Port Applications

Port Automation Solution Port of Montreal – Festoon Systems

With consideration made to the extreme environment in which Canadian Ports operate, the Port of Montreal requires a festoon system that is reliable, rugged, and built to last. Rotalec offers the industry’s best solutions for Cable and Hose Management, so certain terminals at the Port of Montreal have chosen Rotalec to replace all of their operational yet aged systems. Their choice was made easy, given the rugged design of the Rotalec festoon systems. The systems chosen featured extra large bearings and heavy gauge saddles, along with Rotalec’s local, experienced support staff available for on-site consulting. Rotalec made the process simple from design through to installation and operation. This solution led to a decreased total cost of ownership for each of the installed systems, and allows the Maintenance Teams at Port of Montreal to focus their efforts on creating a more efficient facility in other areas of the docks.

 

Port of Vancouver Cable CarrierCoal Export Giant – Plastic Cable Tracks

One of Rotalec’s port customers needed water for fire protection, dust suppression and wash down on its 350-metre-long deep-sea dock. In the past, a water truck had done the job manually, but it was inadequate, inefficient and time-consuming. So Rotalec provided a KabelSchlepp Varitrack Series MC Hose Carrying System to offer speed and efficiency to the fire and dust-suppression system. “Out of the box” thinking allows this port customer to save thousands of dollars on trucking and downtime by using the KabelSchlepp Cable and Hose Management System.

 

Container Position DetectionContainer Position Detection

Rotalec carries a complete line of Moduloc Laser Scanners, which can be used to examine alignment in relation to the Header Block/Spreader and/or the AGV, when lifting and loading shipping containers. The Moduloc scanners use a time-of-flight measurement method to calculate target range, and couple the range measurement with an angle measurement to create a polar coordinate position. As the scanner head rotates a full 360 degrees (at a rate of 10 Hz), a complete circular profile is created. The scanners are equipped to cover an area within a 40m radius on dark targets such as the hulls of ocean freighters, and up to a radius of 100m onto lighter targets, all over an angular range of up to 360 degrees. As an option, the Moduloc scanner can also contain an integrated DSP processor, allowing for online profile evaluation and interfacing over a special CANBus I/F. The DSP can be programmed to support form, volume and movement applications.

 

Port of Montreal Crane Brake SystemPort of Montreal – Brake Systems

When the Port of Montreal approached Rotalec with an issue of excessive brake wear as well as long set-up time for their Ship-to-Shore Crane brakes, our engineers determined the best solution would be custom brakes engineered and manufactured by Pintsch Bubenzer. The new brake system featured Pintsch Bubenzer’s patented self-centering brake levers, automatic wear compensators, and sintered linings for high-friction speeds. Immediately, Rotalec’s customer noticed a tremendous reduction in brake wear, and with the optional “lifting” and “lowering” valves, the newly installed brakes can be adjusted with a screwdriver to set or release manually for each application in under 5 seconds – a fraction of the time that brake set-up had previously taken.

 

Motorized Cable Trolley SystemMotorized Cable Trolley System

The requirements of today’s festoon systems, especially in container handling, often exceed the physical limitations of conventional systems, when it comes to speed, acceleration and cable package weight. When a port customer approached Rotalec with a problem of excessive wear on their high-speed festoon system, our local engineering group solved the issue. After determining that the speed of the festoon system was in excess of 500 ft per minute, a motorized cable trolley system was chosen as the solution, offering extended cable and hardware life, higher efficiency and less downtime for a bulk terminal customer. The application of motorized cable trolleys, in combination with non-motorized cable trolleys, allows for controlled acceleration and deceleration. This synchronization made possible dramatically increased travel speeds for the entire system as well as considerable reductions in wear and maintenance work, minimizing overall costs.