Cargo Business Techwire

Friday, November 20, 2015

Konecranes receives order for train loading system

Konecranes says it recently received an order for a train loading system for Metsä Group's bio-product mill in Äänekoski, Finland. The automatic train loading system is comprised of two cranes that will be used for loading pulp units onto railway wagons.

The system will be delivered to the bio-product mill
in 2017.

Metsä Fibre is building a bio-product mill in the existing mill area in Äänekoski. It will be the world’s first next-generation bio-product mill that can convert wood raw material into a diverse range of bio-
products. In addition to high-quality pulp, the mill
will produce bio-energy and various biomaterials
in a resource-efficient way.

"We are very proud to deliver lifting equipment to

this state-of-the-art bioproduct mill," says Hannu Piispanen, industry specialist, pulp and paper, Konecranes. "The ordered train loading system is of a new innovative application design, which is able to move 1,100 tons of pulp per hour onto the railway wagon. It offers a fast, clean and energy-efficient train turnaround. We trust this installation will raise a lot of interest in the pulp industry globally."

The two cranes will be fully automated when filling the 1,400-ton buffer storage twice a day and when feeding the trains. Both cranes have driver cabins with operator interface for surveillance. It will also be possible to drive the cranes manually, assisted by Konecranes smart features for positioning and safety.