STORY Industrial

mtu engines scale new heights

Posted on April 01, 2021 by Julia Rieß, Images by Demag

The new Demag AC 450-7 All-Terrain Crane unites compactness and agility with high load capacity. Safe mobility is provided by the mtu 6R1500 unit that powers it.

Whether you’re building a house, erecting a dam, setting up a space telescope or installing an industrial plant, a crane is always indispensable. Hence cranes have to meet multiple requirements – they must be quick and easy to transport to the job site, simple to set up there, and preferably take up as little space as possible.   At the same time, the wish is for high load capacities.

When time is of the essence and several days are simply not at disposition to erect a stationary crane –when a derailed train has to be salvaged for example – the mobile all-terrain crane is called for. Likewise when a crane is needed in one place after another in rapid succession – as is the case when erecting wind parks. Tadano Demag, manufacturer of diverse all-terrain cranes, is a long-standing partner of Rolls-Royce. Its new Demag AC 450-7 mobile crane is compact yet powerful and sets a new standard in terms of safety and operator convenience. One of its innovative features is the ‘surround view’ system with six high-resolution cameras that make the crane easier and above all safer to maneuver, both on the job site itself and on the way there.  

Indeed, according to Manfred Staub from Tadano Demag who was the crane’s chief designer, the newly launched AC 450-7 impresses in more ways than one: “The number 450 in the product name refers to the maximum weight that the crane can pick up. For a 7-axle crane, which the ‘7’ stands for, that’s pretty impressive. With a carrier length of 15.99 m, a total length of 17.62 m and an outrigger base of 8.45m, this is a crane that’s suitable for restricted spaces.”

The number 450 in the product name refers to the maximum weight that the crane can pick up. For a 7-axle crane, which the ‘7’ stands for, that’s pretty impressive. With a carrier length of 15.99 m, a total length of 17.62 m and an outrigger base of 8.45m, this is a crane that’s suitable for restricted spaces

Impresses on-road too

All-terrain cranes, as their name suggests, have high off-road capabilities and are mobile. That means they have to be able to negotiate the bumpy ground of building sites as safely as the roads they travel on to get to them. That is one of the reasons why the mtu 6R 1500 engine from Rolls-Royce was the optimal choice for powering the AC 450-7 crane.   

Rolls-Royce mtu-brand Series 1000, 1100, 1300 and 1500 units are Mercedes-Benz derivates adapted by Rolls-Royce as it requires for off-highway use.

The 6R 1500 engine that powers the new Demag crane is based on a Mercedes-Benz OM473 unit with 480 kW power output. This unit also complies with the EU-Stage V and EPA Tier 4F emissions standards, among others. Fuel economy has been improved even further on this engine. It also sets new standards in terms of engine torque and its braking torque enables high downhill safety with a wear-free braking function. “Reliability – even in the rougher deployments – is the most important thing for engines serving construction and industry,” explained Paul Hillebrand, Key Account Manager for C&I applications at Rolls-Royce. “They have to be able to move over rough, hard ground, cope with constant clouds of dust and penetrating damp and yet still display the famous virtues of mtu-brand engines, which are economy, longevity, reliability, long maintenance intervals and low emissions.” Thanks to those very characteristics, there is global demand for mtu engines with many renowned manufacturers of construction and farming machinery in Europe, Asia and the US preferring to deploy them.

Rolls-Royce and Tadano Demag have enjoyed a very long-standing partnership in the powering of mobile cranes and shall continue to do so in the future. Their latest project, recently realized, was the drive of Demag’s four-axle AC80-4 crane.

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