle carriers on the market Electric drive is fundamentally different ROAD VEHICLE EMISSIONS consume up to 40% less fuel than diesel- from diesel-powered driveline technology, Road vehicles are another major source of powered models, and emit on average over offering several compelling long-term emissions at the landside areas of container 50 tonnes less CO2 per year. benefits for manufacturers and equipment terminals. However, since these vehicles users alike. Electric power in mobile are not under the ownership or control equipment is a relatively new development, of the terminal, there is little possibility ELECTRIC HORIZONTAL TRANSPORT but electric drives are a highly mature and for terminals to influence their emissions Horizontal transportation equipment commoditised technology. At the same directly. In countries with less strict remains one of the most significant sources time, due to continuously tightening regulations on truck fuels, a significant share of emissions at terminals. Despite the emissions regulations, OEMs must devote of port emissions is typically generated by increasing adoption of hybrid technology significant resources to re-engineer their trucks and locomotives. and electrification, most straddle and equipment to meet each new emissions The most advanced process automation shuttle carriers, terminal tractors and AGVs target, without a commensurate increase solutions utilise radio frequency are still powered by diesel engines. in value that can be directly translated as identification technologies, which enable Fully electric equipment decreases a benefit into their own customer offering. the terminal to track trucks in real time. noise levels and enables zero emissions at Transitioning to a zero-emissions electric the point of use. The latest generation of drive will enable longer and more stable horizontal transport equipment includes product lifecycles, which ultimately benefits HYBRID SYSTEMS AND ENERGY fully electric straddle and shuttle carriers, manufacturer and customer alike. REGENERATION as well as fast charge technology that Likewise, for the end users at terminals, Approximately 80% of straddle carriers enables charging at idle times during the the total lifecycle costs of electric-powered currently deployed worldwide are diesel- equipment work cycle. machines are radically lower than for electric machines, and many terminals in The choice of horizontal transportation diesel-powered equipment, as a result countries with less advanced emissions system itself has a major impact on of the completely different maintenance regulations continue to operate traditional emissions. Maintaining maximum paradigm. These benefits hold even all-diesel machines. However, hybrid productivity for the STS cranes is the single when considering the need to replace the systems account for a significant portion of most critical factor for ensuring optimum battery packs during the expected 10–15- new units sold, and are rapidly becoming performance for the entire terminal, so year lifespan of the equipment. The main the default choice for new terminals. At the the horizontal transportation fleet needs reason for improved lifecycle costs with time of writing, the only factor still keeping sufficient capacity to avoid bottlenecks fully electric equipment is the simplified EDITION 75: AUTUMN 2017 75 CONTAINER HANDLING CONTAINER HANDLING drive installation in trucks due to fewer stringent environmental regulations to reach zero on-site emissions. Examples wearing parts as well as less consumables as well as a highly competitive global include the Port of Los Angeles, which such as engine and lubrication oils. Savings business landscape, port operators will has been working with a zero emissions are further increased once new equipment need to focus on reducing emissions from roadmap for several years; the APM generations are designed for electric drive their operations. Maasvlakte II Terminal in the Netherlands, sfrom the very beginning. Currently, the demand for low- which aims to reach 100% sustainably Manufacturers are still re-engineering emissions and electric technology for sourced