SIMOCRANE ECO Technology is power management software. It is designed for use in cranes and vehicles that are operated with an engine and an AC generator (diesel generator). These components are used to generate the energy for performing movements and for infeed of auxiliary energy.

SIMOCRANE ECO Technology can be easily implemented with SIMOCRANE Basic Technology. In this case, special ECO blocks are simply linked to SIMOCRANE Basic Technology blocks. The SIMOCRANE ECO Technology can also be used without the SIMOCRANE Basic Technology.

ECO Technology varies the speed of the engine in accordance with the actual energy required for the purpose of optimizing the fuel consumption. As compared with cranes operating with constant speed engines, or cranes with 2 speeds, fuel consumption is reduced in every operating mode.

Hardware

SIMOCRANE ECO Technology is provided exclusively as a software package. Certain prerequisites are, however, necessary for the hardware configuration.

The overview diagram below shows the core of the ECO configuration with the main components that are required for an ECO package:

SIMOCRANE ECO Technology configuration

Additional explanation of the numbered points in the diagram:

1. A SIMOTION D4x5-2 DP or PN is required for executing the licensed SIMOCRANE ECO Technology software.

2. For the infeed, a standard Chassis Motor Module must be selected from the SINAMICS S120 series. Selection is based on the same criteria as for selection of a Basic Line Module (BLM) or Active Line Module (ALM). The ECO software sets specific parameters for the Motor Module. It is important to note that the Motor Module is self-commutated to ensure that a low input voltage is added to the expected DC-link voltage. When an externally-excited synchronous generator is used in place of a permanent-magnet synchronous generator, a reactor may be necessary. See the Engineering Manuals for advice.

3. Depending on the generator type selected, a Sensor Module (SMC) is required for acquisition of the encoder signals of the generator, or a Voltage Sensing Module (VSM) for acquisition of the infeed voltage.

4. A stable auxiliary supply must be generated by a booksize or chassis converter with sinewave filter due to the variable input voltage and frequency. Selection must take into account the average power/current consumption and the maximum power/current consumption of all components connected to the auxiliary supply. It is important to note that the converter for the auxiliary supply must be operated at a pulse frequency of 4 or 8 kHz to reduce the voltage peaks. These pulse frequencies require derating of the converter output which must be taken into account on selection.

5. A suitable sinewave filter must be selected to ensure that the selected converter produces the cleanest possible auxiliary voltage. The SINAMICS Configuration Manual from Siemens contains extensive information and criteria to aid selection.

Software

SIMOCRANE ECO Technology is available as a software package that contains:

• DVD with
  • Setup for installing the ECO DCC Library and online help
  • Standard application
  • Documentation
• ECO Technology V1.0 license

The software package contains the ECO DCC Library and a complete ECO standard application. This DCC Library comprises a collection of blocks that are implemented as "Drive Control Charts" (DCC) function blocks. DCC is a form of representation which supports graphic configuring and interconnecting. The detailed functional scope of the ECO crane library is shown in the graphic below.

Technology package

The standard application contains the ready-to-use application software for an RTG crane (ECO RTG). This solution can be used immediately; it only needs to be parameterized. Through adaptation and expansion, this solution can be used as a basis for further applications.