Mid UK Recycling has welcomed delivery of the second handler, explaining that the electric Liebherr plant will help add “efficiencies and environmental improvements” to the business.
In total, seven electric LH 26 machines have been ordered by Mid-UK, who already run a fleet of diesel handlers plus two Sennebogen machines.
A spokesman for Liebherr said: “The use of electric power for excavators has mainly been confined to large mining excavators but there are certain applications in the UK where the use of electrically powered machines is being championed. The waste industry has been an early adopter of this technology with static mounted plant being electrically powered for many years.”
Quieter
Chris Mountain, managing director of Mid UK said: “For us there are a number of advantages to using the electric-powered handlers. The operators like them, they are quieter and importantly, they are more environmentally-friendly and offer significant cost-savings.
“I believe that environmentally they are the way forward as they improve air quality and can easily be switched on and off. With electricity you only pay for what you use whereas the diesel engines usually run on tick-over part of the time. The electric engines should have twice as long a life, potentially 40,000 hours compared to a diesel of around 15,000 hours. And, from a maintenance point of view they are easier – Euro 4 and 5 engines are becoming much more complex to run and have to run at such a high temperature.”
Fire prevention
Mr Mountain explained that Mid UK, which has suffered from fire in the past, has recently spent significant sums on fire prevention work with Fireward and this has included spending on fire suppression equipment for 20 shredders and mobile plant.
He said: “It is important to have fire suppression equipment, especially for the electric machines because of the high value but one advantage is that they don’t run at such a high temperature as the diesel plant.”
Whilst a number of Liebherr wheel loaders are used in various applications at Mid UK’s different processing plants, the fleet of 25 tonne crawler and wheeled material handlers operates predominantly within the confines of buildings.
Stability
Built around a standard material handling variant of the company’s 24-25 tonne LH 26, the CE version sits on 2.4 metre crawler undercarriage offering “exceptional” stability even when working at maximum radius across the tracks, according to Liebherr.
“The electric machines … don’t run at such a high temperature as the diesel plant”
Chris Mountain, managing director
Mid UK Recycling
The crawler has a 110 kW electric motor in place of the diesel engine which means there is no exhaust pipe and there is a large reversible fan to ensure the motor and cooling systems are kept at the lowest working temperatures at all times.
An opening panel behind the cab allows pedestrian access to the top deck whilst the large rear panel, which traditionally accommodates the cooling pack, now houses the electrical cabinet. From the top working platform, the “engine” cover is lifted up on gas struts to give access to the top of the 110 kW induction drive electric motor which achieves full power at a low 1489 rpm.
Cable
The dedicated 400v supply comes via a large cable affixed to the undercarriage and fed through the centre of the slew ring (as pictured above) and the latest machine has been equipped with enough slack in the cable to allow it to work from two operating positions allowing a large degree of flexibility.
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