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Technische Mitteilungen ThyssenKrupp
TK
December 2001
English Edition
02
Published by
ThyssenKrupp AG
Corporate Department Technology
August-Thyssen-Strasse 1
40211 Dsseldorf, Germany
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ISSN 1438-9754
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
Cover
Long proven in general engineering,
handling and mining equipment, cranes
and earthmoving machinery, largediameter bearings are now also a key
component of many new technologies,
such as wind turbines, offshore facilities,
communications engineering and
aerospace equipment.
Hoesch Rothe Erde has earned
international recognition as a producer of
high-quality, dependable large-diameter
bearings, with an extensive range covering
a wide variety of applications.
The cover picture shows a three-row roller
bearing with the third ring not yet
mounted, revealing the radial and support
races. The bearing is of special-purpose
design as it has steel cages with bronze
runners, a complex configuration which is
used when temperatures exceed 80 C
(e.g. foundry, steel mill) or for continuous
operation (e.g. tunnel boring machine).
03
Foreword
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ekkehard D. Schulz, Chairman of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG
Dear Readers,
Shipbuilding is another area of activity.

We have a range extending from special-
Many people still associate ThyssenKrupp
purpose merchant vessels and mega-
only with steel. But this fails to do justice to
yachts through naval shipbuilding to all
the Groups wide range of products and
kinds of ship repair work.
services. ThyssenKrupp enjoys success in
In mechanical and plant engineering we
many other areas, such as automotive
specialize in the production of complex
supply, services, materials trading, and
capital goods, special-purpose machines
capital goods for the mechanical and plant
as well as engineering systems and
engineering and transportation sectors.
components. Our expertise focuses on the
Selected examples from the latter area are
development of processing technologies,
presented in this issue of forum Tech-
the efficient design of production processes
nische Mitteilungen ThyssenKrupp.
and design engineering, and is thus the
The transportation of people and freight
key to producing highly efficient plants,
takes many forms. We have elevator
machinery and equipment tailored to
activities around the globe providing
individual customer specifications. From
products and services in close proximity to
machine tools and conveyor systems to
markets. Our range takes in not only
chemical and cement plants, the com-
passenger and freight elevators, but also
panies of the ThyssenKrupp Group display
escalators, moving walks, aircraft
outstanding capabilities in their respective
passenger boarding bridges and stair lifts.
fields and hold leading world market
In addition to meeting the most stringent
positions.
safety specifications, these products also

satisfy ever increasing esthetic and
Yours,
economic requirements.
An order from China has provided the
breakthrough for the Transrapid magnetic
train. ThyssenKrupp plays a major part in
this as an exclusive supplier of key
Transrapid components.
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
Ekkehard Schulz
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Ekkehard D. Schulz,
Chairman of the
Executive Board of
ThyssenKrupp AG
04
Contents
Almudena Sainz,
Marketing Department,
Jos R. Magalln,
Sales Department Director,
Thyssen Henschel S.A., Mieres, Spain
Page 18
Dipl.-Ing. Hans-F. Frhr. v. Scholley,

Head of Engineering Development,
Thyssen Aufzugswerke GmbH, Neuhausen a.d.F.
Page 9
Dipl.-Ing. Dagmar Euler-Schreiter,

Head of Dsseldorf Airport project,
Thyssen Aufzge Dsseldorf GmbH, Dsseldorf
Page 13
The EVOLUTION traffic elevator

for railroad station platforms from
Thyssen Aufzugswerke
Innovative elevators and escalators for a safe future
ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems

passenger boarding bridges at
Dsseldorf International Airport
As part of a nationwide project to specify

a standard elevator for railroad station
platforms, a joint project team from Deutsche Bahn and Thyssen Aufzugswerke
developed the machine-room-less
EVOLUTION traffic platform elevator.
Disabled access and security against
vandalism were key factors determining
the size and equipment of the elevator car.
Disabled accessibility was achieved by
designing the elevator car big enough to
facilitate wheelchair users and with controls at a reachable height, providing audio
announcement modules and ensuring
high-precision stopping regardless of load.
The use of a glass-paneled car allowing
good visibility from outside helps dissuade
vandals and gives passengers a feeling of
added security.
Limiting the nominal travel speed and
hoisting height made it possible to increase the maximum permissible elevator car
weight without the need for special technical support solutions, allowing the principle of a machine-room-less standard elevator despite the high weight of the fully
glazed car.
The design of the EVOLUTION traffic
convinced Deutsche Bahn to such an
extent that they awarded Thyssen Aufzugswerke a framework supply agreement.
With their state-of-the-art elevators,

escalators and passenger conveyors,
Thyssen Aufzugswerke GmbH and Thyssen Fahrtreppen GmbH hold leading national and international market positions.
This is clearly reflected in the modernization and reconstruction work being carried
out at Dsseldorf Airport under the airport 2000 plus project.
Alongside hydraulic and traction units,
the 50 elevators installed also included the
new Evolution model, which saves costs
and space by dispensing with the machine
room.
The 31 passenger escalators installed in
Pier B and Hall C have rises of up to 7.52 m
and fit in ideally with the architectural
design of the new airport.
A monitoring system developed by
Thyssen Aufzugswerke and specially adapted to airport requirements has been set
up in the security control center. Alongside
status and fault message displays, the
monitoring system can also be used to
perform specific switching commands. Fire
protection equipment has been integrated
to identify fires anywhere in the airport at
an early stage; the control system automatically initiates the required actions from
deactivating the escalators to dynamic
elevator evacuation runs.
Passenger boarding bridges from ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems are the result of
decades of experience in the airport equipment sector. More than 1,300 units have
been installed worldwide.
ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems has been
supplying passenger boarding bridges to
Dsseldorf Airport since 1972 46 units
had been installed by mid-2000 and is
also involved in the airport 2000 plus
reconstruction and expansion project
started in 1997.
The telescopic apron drive bridges
used offer greater maneuverability than
the alternative T-bridge and noseloader
designs.
The apron drive bridge made by ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems differs from
competing products through the use of hot
dip galvanized steel sheets for the structure of the tunnel guaranteeing a minimum 20-year lifespan and the use of a
hydraulic elevating system which provides
superior control and reliability compared
with electromechanical systems.
In 2000, ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems
started production at a new passenger
boarding bridge production facility in
Mieres, Spain. This new factory raises the
annual production capacity of the two
manufacturing centers in Mieres and Fort
Worth, USA, to 300 passenger boarding
bridges.
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
05
Contents
Dr.-Ing. Robert J. Bartels,

Managing Director Hller Hille GmbH / Sales
Cross Hller,
Dr.-Ing. Manfred Berger,
Senior Sales Manager Cross Hller,
Hller Hille GmbH, Ludwigsburg
Page 26
Dipl.-Ing. Jrg-Peter Krner, Managing Director,

Dipl.-Ing. Michael Bork, Senior Process Engineer,
Dipl.-Ing. Heribert Dierkes, Senior Sales Engineer,
Dipl.-Chem. Dr. Peter Nnnerich, R&D Manager,
Dipl.-Ing. Volkmar Steinhagen,
Process Engineer,
Uhde Hochdrucktechnik GmbH, Hagen
Page 31
DUAL and LOWRIDER, two

new passenger boarding bridges
for small and medium passenger
aircraft
Manufacturing flexibility in powertrain production
New applications of high-pressure

extraction
In recent years, the number of 20 to

120-seater commuter aircraft and regional
jets has increased rapidly. Embarking and
disembarking for this aircraft category
(with on-board stairs) still generally takes
place out on the apron with no protection
from the elements. The idea of developing
a passenger boarding bridge for commuter
aircraft was born of the wish to offer passengers the level of comfort to which they
are accustomed from larger aircraft. To
enable both first floor and ground floor
variants (depending on terminal type),
Thyssen Henschel has developed two new
passenger boarding bridges the DUAL
and LOWRIDER models.
The DUAL bridge is connected to the terminal at first floor level and can be docked
with the doors of all commercial commuter
planes via two telescopic tunnels. The
pendulum floor of the cabin can be shifted
laterally to allow docking with aircraft
whose on-board stairs do not have folddown railings.
The LOWRIDER bridge is connected to
the terminal at ground floor level. An especially low drive unit is provided to position
the cabin against the aircraft so as to allow
virtually horizontal embarking/disembarking.
Both passenger boarding bridges are
available in steel and glass versions,
differing only in the closed or open design
of the tunnel side walls.
The Hller Hille group is one of the

worlds leading manufacturers of machine
tools. Its biggest customer group are
manufacturers from the engine/automotive
industry and their suppliers.
Ever shorter strategy validity, the increasing use of platforms, brand and company
consolidations, outsourcing decisions and
increasingly stringent emission regulations
give rise to a high degree of uncertainty
when planning volumes and product variants.
In response to this there has been a significant increase in the demand in recent
years for flexible production systems to
allow for future changes in powertrain
manufacture.
Alongside classic transfer lines, which
still offer the lowest unit costs for producing largely standardized parts in high
volumes, there is a growing use of agile
and flexible production systems. A general
distinction is made between sequential
and parallel production together with
hybrid systems, which comprise various
aspects of transfer lines and special-purpose machines.
A system producing cylinder heads for a
North American automaker is used as an
example to show that demands for workpiece variation, output flexibility, system
configurability and a production network
comprising several plants can only be met
by a fully flexible agile production system.
Extraction with supercritical gases is a

very important area of high-pressure technology. Uhde Hochdrucktechnik GmbH has
developed many such applications since
1980 and has filed or applied for worldwide patents for associated components
and processes. The company is also market
leader in this field, supplying equipment to
customers worldwide, particularly in Asia,
Europe and the USA.
As part of a government-funded research project into the recycling of liquidcontaining polymer components, Uhde is
continuing its tradition as a leading innovator in the field of high-pressure extraction.
The special properties of liquid-containing polymer components, such as plastic
fuel tanks, call for new recycling methods.
This has become increasingly important to
the automobile industry, as the EC end-oflife-vehicle directive and the German law
on scrapped vehicles (coming into force in
2002) mandate rising recycling quotas for
the component materials and place limitations on thermal recycling.
Dipl.-Ing. Friedhelm Worpenberg,

Head of Research and Development,
Thyssen Henschel S. A., Mieres, Spain
Page 22
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
06
Contents
Dipl.-Ing. Christof Brewka,
Vice President Engineering Structural &
Mechanical,
Krupp Robins Inc., Englewood, USA
Dipl.-Ing. Martina Shehata, MSc, P. Eng.,
Vice President Engineering & Project Management,
Krupp Canada Inc., Calgary, Canada
Page 49
Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Schneiders, Member of the

Executive Board, Technology,
Dr.-Ing. Albert Zimmermann, Senior Sales
Manager,
Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Henen, Process Engineer
Electrolysis,
Krupp Uhde GmbH, Dortmund
Page 36
Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Halbleib,

Project Leader, Raw Materials Processing,
Dr.-Ing. Uwe Maas,
Project Leader, Clinker Production,
Dipl.-Ing. Franz-Josef Zurhove,
Product Manager, Cement Production,
Krupp Polysius AG, Beckum
Page 41
Membrane electrolysis innovation for the chlor-alkali industry
Developing the future in cement

manufacturing technology
Krupp Canada supplies the

worlds largest downhill conveyor
system
With its low energy, low pollution membrane technology, Krupp Uhde is an international market leader in the construction
of chlorine and caustic soda production
plants. This is proven by the construction
of 78 new plants and 18 upgrade or
revamping projects with a total capacity of
almost 4.4 million metric tons of caustic
soda.
The specific energy consumption of
chlor-alkali electrolysis plants is key to
their economic efficiency. For this reason
all components of the electrolysis cell are
subject to ongoing optimization in terms of
energy requirements, durability and materials. Krupp Uhdes single cell element
combines optimal material choice with
simple cell maintenance. Corrosion-proof
materials guarantee maximum cell life.
Continuous design improvements to the
current-conducting elements have minimized electrical losses.
Older processes, such as the diaphragm
and amalgam methods, are being phased
out because of their high energy consumption and low environmental friendliness. Krupp Uhde has already converted
many of these plants to the new membrane technology, and others will follow.
A new variant for further reductions in
energy loss during chlor-alkali electrolysis
is the use of gas-diffusion electrodes
(GDE) as an oxygen-consuming cathode.
In collaboration with a specialist company,
Krupp Uhde has succeeded in producing
silver GDEs with low PTFE content which
have been successfully adapted to chloralkali technology in test cells.
Today cement is one of the most important building materials, and our modern
world would be unthinkable without it.
Worldwide cement consumption is currently around 1.6 billion metric tons per year.
Annual increases in demand of around 33
million tons call both for new production
plants and also for the modernization of
existing production units.
Cement plant construction today focuses
on reducing investment and operating
costs and improving environmental compatibility. In this respect, the research and
development department at Krupp Polysius has an important role to play.
Strong competitive pressure on the
international markets necessitates a high
degree of innovation at a high technical
level.
The company continually faces up to
this challenge and develops units and entire
plants for all areas of cement production
from raw materials preparation to clinker
production to cement production delivering high flexibility, excellent quality control
and a high degree of automation to meet
all requirements for economical and ecological cement production.
Krupp Canada received an order to build

a downhill conveyor for a Chilean copper
mine covering a length of 12.7 kilometers
and an elevation drop of 1,307 meters.
To protect it against avalanche and
landslide hazards, the conveyor is routed
through tunnels for almost its full length.
As no conveyor belt of this length would
be able to withstand the belt tensions
generated in a single flight, the system
consists of three sections.
The drive units feature squirrel cage
induction motors, two-stage helical bevel
reducers and mechanical disc brakes. In
the loaded condition, the drives act as
generators and feed power back into the
grid. The inverter drive system allows stepless, smooth adjustment of torque and
speed to minimize dynamic stresses.
To prevent conveyor run-away under full
load on this downhill system, a sophisticated control system was developed with five
levels of safety to bring the conveyor
system to a controlled stop in any conditions.
Due to the high forces involved, a new
approach had to be taken with regard to
belt design so as to ensure the strength of
the belt and splices and allow advance
recognition of any impending splice failure.
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
07
Contents
Burckhard Bussmann,
Product Manager, Energy Technology,
Dr.-Ing. Jrgen Schilling,
Project Leader, Energy Technology,
ThyssenKrupp EnCoke GmbH, Bochum
Page 56
Dr. jur. Reinhard Mehl,

Head of Marine Sales Germany / Project Leader
F124,
Blohm + Voss GmbH, Hamburg
Page 63
Dipl.-Ing. Martin Braun,

Object Manager FES,
Dipl.-Ing. Achim Hollung,
Project Manager E-System FES,
Thyssen Nordseewerke GmbH, Emden
Page 68
SVI Noord-Brabant sewage sludge

incineration plant, Netherlands
The Sachsen impressions

from the sea trials
Research and testing vessel from

Thyssen Nordseewerke
ThyssenKrupp Encoke emerged successful from an international request for bids to

develop a central sewage sludge incineration plant for SVI Noord-Brabant.
With an installed capacity of 133,000
metric tons of dry material per year, the
plant is the biggest of its kind in Europe. In
terms of volume and the properties of the
unavoidable waste products, the facility
was designed to maximize the amount of
recyclable residue and thus minimize the
amount of waste to be disposed of.
The dewatered sludge is transported
to the plant by road and dumped in deep
storage bins.
After pre-drying in steam-heated disc
dryers, the sludge is incinerated without
any additional energy in a fluidized bed
incinerator using the ThyssenKrupp EnCoke
process.
The flue gases exiting the fluidized bed
incinerator are used to generate saturated
steam for sludge drying and wastewater
evaporation. The flue gases are dedusted
in an electrostatic precipitator and then
pass through a scrubbing process.
The incineration residues are mainly
recycled into building materials, a small
amount of waste is disposed of ecologically.
Experience from four years of service
has shown the plant to meet all expectations in full.
The Sachsen is a German navy frigate

class F124 vessel. Five years after the
order was placed, in August 2001 the frigate left the Blohm+Voss shipyards for sea
trials.
The sea trials involve comprehensive
tests with the focus on the vessels
systems and machinery. They provide the
opportunity to optimize the ships systems
under operational conditions and detect
any faults in good time.
The main emphasis of the marine
systems trials is to test the combined
diesel and gas turbine propulsion system
(CODAG), which compared with the previous vessel generation dispenses with a
second turbine and markedly reduces operating costs over the life of the frigate.
Also on test is the newly developed data
bus-based integrated monitoring and control system (IMCS), which monitors and
controls all on-board marine systems via
more than 7,000 monitoring stations distributed throughout the vessel.
As major elements of the complete
system were developed in parallel with the
construction of the frigate, to minimize
development risks a risk management
team was deployed to permanently monitor all developments and ensure their subsequent integratability.
In December 2000, Thyssen Nordseewerke was awarded a contract to build a

research and testing vessel.
The design of the SWATH vessel (Small
Waterplane Area Twin Hull) is characterized
by a relatively wide platform mounted on
narrow struts ending underwater in two
large hulls similar in shape to a submarine. This design provides platform
stability even in heavy seas and thus minimizes restrictions on research activities
caused by bad weather.
The shape of the hulls has a key influence on resistance and damping. The
trapezoidal shape selected offers optimum
damping; the hull cross section tapers
continuously toward the stern and the bow
to offer significantly lower resistance than
a cylindrical hull.
The propulsion concept is also new:
The design of the power generation and
propulsion equipment is similar to that of
an all-electric vessel, with key components
such as the propulsion motors and the
generators utilizing permanent magnet
technology. Propulsion is via four identical
PM synchronous motors (2 per shaft); four
PM current generating units are powered
by diesel engines.
All the vessels systems are designed for
24-hour unsupervised automatic operation.
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
08
Contents
Dr.-Ing. Jrg Rollmann,

Head of Research & Testing,
Hoesch Rothe Erde GmbH, Lippstadt
Page 74
Dipl.-Ing. Winfried Kracht,

Chairman of the Management Board,
Luitpold Miller,
Member of the Management Board,
Dr.-Ing. Friedrich Lser,
Chief Section Head Systems Technology,
ThyssenKrupp Transrapid GmbH, Kassel
Page 79
Wolfgang Schmidt,
Managing Director,
Hogema Maschinenhandel GmbH, Cologne
Page 85
Environmentally friendly marine

propulsion systems rely on largediameter antifriction bearings
from Hoesch Rothe Erde
Transrapid innovative rail technology for the world market
Certified pre-owned CNC

machines: The alternative to new
equipment
Large-diameter bearings are used in

different forms in virtually every segment
of mechanical engineering and transportation. Since the early 1980s, these bearings
have also been used in marine applications for thruster systems on vessels whose
operation calls for high maneuverability,
such as tugboats and ferries. The largediameter bearings transmit forces and
moments from the thrust bearings of the
ships propeller screws.
The development of pod propulsion
systems is now expanding the range of
large-diameter bearings to include cruise
ships with significantly higher propulsive
power. To eliminate the weak point of the
Z-drive between the drive motor in the ship
and the propeller screw on conventional
thrusters, on pod units the motor and propeller screw are housed in a pod, mounted
with 360 rotation beneath the hull of the
ship on a vertical shaft and a large-diameter bearing (azimuth bearing). This solution
increases maneuverability and reduces
fuel consumption.
Pod propulsion units are generally
mounted on three-row roller-bearing slewing rings. As combined axial-radial roller
bearings they can withstand high
moments of tilt and ensure the reliable
functioning of the propulsion system.
The Transrapid system was designed for

passenger transport at speeds of up to
500 km/hour. The heart of the Transrapid
technology is a non-contacting electromagnetic levitation, guidance and propulsion
system which replaces the functions of
wheel and rail.
Propulsion is via a traveling magnetic
field generated in the guideway by a longstator linear motor, which propels the train
synchronously via its support magnets.
The vehicle wraps around the guideway
and is therefore prevented from derailing.
Deformation elements arranged on the
levitation frame ensure operational safety
in the event of collisions with stationary
objects on the guideway.
The components of the long-stator linear
motor responsible for the suspension, guidance, propulsion and braking functions
stator packs and long-stator windings
are located in the guideway. The longstator winding is realized as a three-phase
traveling field winding, with each winding
strand created by means of meandering
and bending of the traveling field wire and
pressed into the slots of the stator packs
by a mobile laying unit on the guideway
supports.
Location reference flags attached to the
guideway allow the trains to be located
using the operation control technology.
The switches are of welded steel and are
shifted and locked electrically.
Trading in used machine tools offers

significant opportunities. Hogema Maschinenhandel GmbH, a subsidiary of the
Hommel Unverzagt group, has moved into
this business and offers certified preowned CNC machine tools along with the
same range of services available to new
equipment customers. Every year, around
100 machines change owners via existing
customer relations with sister companies,
the companys own website or international marketplaces.
The machines are inspected at in-house
technical centers, overhauled and repaired. Customers can personally check out
the excellent quality of the pre-owned
machines there before buying, and
demonstrations are also possible.
Like its sister companies selling new
machines, Hogema offers its customers
tailored purchasing and insurance models
to ensure customers liquidity independently of banks. The extensive after-sales
service offers not only classic services
such as inspection, maintenance and
repair, but also a highly efficient service
hotline to ensure high machine availability.
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
09
Dipl.-Ing. Hans-F. Frhr. v. Scholley
The EVOLUTION traffic elevator for railroad station platforms from

Thyssen Aufzugswerke
Elevator with kiosk and shaft (Fig. 1)
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
10
The EVOLUTION traffic elevator for railroad station platforms from Thyssen Aufzugswerke
1 Requirements
Elevators for railroad station platforms
have to fulfill special requirements. They
are often the only access to public
transportation for the handicapped. These
elevators must therefore satisfy
requirements for barrier-free design
according to DIN 18024. Platform elevators
in any public transportation system also
face a high degree of exposure to
vandalism. Meeting such demands needs a
transparent design that is also robust.
Standard machine-room-less elevators
cannot fulfill these more demanding
requirements. The transparency required to
deter vandalism can only be sensibly
achieved by having an elevator car with
glass on all sides. The weight of such a
design has normally precluded its use for
standard machine-room-less elevators
(from all of volume manufacturers of whom
we are currently aware).
A joint project team from Deutsche Bahn

and Thyssen Aufzugswerke has now
specified an elevator for railroad station
platforms based on the EVOLUTION range
of machine-room-less elevators. The
resulting design was so convincing that
Thyssen Aufzugswerke was awarded a
framework contract for the delivery of
machine-room-less elevators for railroad
platforms. This was how the EVOLUTION
traffic was born initially as a 3D CAD
model (Fig. 2).
2.1 Elevator car dimensions

The specifications for the dimensions
and outfitting of an elevator car are largely
influenced by suitability for the handicapped and security against vandalism. A
car suitable for the handicapped needs to
be at least large enough to accommodate
one individual in a wheelchair as well as
one accompanying person. The DIN 18024
standard specifies a minimum width of
1,100 mm, a minimum depth of 1,400 mm
and a minimum of 900 mm for the width of
the doors. According to ISO 4190-1, these
car dimensions correspond to an elevator
2 The Standard Railroad Station

Platform Elevator project
Up until now it has been common for
elevators to platforms at railroad stations to
be specially-built installations. In order to
reduce the cost of such systems and of the
difficult task of obtaining spare parts for
them while simultaneously improving their
quality, a nationwide project to specify a
standard elevator for railroad station
platforms was conducted by the German
railway company Deutsche Bahn. The
objective of the project involved offering
framework contracts to manufacturers to
develop largely standardized equipment
with a good price/performance ratio and a
secure supply of spare parts.
3D CAD animation of elevator car (Fig. 2)
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
11
Handicapped-friendly, vandal-proof control panel (Fig. 3)
with a 630-kg nominal load. To comply

with this, the EVOLUTION traffic is to be
provided for nominal loads of 630 kg and
1,000 kg. The standard project plan
foresees a door width of 1,000 mm, with
either central or telescopic closing. There
may be a single entrance or doors on
facing sides.
2.2 Operating controls

One further aspect of suitability for
handicapped people is that controls to
operate the elevator should be within
reach. A wheelchair user must be able to
operate all controls without having to turn
around. DIN 18024-2 requires controls to
be at a height of 850 mm and at least
500 mm from the doors. The standard also
specifies a design for the operating panel.
Although European draft standards do
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
Transparency inside and out (Fig. 4)
allow less expensive solutions for elevators

with handicapped access that do not
incorporate operating panels, the
EVOLUTION traffic platform elevators will
all be equipped with panels that comply
with DIN 18024-2.
The vandal-resistant operating panel
features a stainless steel housing that
matches the stainless steel and glass
design of the elevator cab (Fig. 3). All
components are naturally resistant to
vandalism and are suitable for use by the
handicapped. The large aluminum buttons
measure 50 x 50 mm and comply with the
DIN 18024 and 18025 standards. They are
tactile and are denoted in 30-mm high
lettering and Braille.
Handrails are also matched to the
stainless steel and glass design. A double
configuration with rails at heights of
850 mm and 1,100 mm above the floor
meet the demands both of a lower handrail

for the handicapped as well as one higher
up to prevent collisions with the glass
walls. The rounded ends reduce the risk of
injury from bumping into or being crushed
against the rails. Handicapped access has
been achieved without compromise.
2.3 Comfort and security

The EVOLUTION traffic elevators for
station platforms are all provided with an
adjustment system by which the level at
which the car halts can be set accurately
to within a few millimeters, even if the
elevator is heavily laden or when a heavy
load is removed. This considerably reduces
the likelihood of stumbling for partially
sighted or blind people. It also benefits
wheelchair users. The ease of use of the
elevators for blind and partially sighted
12
people can also be increased by means of

an optional audio announcement module.
The announcement can state the level
where the car is halting or even give
information specific to the customers
building. Calling the elevator is also made
easier for wheelchair users by the provision
of free-standing columns at an appropriate
distance from the doors. The height of the
controls on these columns and the controls
themselves are also in accordance with the
DIN 18024 and 18025 standards.
The maximum permissible weight for the
elevator car is 1,900 kg, which permits a
fully glazed design with lavish interior
outfitting. A transparent glass elevator
greatly reduces vandalism because its
interior is visible from outside (Fig. 4). But
being able to look out of the elevator car is
also pleasing for passengers inside it. It
reduces feelings of claustrophobia and

allows them to avoid the direct gaze of fellow passengers. Being visible from outside
also reduces the fear of harassment by
other passengers. The lower frame of the
windows reaches to a height of 250 mm
which prevents the glass from being
damaged by luggage trolleys. In addition a
protective bumper strip runs around it.
Furthermore, the elevator cars are equipped with stainless steel floor troughs to
ensure resistance against corrosion even
by highly corrosive fluids. The troughs can
contain any of a wide variety of flooring
materials, artificial stone for example.
The EVOLUTION traffic can be fitted in a
conventional concrete shaft or a shaft
frame. The top-floor halt is often contained
in a kiosk on the platform standing directly
in the open air (Figs 1 and 5). For this rea-
son the shaft doors have additional sealing

against rainwater and spray. The shaft
doors are also equipped with sill heaters for
use in winter.
2.4 Certification
Platform elevators need to fulfill not only
European elevator standards but also those
of the Deutsche Bahn itself. This means
that glass shaft doors need to withstand
almost twice as much kinetic energy as
specified in European standards. This is
tested for certification by means of a series
of tests involving pendulum strikes.
Thyssen Aufzugswerkes self-produced,
eighth-generation doors were able to pass
the certification tests at the first attempt
with only minor modifications to the door
leaf guides.
2.5 Design
The EVOLUTION traffics technical
specialty, however, is its cleverly engineered design. By limiting the nominal
speed to 1.0 m/s and the hoisting height to
20 m, it was possible to raise the
maximum weight of the elevator car by
400 kg without resorting to specialized
solutions for supporting equipment. This
limiting of speed and hoisting height has
no adverse effect on the planning of platform elevators since they do not usually
need to stop at more than three levels. In
this way it was possible to meet the special
demands on platform elevators without the
need for any special technical solutions for
the supporting equipment, enabling the
flexible EVOLUTION family to be used as a
basis for a low-cost standard elevator for
railroad platforms.
Engineering drawing of the EVOLUTION traffic in the shaft (Fig. 5)
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13
Dipl.-Ing. Dagmar Euler-Schreiter
Mobility provided by Thyssen elevators and escalators (Fig. 1)
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14
1 Background
With the constantly growing demand for
mobility, whether in the private or the
professional sphere, people increasingly
need ever better ways to get to their
destinations even more quickly and comfortably. Expectations are high, as modes
of transportation with innovative engineering and modern design should be available
within a very short time. Despite all the
demands for innovation, aspects such as
safety and reliability are among the top
priorities.
In order to do justice to these criteria, the
companies Thyssen Aufzugswerke GmbH
in Neuhausen, Germany, and Thyssen
Fahrtreppen GmbH, Hamburg, began to
adapt their manufacturing program to the
new market conditions early on. As a result
of this new orientation, the two groups are
among the national and international
leaders in the market and have the most
modern assortment of intelligent elevator
solutions, escalators and passenger
conveyors. Thyssen Aufzge and Thyssen
Fahrtreppen achieved this status also by
virtue of the high standard of quality met
by their products, which are used in
projects of all sizes.
the third largest in Germany.

This project, the largest investment
project in the history of Dsseldorf Airport,
has its origin in an architectural competition to rebuild the airport that was announced after the fire of 1996. The task as
a whole encompassed the demolition of
parts of the main building and all of Pier B
and their reconstruction. An underground
car park is also being created, and the
existing Terminal C is being extended.
The full contract for this project went to
Thyssen Aufzge Dsseldorf and included
supplying and installing 50 elevators and
31 escalators. The systems were delivered
by Thyssen Aufzugswerke GmbH in
Neuhausen and Thyssen Fahrtreppen
GmbH in Hamburg.
3 Elevators and escalators

Different versions of the elevator systems
were installed depending on the location.
Twenty-four systems are operated by a
hydraulic drive, and 26 traction elevators
2 Project example
airport 2000 plus
This project name refers to a large
construction site at Dsseldorf Airport
whose objective is to complete modernization and reconstruction activities at the
airport without interrupting the overall
course of operations. This is a special
challenge for all the companies involved,
considering that, at peak hours, there are
as many as 800,000 people at this airport,
Terminal B at sundown (Fig. 2)
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have been installed. The number of

landings is between two and five, and one
of the systems is an elevator without
machine room that has a travel height of
2.18 meters the smallest to date. Of the
24 traction elevators used, seven are Evolution-type elevators without machine
rooms. In 1997, Thyssen Aufzge in Neuhausen introduced the Evolution, a completely new machine-room-less elevator
design that has since become the trademark of Thyssen Aufzge. The absence of
the machine room, which was previously
planned as a small house on buildings,
means that the client is spared high costs,
and the architect can make better use of
the often limiting building line with an additional floor. In order to do justice to the
future market requirements in this area as
well, the Evolution was developed further. It
now breaks down into seven different
modules that can be used in accordance
with the type of building involved.
In order to fit in harmoniously with the
open and transparent design of the new
15
Thyssen escalators link arrivals and departures (Fig. 3)
airport terminals, 15 glass elevators were

installed. The expense of a glass elevator
car of this sort is often underestimated, as
a high transparency on the part of the cars
entails a high dead weight. That results in
larger hydraulic units and the dissipation of
larger amounts of heat. The 12 cars of the
glass elevators that connect the multilevel
parking garage P1 with the main building
each have a dead weight of nearly 5 metric
tons, and can handle a loading capacity of
up to 2,450 kg.
The cars of the other passenger
elevators are equipped with stainless steel
paneling, mirrors, stainless steel skirtguards, handrails and stone flooring. The
passenger-freight elevator is equipped with
enameled paneling, guard strip, and
Norament flooring.
For the passenger transport in Pier B,
11 Tugela FT 845 escalators with rises of
6.62 to 7.04 m were used. In addition,
16 Velino FT 823 escalators were installed
in the main building, where they connect
the three levels Arrivals, Departures

and the monorail. With rises of 2.18 to
7.52 m, the Velino FT 823 are the longest
escalators on the entire Dsseldorf Airport
site. These systems are furnished with
stainless steel outer cladding and glass

balustrades, matching the architectural
style of the new airport.
Four more Velino FT 823 escalators are
planned for Hall C. Visually, the design of
the glass balustrade ensures that they fit in
extremely well with the overall style of the
departure hall, which is itself due for a
redesign.
The futuristic design aside, the products
of Thyssen Fahrtreppen make it the
acknowledged specialist in the field of
transportation facilities. Thyssen escalators
are particularly popular at airports,
because of their smooth and reliable
functionality. The technology of these
systems is designed in such a way that it
easily brings the huge number of persons
to be found every day at an airport to
their destinations. This flow of transportation must be guaranteed, since a
stoppage of the systems or a holdup would
disrupt the entire course of a rapid
connection.
Assembly of the two longest escalators in the new airport terminal (Fig. 4)
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16
Faults are recognized immediately (Fig. 5)
Loudspeaker fire alarm triggered

Stand-by power
The following fault messages for

elevators are displayed in plain text or as
pictographs:
Power failure
Control and connection error
Stop outside of a door zone
Elevator car door not closed
Landing door not closed
Oil temperature over 70 degrees
Oil level monitoring
Safety circuit passive
Collective fault message
Switching commands can be executed

from the monitoring system:
4 Monitoring
A monitoring system in the security

control center at Dsseldorf Airport is available for monitoring the elevator systems
and escalators. The system, which was
developed by Thyssen Aufzugswerke, was
specially adapted to conform to the desires
of the airport company and was sold to it.
Updates continue to be supplied by
Thyssen.
The following status and fault messages
are displayed concerning the escalators:
Direction up down
Escalator stationary, moving
Step chain monitoring
Comb plate monitoring
Step misalignment
Handrail inlet guides
Emergency push button
Speed monitoring
Combination of individual messages as
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In the case of elevators, the following

status messages are shown in the overview
display:
Remote disconnection (switching off

controls and light at any stop)
Car command for a run to another floor
Fire emergency simulation
Barring of landings
Reading out of error stacks
5 Fire protection/Fire control
multiple fault message

Principal voltage monitoring
Fire alarm
Location at floor level

Door position open
Direction
Internal commands
Outside calls
Minimum load of 25 kg
Air passenger guidance system
activated (displayed on the monitoring
screen of the individual elevator)
Emergency call
Out of service
Maintenance and priority
Remote disconnection off
Case-of-fire message
Case-of-fire detectors active per floor
Dsseldorf Airport has invested

approximately 100 million euros in fire
protection. There are 7,340 optical smoke
and heat detectors in the new terminal that
can identify fires anywhere at an early
stage; individual areas can be sealed off
with rolling doors. In the upper story of the
main building, 26 large ventilating fans
ensure that conflagration gases are extracted quickly. In addition to the new rolling
doors, there is also a new electro-acoustic
alarm system that uses 4,700 loudspeakers to warn visitors quickly in case of
an emergency.
17
Intelligent passenger transport solutions (Fig. 6)
6 Outlook
Following a six-year construction phase,
the project will be completed in 2003. By
then, it is expected that over 600 million
euros will have gone into the reconstruction
of Dsseldorf International Airport. In terms
of safety, it will be in the top class of
international airports.
As regards the elevators and escalators,

the airport fire alarm system sends a signal
to the Thyssen control center in the event
of a fire, and the appropriate measures are
then initiated. These measures are displayed via the monitoring system in the
security control center.
In the event of a fire, the escalators shut
down immediately. The elevators execute a
dynamic evacuation run. The goal of an
evacuation run of this sort is an automatic,
secure movement of the elevators to a
pre-determined landing at which the persons in the elevators can reach a safe
stairwell or the outside via the shortest
route. To assist them, an announcement is
broadcast in German and English over the
voice communication system in the elevator car. It informs them that there is a
failure and asks them to leave the elevator.
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The elevator remains at the evacuation

landing with the door open and shuts
down. In conjunction with the system for
automatic early fire detection, this dynamic
elevator control system ensures that there
can be no intentional or accidental
movement of the elevator to areas affected
by fire.
All electrical lines to the controls are
designed to remain functional for at least
30 minutes and to operate with stand-by
power. The principal power supply lines to
the service room of the passenger
elevators are monitored at all points by
smoke detectors that likewise trigger an
evacuation run, since interruption to the
power supply would make an evacuation
run impossible and the elevator could
stop in the shaft between floors.
18
Almudena Sainz,
Jos R. Magalln
ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems passenger boarding bridges at

Dsseldorf International Airport
TKAS passenger boarding bridge at Dsseldorf International Airport ( Fig. 1)
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19
ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems passenger boarding bridges at Dsseldorf International Airport
Dsseldorf International Airport (Fig. 2)
1 Introduction
In August this year, Dsseldorf Airport
awarded ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems
(TKAS) a contract for the replacement of
5 passenger boarding bridges (from
a total of 10) as part of the upgrading
program (airport 2000 plus) started in
1997.
This new order can be considered another chapter in the permanent boarding
bridge supply project that ThyssenKrupp
Airport Systems has been carrying out at
this Airport since 1972.
In Germany, Dsseldorf Airport ranks
third after Frankfurt and Munich. It has
been owned, since its privatization in 1997,
by a consortium comprising Hochtief AG
(25%), Aer Rianta International (25%) and
the City of Dsseldorf (50%).
The airport has 3 terminals (A, B and C).
It suffered a serious fire in 1996, giving rise
to a rehabilitation and extension project
(airport 2000 plus) with a volume of over
400 million in 1997. The construction of
the new Terminal (B) was entrusted to the
architects J.S.K. Perkins & Will.
The capacity of this terminal, officially
inaugurated in July 2001, is 16 million
passengers per year. In the spring of 2003,
Apron drive bridge side view (Fig. 3)
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when construction of Terminal C is completed, the airports capacity will be increased

to 22 million passengers per year.
7 model TB 35/21-2 units (35 m extended, 21 m retracted)

2 model TB 45/26.5 2 units (45 m
extended and 26.5 m retracted)
2 Terminal B
ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems delivered
the last passenger boarding bridges last
July: 46 units since 1972.
9 Apron Drive units (see point 3) were
installed in gates B01 to B11 with the following operating lengths:
This last project, in contrast with previous ones, was totally supplied by the new
manufacturing plant that ThyssenKrupp
inaugurated in Mieres, Asturias/Spain in
the year 2000.
The new plant has a useful manufacturing surface area of 10,800 m2 and a total
surface area of 24,000 m2. The plant has
the most modern equipment for manufacturing boarding bridges. The pressurized
painting cabins (35 x 6 m.) with the capacity for fast heat drying (over 70 C) and
collection of waste using a water curtain
are worth mentioning as well as the specialized welding units designed specifically for
welding the side panels (of galvanized
plate) of the tunnels.
This new ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems
factory increases the Groups manufacturing capacity to 300 boarding bridges per
20
TKAS factory in Mieres, Spain (Fig. 4)
Apron drive
This is the most developed bridge concept and the one that allows the greatest
number of movements for serving the
aircraft. Horizontal movement is performed by driving a traction block (bogie),
which supports the structure of the
bridge and which, under cabin control,
allows movement in all directions.
Vertical movement is achieved by means
of an electro-mechanical or hydraulic
elevating system.
An apron drive passenger boarding

bridge (used in Dsseldorf) is made up of
the following elements:
annum, distributed between its two manufacturing centers in Europe (Mieres, Spain)
and the U.S.A. (Fort Worth, Texas).
From an operating point of view, passenger boarding bridges have undergone constant evolution in design and, at present, are
classified according to the following types:
Rotunda
This element forms the interface
between the terminal building and the
telescopic tunnels of the boarding
bridge.
Column
This is the fixed point on which the
boarding bridge is supported. Its height
varies depending on the floor level of the
terminal.
Tunnels
Their length depends on the types of
aircraft to be served. Their lateral walls,
with two or three elements,
can be manufactured in metal or
glass.
Cabin
The cabin, located at the airside end of
the boarding bridge, allows access to the
aircraft. It has a swivel-mounted floor
and includes the control and operating
system.
3 Passenger boarding bridges
For most airports, passenger boarding

bridges are no longer a system solely for
the comfort of the passengers in transit
through the terminal. This product is currently considered a key part in the design
and operating of large airports and a strategic element for efficiency in boarding and
disembarking operations for future large
capacity aircraft (A 380 or Boeing 747
Stretch).
Moreover, the esthetic concept of passenger boarding bridges, as an architectural element attached to the terminal building, plays an increasingly relevant role in
architectural studies for new airport
projects.
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T-Bridge
The oldest and simplest type of passenger boarding bridge comprises two
rigid tunnels joined in a T-shape, in
which the longitudinal tunnel is provided
with vertical movement, while the transverse tunnel is provided with telescopic
movement until it reaches the aircraft
access door.
Noseloader
As an evolution of the previous concept
with regard to the transverse tunnel, the
cabin is provided with limited movement.
Approach to the aircraft is achieved by
means of telescoping and lifting the
longitudinal tunnel.
21
Apron drive bridge frontal view (Fig. 5)
Lifting unit
This allows the vertical movement of the
boarding bridge to adapt the cabin sill to
the height of the docking door of the
aircraft.
Driving unit
This provides horizontal movement for
the bridge. It includes A.C. motors with
speed regulated by frequency converters.
Safety devices
These include all those elements that
limit or control the movements of the
boarding bridge to avoid collision with
vehicles or the aircraft itself and to
ensure the safety of both the operation
personnel and the passengers.
4 TKAS boarding bridges

The TKAS boarding bridge is the result of
decades of experience in the airport equipment sector. The more than 1,300 units
installed in airports worldwide are proof of
the markets recognition of its superior
quality and technology.
Apron drive bridge general concept (Fig. 6)
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The product manufactured by ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems is differentiated

from that offered by competitors by two
aspects proving the aforementioned concepts. On the one hand, the use of hot
dip galvanized steel sheets for the structure of the tunnels, offering reliability
against rust that guarantees a minimum
20-year life span under adequate maintenance protocols.
On the other hand, the hydraulic system,

in contrast with the electromechanical elevating system, provides superior control
and reliability in vertical movements.
5 Next project
The new project launched by Dsseldorf
Airport represents the supply of
5 new apron drive boarding bridges, in
Terminals C (4 units) and A (1 unit), for
ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems.
This equipment will be manufactured
and supplied by the new TKAS factory
in Mieres, Spain, during the month of
January 2002.
22
Dipl.-Ing. Friedhelm Worpenberg
DUAL and LOWRIDER, two new passenger boarding bridges for

small and medium passenger aircraft
DUAL passenger boarding bridge in glass version (Fig. 1)
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23
DUAL and LOWRIDER, two new passenger boarding bridges for small and medium passenger aircraft
1 Introduction
Thyssen Henschel is responsible for the
worldwide passenger boarding bridge
activities within the ThyssenKrupp Group.
At our central plant in Mieres, Spain we
develop new products for the demanding
passenger boarding bridge market.
Thyssen Henschel spearheads innovations
in this area and is investing increasing
amounts in research and development, in
line with rising demand and our growing
presence on the world market.
2 Background
Commuter aircraft or regional jets are
mainly used on short distance flights of
less then 1,000 km. Mostly used by
business travelers, they connect both
smaller airports with a major airport (HUB)
and interlink regional airports. Boarding
and disembarking of these aircraft still
mainly takes place at a distance from the
terminal.
Passengers are transported to and from
the commuter aircraft by buses and have
to brave all weathers when embarking or
disembarking via the on-board stairs.
Handicapped passengers have to be
carried on board or literally loaded using a
special lifting device. Airlines and airports
have long since realized that a fundamental
change is needed here if they are not to
lose out in the competition for business
passengers, who are accustomed to more
comfort.
Separate terminals are now being
planned and built for commuter aircraft and
regional jets at which the aircraft can be
positioned close to the building.
3 Marginal conditions for

development
At commuter terminals, access to the
rotunda can be via first floor or ground
floor level.
Commuter aircraft and regional jets are
equipped with on-board stairs. On some
aircraft of this kind the stair railing can be
folded down (e.g. Canadair RJ) on many
others, however, this is not possible (e.g.
ATR). On some propeller aircraft, the
propeller is very close to the door (e.g.
SAAB-340). In the USA in particular,
passenger boarding bridges have to satisfy
the strict requirements of US fire protection
standard NFPA 415. In the event of a fire
on the apron (spillfire) the passenger
boarding bridge must provide a safe
escape route for at least 5 minutes i.e. it
must remain smoke- and fire-resistant and
keep temperatures bearable. Wheelchair
passengers should be able to negotiate
passenger boarding bridges easily and
without help (incline < 8.33%). If a
passenger boarding bridge is docked in
parallel to the aircraft it must be possible to

adjust the cabin floor in the horizontal
plane. The passenger boarding bridge
must have sufficient telescopic range to be
able to dock with the fore or aft doors of
the aircraft.
4 The DUAL passenger

boarding bridge
This newly developed bridge type is very
similar to the well-known classic Thyssen
Henschel Apron Drive bridge. Like the
Apron Drive model, the DUAL passenger
boarding bridge (Figs 1 to 3) is provided
with a rotunda on the terminal side. The
swiveling range of the rotunda has been
limited to 90 and its diameter has also
been reduced considerably. The rotunda is
connected to the terminal at first floor level.
The passenger boarding bridge is connected to the rotunda through the inner of two
telescoping tunnels via a swivel bearing.
The aircraft-side outer tunnel features a
fixed bridgehead on which a swiveling
cabin is mounted. The elevating leg is
DUAL passenger boarding bridge in glass version docked with a narrow body Boeing B 737 aircraft (Fig. 2)
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24
DUAL passenger boarding bridge docking with a Fokker F-50 commuter aircraft with on-board stairs and
upright railing (Fig. 3)
stairs cannot be folded down (Fig. 3).

In addition, the pendulum floor meets
requirements specified in the marginal
conditions for slope compensation on a
DUAL passenger boarding bridge
docking in parallel with the aircraft. A
further very important advantage is that
strict fire protection requirements (US
standard NFPA 415) can be observed or
met without any restrictions.
5 The LOWRIDER passenger

boarding bridge
fastened to the outer tunnel approximately

half way along. The elevating leg is
supported via a central swivel joint on the
rotatable drive unit which is fitted with
pneumatic or solid tires. The DUAL
passenger boarding bridge can be
accessed from the apron via service stairs.
The bridge is controlled from a control
panel installed in the swiveling part of the
cabin.
What is really new about the DUAL
passenger boarding bridge now largely
protected by pending and granted patents
(PZ 13877/PCT and 13872/PCT) is the
fixed bridgehead which is offset by 35 to
the left and provided with a very large
window, as well as the laterally displaceable pendulum floor in the swiveling
part of the cabin.
In comparison with standard cabins, the
cabin of the DUAL passenger boarding
bridge has a considerably smaller
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
diameter. The offset shape and off-center

rotation axis of the significantly lighter
cabin allow the DUAL passenger
boarding bridge to be positioned against
the nose door of commuter aircraft with
propeller drive (e.g. SAAB-340), which is
otherwise always a critical maneuver for
passenger boarding bridges. During
maneuvering the bridge driver has a good
view both of the on-board stairs with
railings and thanks to the large window in
the bridgehead the propeller drive.
The biggest advantage of the DUAL
passenger boarding bridge over rival
developments is its universal applicability
for all common commuter aircraft or
regional jets as well as narrow body aircraft
including the Boeing 757 and the Airbus
A 321 at either the fore or aft doors. The
laterally displaceable pendulum floor also
allows risk-free docking with commuter
aircraft on which the railing of the on-board
This Thyssen Henschel development is

a variant on the DUAL passenger boarding bridge (Fig. 4). The rotunda of the
LOWRIDER passenger boarding bridge is
connected to the terminal at almost ground
floor level.
The horizontal swivel bearing (ball
bearing slewing ring) is bolted directly to
the anchor plate of the rotunda. Due to the
lower clearance under the bridge as
compared with the DUAL passenger
boarding bridge, the hydraulic unit is
installed at the side on the elevating leg. In
addition, an especially low drive unit with
solid tires is provided. Other than this, the
design of the LOWRIDER bridge is
identical with that of the DUAL bridge.
The advantages described for the
DUAL bridge also apply to the LOWRIDER bridge.
25
6 DUAL and LOWRIDER

passenger boarding bridges in
steel and glass versions
As with all Thyssen Henschel passenger
boarding bridges, each of the newly
developed passenger boarding bridges is
available in a closed-design steel version
and an open-design glass version, i.e. with
glassed tunnel side walls. Apart from the
tunnel side walls, both passenger boarding
bridges in the steel and glass versions are
virtually identical, permitting the full
compatibility of all relevant sub-assemblies. Such uniformity in the steel and glass
versions is unique in the passenger boarding bridge sector; on competitor bridges,
the steel and glass versions differ to such
an extent that they have only very few
compatible components. On Thyssen
Henschel passenger boarding bridges, the
steel version (Fig. 4) features hot-dip
galvanized steel sheet panels welded
between the tunnel corner profiles, while a
framework construction is used on the
glass version (Figs 1 and 2).
The type of glazing used on the outside
tunnel side walls depends on the prevailing
climatic conditions as well as on the safety
specifications (e.g. US fire protection standard NFPA 415). It may take the form of :
Glass is permanently weather resistant

and reliably protects the supporting
structure of the side walls against
corrosion.
Glass is easy to clean and retains its
attractive appearance on a lasting basis.
During daylight hours the bridge lighting
remains switched off, saving energy,
maintenance and spare part costs.
Handrails can be integrated in the
supporting structure.
Problems of tunnel claustrophobia
are eliminated as transparent glass walls
replace the visible barrier of the tunnel
walls in the steel version.
The transparency of the glass side walls
considerably increases safety during
refueling because ground staff on the
apron can ensure that there are no more
passengers in the passenger boarding
bridge.
The appearance of glass passenger
boarding bridges fits in particularly well
with the modern architecture of many
airport buildings with glass facades.
7 Final remarks
In collaboration with Thyssen Stearns,
Thyssen Henschel has made a series of
proposals to the leading US commuter
carrier (American Airlines) regarding the
servicing of commuter aircraft with
passenger boarding bridges. To date, the
two passenger boarding bridges described
above are the most successful outcome of
this process.
The development of the DUAL and
LOWRIDER passenger boarding bridges
has given Thyssen Henschel a leadership
position in the commuter carrier market
segment. Launched in 1998, these
passenger boarding bridges are now used
at 12 airports worldwide.
single glazing
ISO double glazing
fire protection glazing
with panes of prestressed floatglass. The

specific advantages of Thyssen Henschel
passenger boarding bridges in glass
version as listed below are an indication
that airports are increasingly favoring the
glass version when purchasing new
passenger boarding bridges:
LOWRIDER passenger boarding bridge in steel version (Fig. 4)
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26
Dr.-Ing. Robert J. Bartels,
Dr.-Ing. Manfred Berger
Flexible machining of a crankcase (Fig. 1)
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27
1 Introduction
The Hller Hille Group is part of the Metal

Cutting business unit of TK Technologies
and one of the worlds leading manufacturers of machine tools. It produces standard
machining centers under the Diedesheim
brand as used for one-off and smallbatch production as well as vertical
turning machines (Hessapp), and transfer
lines and agile systems for large-batch
production (Cross Hller).
By far the biggest customer group are
manufacturers from the engine/automotive
industry (OEM) and their suppliers. Recent
years have seen substantial changes in the
economic conditions for the type of
production facility used in this sector. As
such, the criteria used to decide upon new
investment have shifted too.By looking at a
system used to produce cylinder heads for
a well-known automobile manufacturer in
North America, we will show what effect
these changes have had on production strategy and the choice of production system.
2 Economic/operating conditions
When making plans for future production, our customers today find themselves
faced with a growing number of uncertainties. These concern factors such as
output volumes, the number of production
variants and their projected lifespan, the
need to comply with emissions regulations
that permanently change over time and
from country to country and which have a
considerable influence on engine design,
and the ever shorter validity of their own
corporate strategies (Fig. 2).
When planning new engine production
systems today, the following variables must
be taken into account:
Variable valve timing (VVT)

Diesel direct injection (DID)
Gasoline direct injection (GDI)
Integrated starter/alternator/dampers
(ISAD)
(Electromechanical valve drive (EVA)
Cylinder cutout (CDA)
Alternative fuels (naturally occurring
gases, ethanol, methanol and propane)
Strengthened transmission flange in
response to increased torque
For example, the rapidly increasing use

of new high-performance diesel engines for
passenger cars was greatly underestimated. This, coupled with a resulting lack of
flexibility in production capacity, led to long
waiting times. At the same time, the
utilization of the production facilities for
gasoline engines of the same performance
class fell in some cases way below planned
capacity. Here, the use of agile production
systems would have been able to cushion
the impact of such a shift in demand.
At the same time, an increasing consolidation in the automotive industry together
with a corresponding move toward a
platform strategy has resulted in the amalgamation or even disappearance of certain
model series and variants. In turn, this has
A market in transition (Fig. 2)
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
led to substantial and unplanned fluctuations in production volumes.

In addition, the demand for flexible
production systems has also risen in
response to the fact that manufacturers
today are producing fewer and fewer of the
individual components used in production.
Indeed, in the majority of cases, manufacturers already buy in almost all of their
pistons, connecting rods, crankshafts and
camshafts from external suppliers, while
some are already talking about outsourcing
the manufacture of transmission housings,
cylinder heads and cylinder blocks.
In such an environment, it is crucial that
any investment decisions which naturally
have an impact for a large number of years
to come should also be taken with a view
to ensuring the greatest possible degree of
flexibility. When calculating unit costs, it is
therefore increasingly important to take into
account not only the pure capital expenditure and productivity factors involved with
investment in a new system but also its
ability to respond to future changes in
production needs. Here, it must also be
remembered that the more a production
system is designed to handle different
applications, the higher the volume of the
initial investment and therefore the unit
28
Transfer lines and agile systems: A comparison (Fig. 3)
operations involved although this also

brings the disadvantage that when one
machine stops, it brings the whole system
to a halt. By contrast, parallel production
not only features all the same advantages
but also offers maximum availability.
Should one manufacturing cell within the
system go down, production can still
continue.
Finally, all the manufacturing systems
offer optimal unit costs when operating
under the appropriate conditions.
4 The project
costs (Fig. 3). In order therefore to make a

sound business decision with regard to
investing in a flexible production system,
lifecycle costs must also be integrated into
the calculation.
3 The different types

of production
Alongside the classic transfer line, which
continues to represent the most economic
way of manufacturing large numbers of
more or less standardized parts, we are
witnessing a growing use of a variety of
flexible production systems.
Here, there is a general distinction to be
made between sequential and parallel
production together with so-called hybrid
systems, which comprise various aspects
of the transfer lines as well as special
machines (Fig. 4).
The major advantage of the transfer line
is that it comprises a special configuration
of machinery designed for a specific
manufacturing operation. The major
disadvantage, however, is that modifications are extremely costly if there are
any changes to the manufactured part. In

addition, such systems offer little flexibility
with regard to output volumes and attain
only average availability levels, as all the
various manufacturing operations involved
are linked to one another. Moreover, when
setting up such a system, the investment
required has to be made all at once and
must be directly tailored to the maximum
planned production volume. The advantage
of sequential flexible production, on the
other hand, is that it offers flexibility with
respect to output volumes, a phased
investment in line with a gradual build-up
of production (Fig. 5), and simpler linkage
between the various manufacturing
Flexibility is a major consideration not

only when it comes to manufacturing nonstandardized parts. Indeed, it can also be a
crucial feature of the systems used to make
identical products, particularly when these
are manufactured within a production
network involving several plants, or e.g.
different members of a product family that
are technically similar but may offer
a market alternative to one another
(e.g. V6 and V8 engines).
In the project for a North American
customer referred to above, such criteria
eventually led to a decision in favor of a
fully flexible production system. At the
planning stage, it was already known that
workpiece types for diesel engines, as well
The transfer line; flexible, sequential and parallel production systems (Fig. 4)
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
29
Phased investment in line with required output volume (Fig. 5)
as four-valve and twin spark plug technology would possibly be required in the
foreseeable future. The only way of
achieving such manufacturing flexibility at
an acceptable cost was to install an agile
system.
When a product family is manufactured
within a production network involving
several plants, the use of agile systems
can generate substantial savings with
regard to both the initial investment and
the space required to house the
equipment. This presupposes that the only
changes that need to be made to
production systems relate to the tools and
the NC programs. Once the supplier has
delivered the preprocessed workpiece, this
is then fitted with an adapter plate (Fig. 6),
which creates an identical interface to both
the machine tools and the production automation systems. In this way, the time and
costs involved in integrating a similar workpiece into an existing production line can
be kept to a marginal amount.
In a flexible system, the manufacturing
process required to produce a component
ready for installation is broken down into
individual operations. In turn, this makes it

possible to use the machine tool best
suited for the kind of machining required.
This might involve a long or large machine
tool, for example, or equipment for special
processing. In order to achieve the
requisite production volume, a number of
identical machines are used in parallel for a
single operation. These parallel machines
are fed and discharged by the same
production automation system, using
gantry loaders, conveyor belts or robots.
Experience has demonstrated the advantages of using gantry loaders with this type
of manufacturing operation, as this ensures good access to the machinery as well

as helping to keep the area clean.
Gantry loaders or conveyor belts can
also be used to link up the individual
manufacturing cells within a module. Such
a system must not only transport the
workpieces but also provide a temporary
storage facility should there be any minor
disruptions (< 6-10 min) at an individual
manufacturing cell. With the help of this
technique, availability (80 90 percent)
well above that of conventional production
systems (60 75 percent) can be
achieved. Moreover, use of a parallel
production system ensures that
manufacturing will still continue when a
machine breaks down, which is not the
case with conventional production systems
employing a sequential approach.
Taking into account the complete
workpiece logistics required and the cost of
the production equipment, the ideal
capacity for a system of this kind lies
between 300,000 and 350,000 workpieces
per year. The actual size of the system
depends on the requirements for automation (max. six machines per manufacturing cell), metal cutting, subsequent
assembly systems, and the machines
A cylinder head fitted with an adapter plate (Fig. 6)
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30
Layout of a manufacturing module for 325,000 cylinder heads per year (Fig. 7)
5 Outlook
required to wash, assemble and leak-test

the workpieces at the metal-cutting stage.
The manufacturing module shown
produces 325,000 cylinder heads on 43
SPECHT machining centers every year
(Fig. 7). A total of four such modules,
which together generate an output of over
1.3 million cylinder heads a year, were
installed at the plant.
Once the workpiece has left the first
manufacturing cell, it is then trued up in
preparation for the adapter plate to be
fitted. This is screwed onto the workpiece
and remains attached until manufacturing
has been completed. A data-carrier on the
adapter plate contains production information relating to the type of workpiece,
manufacturing specifications and geometrical data. The production system is
controlled by the workpiece itself. As such,
a supervisory computer function is not
required.
Following premachining of the workpiece, the valve guides and seats are
mounted. The screws used to fasten the
adapter are then released for a short
period so as to relieve stresses within the
workpiece. The next stage involves
completion of the machining work for the

inlet and outlet valves as well as milling
of the workpiece on both the combustion
chamber and hood sides. The camshaft
bearing cap is then mounted. In the next
manufacturing cell, the bore hole for the
camshaft is completed.
After all mechanical machining has been
finished, the workpiece is first separated
from the adapter plate before being
washed, fitted with a cap and tested for
any leaks. The cylinder head is then
prepared for final assembly. Meanwhile,
the adapter plate is washed in preparation
for another production run.
Criteria evaluated for production system concepts

(Fig. 8)
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The same customer also simultaneously

purchased a number of transfer lines for
the manufacture of cylinder heads in its
bread-and-butter program, where there
are far fewer construction modifications to
be expected in the course of the product
cycle. However, when it came to the engines for a new model series, the customer
opted for an agile system to manufacture
the cylinder blocks for the new V6 and V8
units. Behind this decision was an uncertainty as to customer preferences between
the V6 and the V8 option. As such, it is difficult to predict with any accuracy the capacity required for either of the engine types.
Armed with such a flexible production
system, the customer is in an ideal position
to react to the current economic climate.
In Europe, the OEM industry currently
favors hybrid systems, not least because
this continues to represent the best investment of capital. However, should the trend
toward outsourcing strengthen further, we
may well see manufacturers turning toward
fully flexible production systems as a way
of increasing their options. The supply
industry has always invested in production
systems that are flexible, though with little
automation. Nevertheless, now that parts
with large and even very large production
runs are being outsourced, the trend in the
supply industry is also moving toward
linked production systems.
The final table (Fig. 8) provides an analysis of some of the criteria used to compare
transfer lines and agile systems. However,
when making a decision in favor of one or
the other, these criteria must be individually weighted and, if necessary, supplemented with further information.
31
Dipl.-Ing. Jrg-Peter Krner,
Dipl.-Ing. Michael Bork,
Dipl.-Ing. Heribert Dierkes,
Dipl.-Chem. Dr. Peter Nnnerich,

Dipl.-Ing. Volkmar Steinhagen
New applications of high-pressure extraction
Extractors for a production plant with automatic,

quick-acting clamp closure (Fig. 1)
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32
Industrial equipment for the extraction of spices (3 extractors 500 l each, extraction pressure 440 bar
(Fig. 2)
1 Introduction
Uhde Hochdrucktechnik GmbH (UHT)
designs and manufactures a wide range of
equipment for high-pressure applications.
Its products include autoclaves, reactors,
heat exchangers, high-pressure pumps,
valves and fittings, flanges and piping. UHT
is a long-established market leader in the
engineering and production of equipment
such as LDPE tubular reactors, high-pressure chemical pumps and high-pressure
extraction plants.
For high-pressure extraction with
supercritical fluids, depending on individual project requirements UHT supplies
individual high-pressure units, entire pilot
plants or complete production scale plants
as well as the required process parameters
(Fig. 2). The tasks performed by UHT
include planning, safety design and process
engineering, production, assembly and
commissioning as well as operator training.
Much of the development activity at UHT is
devoted to developing new fields of application and designing complete extraction
processes.
2 Supercritical fluids
Supercritical fluids are substances or
mixtures under conditions of pressure and
temperature that exceed the critical point.
The critical point represents the end point
of the vapor pressure curve, beyond which
no distinction is possible between the liquid
and gaseous state (Fig. 3). As an example,
an increase in pressure will produce no
condensation. The material properties are
between those of liquids and of gases
(Fig. 4).
This particular combination of material
properties is utilized in extraction, since a
large mass transfer capability exists at

quasi-liquid densities and dissolving power.
A great variety of substances, such as
N2O, C2H6, C3H8, Xe, CO2 etc., can be used
for supercritical extraction (Fig. 5). CO2 is
most commonly used for extraction in
industrial applications due to the following
advantages:
3 High-pressure extraction using

supercritical gases
Extraction refers to the separation of a
mixture of substances into its constituent
components using appropriate solvents.
Since some low-boiling organic solvents
are toxic, supercritical CO2 is now frequently used in the extraction of natural sub-
Low viscosity
Physiologically harmless
Environmentally friendly
Nonflammable
Economic
Readily available
P,T phase diagram of carbon dioxide (Fig. 3)
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33
Comparison of the physical properties of gases, supercritical fluids and liquids

(Fig. 4)
Media
Density
r[g/cm3]
Viscosity
h [mPa s]
Diffusion
coefficient
D11[m2/s]
0.6 10-3 2 10-3
10-4 5 10-5
1 10-5 4 10-5
Supercritical
fluids
0.2 1.0
10-4 5 10-5
2 10-8 7 10-8
Fluids
0.6 1.8
1 50
2 10-10 2 10-9
Gases
Comparison of the critical data of various substances (Fig. 5)
Fluids
critical
critical
temperature pressure
Tc[C]
Pc[bar]
Carbon Dioxide, CO2
31.1
73.8
Dinitrogen monoxide, N2O
36.8
74.0
Xenon, Xe
16.8
58.0
Ethane, C2H6
32.4
48.8
Ethylene, C2H4
9.4
50.4
Propane, C3H8
36.8
42.5
Water, H2O
374.1
220.5
Remarks
instable
expensive
inflammable*)
inflammable*)
inflammable*)
high temperature,
corrosive
*) inflammable and undesirable fluid residues in extract and raffinate
stances. The low critical temperature of

31 C allows especially gentle treatment of
the natural substances. The dissolving
power can be adjusted over a wide range
by varying the pressure and temperature.
High-pressure extraction is used both for
solid and liquid raw materials and offers
a gentle process that can produce pure
extracts in a few process steps.
The extraction of solid raw materials is
performed in a batch process, while liquid
raw materials are extracted continuously
in a countercurrent column.
4 High pressure extraction

process
of various compositions can be obtained in

a multistage separation process. The subcritical gaseous CO2 from the separator is
liquefied in the condenser E 3 and collected in the collecting vessel, from where it
reenters the cycle. In extracting solid
materials, the use of several extractors
allows virtually semi-continuous operation.
This process is used, for instance, to
produce extracts of spices, hops, herbs
and blossoms for the food, cosmetics and
pharmaceutical industries, and to refine
raw materials. Examples include the
decaffeinating of coffee and tea, pesticide
removal from crude plant extracts, cholesterol removal from animal products, and
solvent removal from synthetic products.

Typical extraction conditions fall into the
range between 35 and 80 C at pressures
of up to 600 bars. The capacity of the
extractors varies from a few milliliters on a
laboratory scale to several cubic meters on
an industrial scale. Fig. 2 depicts the
extractors of a commercial high-pressure
extraction plant.
In view of the diverse opportunities for
the application of high-pressure extraction,
UHT maintains numerous contacts with
various research institutions and participates in research projects, some of which
receive public support. UHT also develops
customer-specific applications.
Fig. 6 shows a simplified process

diagram. Liquid CO2 from the collecting
vessel D is compressed by a pump P to the
extraction pressure and transported
through the heat exchanger E 1 (where it is
heated to the extraction temperature) to an
extraction vessel or an extraction column
C. En route through the extraction vessel/
column, the extractable substances are
dissolved in the CO2, which then flows to
the separator S. By adjusting the pressure
and/or the temperature, the dissolving
power of the CO2 is reduced in the separator, causing the dissolved substances to be
precipitated as an extract. Extract fractions
Process diagram of an extraction plant for solid materials (Fig. 6)
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34
Networked relationships among the project partners (Fig. 7)
5 Extraction of liquid-containing
polymer components
The German Ministry for Research and
Technology (BMBF) financially supports a
research consortium that is studying the
recycling of liquid-containing polymer
components. The project partners are the
Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT), Nehlsen-Plump GmbH & Co. KG,
Pongs und Zahn Plastics AG, Retek Verwertungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Tank
Schuler GmbH, TI Group Automotive
System Technology Center GmbH, Uhde
Hochdrucktechnik GmbH and Werit Kunststoffwerke GmbH & Co. Their individual
responsibilities and interfaces are shown in
Fig. 7. The Fraunhofer ICT is responsible
for the overall coordination of the project.
This project is focused on the recycling of
plastic fuel tanks and plastic fuel oil tanks
(Figs 8 and 9) made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). At present, a volume
of about 11,000 metric tons per year of
scrapped plastic fuel oil tanks and fuel
tanks is generated. By 2015, an annual
volume of about 20,000 metric tons is
expected. Today these plastics are usually
burned or discarded as landfill. Dismantled
fuel oil tanks are removed by local disposal
companies. During scrapped-car recycling,
plastic fuel tanks are transferred with the
shredder light fraction to landfill sites. But
since the plastics are polluted by hydrocarbon diffusion during use, these
conventional methods of disposal must be
considered problematic.
The hydrocarbon pollutants also prevent
direct reuse of the plastics, since they
impair the mechanical properties of the
HDPE, and toxic or explosive emissions can
occur during reprocessing. Moreover,
incomplete removal of the impurities would
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result in odorous secondary polymer

products.
As a part of this research project, a
comprehensive analysis is being conducted
of the scrapped liquid-containing polymer
components to quantify and evaluate the
pollutant and interferent contents. A diversity of processing methods are being
brought to bear to produce high-quality
recycled material which can be readily fed
back into the production process.
The removal of pollutants from the
plastic and its reuse contribute to the
preservation of the environment and of our
resources, since the amount of waste
products that must be dumped is reduced
and reusable material is created instead.
The goal of the project is to use the
recycled material in the original application,

so downcycling is avoided. As a result,
a new source of materials can be tapped,
disposal costs eliminated, the load on
disposal capacities reduced, and the
environment is protected. This approach
has become increasingly important to the
automobile industry as well, since the
EU directive concerning end-of-life vehicles
and the German law concerning scrapped
vehicles (which become effective in 2002)
mandate rising recycling quotas of the
used materials and limit thermal recycling.
In addition there is reason to expect that
the data obtained in this project albeit
with modifications could possibly be
applied to the recycle management of other
liquid-containing polymer components, for
35
Liquid-containing polymer components: used plastic fuel tank (Fig. 8)
instance containers made of low-density

polyethylene (LDPE) used to store and
transport chemicals or lubricants.
An essential step in the processing of
liquid-containing polymer components is
the extractive removal of fuel components
that have diffused into the material.
In this application, the sorted and
shredded HDPE material is treated with
supercritical CO2 in a high-pressure
extraction plant.
Essential factors that influence the
extraction result are pressure, temperature,
extraction duration and particle size
distribution of the material to be extracted.
The effect of these parameters is first

determined on a laboratory scale, then the
process is optimized on a pilot scale.
The pilot scale is adequate for obtaining
sufficient quantities of purified HDPE to
examine the suitability for further
processing steps. Fig. 10 shows an HDPE
sample after extraction.
Once the optimum process parameters
have been established, the process
engineering and design of a production
plant begins. These parameters and the
process engineering parameters of the
other reprocessing steps are then combined to provide a comprehensive descrip-
Sample of cryogenically shredded plastic fuel tanks after extraction with

supercritical CO2 at 350 bars / 100 C (Fig. 10)
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Liquid-containing polymer components: fuel oil

tanks by Werit Kunststoffwerke GmbH & Co. (Fig. 9)
tion of the process including a profitability

review, so that by the end of the project
(January 2004) detailed data will be
available for the evaluation of the entire
material cycle.
6 Summary
High-pressure extraction has been used
successfully for years for the extraction of
natural substances. In addition to these
established uses, an increasing number of
new applications in which extraction is
used to improve the quality of technical
products (such as the removal of solvents
and residual monomers from polymers, or
the removal of production adjuvants) or to
aid the recovery of recycled materials is
being discovered.
The extensive experience gained from
extracting natural substances makes it
possible to develop such new fields of
application quickly and at low risk. Here,
however, success is dependent on close
collaboration between all of the partners
involved in the overall process.
36
Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Schneiders,
Dr.-Ing. Albert Zimmermann,
Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Henen
The Chlorine/EDC/VC complex built by Krupp Uhde for

the Qatar Vinyl Company, Qatar. View of the cell hall
with Krupp Uhde membrane cells (Fig. 1)
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37
The share of different processes in the 1998

worldwide production of chlorine, and 2003
forecast (Fig. 2)
1 Introduction
on the continuing advancement of membrane cell technology.
A key requirement in the international

plant engineering business is to have firstrate processes that guarantee the operators of industrial plants the maximum in
productivity, availability and economy.
To meet these challenges, Krupp Uhde
continually strives to improve and expand
its technologies.
Krupp Uhde has accumulated more than
40 years of experience in building chloralkali electrolysis plants, and is one
of the worlds leading suppliers of this
technology.
3 Krupp Uhde membrane cell

technology
3.1 The principle of electrolysis
with the membrane process
The raw material of chlor-alkali electrolysis is common salt (NaCl). An electrochemical reaction according to the formula
2 NaCl + 2 H2O 4 Cl2 + H2 + 2 NaOH
2 Technology overview
The first processes for the electrolytic
splitting of common salt for the production
of chlorine and caustic soda were introduced in 1890 in Germany with the use of
the Griesheim diaphragm cell, and in 1897
in the USA with the use of the Castner-Kellner cell, which is based on a mercury
amalgam process.
Worldwide chlorine production based on
these two processes peaked in the 1980s
with an output of about 35 million metric
tons per year. Krupp Uhde has built more
than 80 of the plants involved.
Today both the diaphragm method and
the amalgam process are being phased out
because of their high energy consumption
and their low environmental friendliness.
They are being replaced by the latest
development in chlor-alkali technology:
the membrane process (Fig. 2).
The membrane process not only saves
energy, it also produces consistently highgrade caustic soda with a high level of
environmental compatibility and safety.
Since the 1980s, Krupp Uhde has built
over 70 plants utilizing the membrane

process. To ensure its continued ability to
supply a world-leading technology in the
future, Krupp Uhde is working intensively
Principle of the Krupp Uhde membrane cell (Fig. 3)
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
causes Cl ions to be oxidized to chlorine

at the anode, while water is reduced to
hydrogen and OH ions at the cathode. To
bring this about, specially prepared pure
brine (Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions < 20 ppb) is fed
into the anode compartment. A cationselective membrane separates the cathode
compartment from the anode compartment
(Fig. 3). Only hydrated sodium ions can
pass through the membrane. With the aid
38
Single-cell element developed by Krupp Uhde (Fig. 4)
of the electric field, chloride ions are

blocked out very well. As a result, the OHions combine with Na+ ions in the cathode
compartment to form pure caustic soda.
3.2 Cell design

The single-cell element developed by
Krupp Uhde combines the choice of an
optimal material with simple cell maintenance.
The anode half shell of a membrane cell
is made entirely of titanium, the cathode
half shell of nickel. The seal system
consists of a PTFE frame gasket and a
Gore-Tex sealing strip. The external steel
flange, which is equipped with an electrically insulated bolt arrangement and spring
washers, ensures that the single element
will remain leak-proof throughout its entire
service life (Fig. 4).
3.2.1 Functional description

Pure brine is fed through an external
feed tube and nozzle into the anode half
shell and distributed over its entire width by
the internal brine inlet distributor.
A downcomer plate utilizes the gas lift
effect to produce vigorous internal circulation of the brine. This results in an ideal distribution of the liquid, with uniform density
and temperature.
A baffle plate is arranged in the upper
portion of the anode half shell and has two
basic functions:
To supply brine to the membrane and

wet it all the way to the upper rim of the
anode half shell
To separate the chlorine from the brine
behind the baffle plate, allowing the
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
chlorine gas and the brine to exit the

single element smoothly through the
outlet.
The diluted caustic soda solution is
dispersed across the width of the cathode
half shell by a caustic soda inlet distributor
in the same way as described above for the
brine. The products hydrogen and a 32%
caustic soda solution flow from the single
element through an outlet.
Due to the fact that there is only a small
difference in the caustic soda concentration
at the inlet and at the outlet and that hydrogen and caustic soda are more easily
separated than chlorine and brine, the
cathode half shell does not have either a
downcomer or a baffle plate.
3.3 The electrolyzer advantages

of a modular design
The Krupp Uhde bipolar membrane
electrolyzer features a modular design that
provides many advantages. Among other
things, these include low investment costs,
low energy consumption and a long service
life.
The single elements are suspended
within a frame and are pressed together by
means of a clamping device so as to
connect them electrically in series. The
single elements are first bolted and sealed
individually, which provides a very high
degree of operational reliability.
Between 20 and 80 elements can be
connected to form a bipolar stack, and one
or several stacks are connected in series to
form a membrane electrolyzer (Fig. 1).
39
Relative total energy consumption of the three

electrolysis processes (Fig. 5)
4 Progressive development of
the cell solving problems
through innovation
The success of the single-cell element is
based on the continuing development and
improvement of cell technology and cell
production, and the application of new
technologies and concepts for chlor-alkali
electrolysis that lead to greater profitability
of the entire plant. Key factors determining
the profitability of the plant and by which
plant engineering companies are assessed
nowadays include low energy consumption
(Fig. 5) combined with high system availability, flexible production rates, high current densities and easy maintenance of the
electrolyzers.
To optimize the process, Krupp Uhde has
developed a new cell design based on the
principle of a single modular element. This
new cell generation can be used for current
densities of up to 6 kA/m2. Key advantages
of the design are:
Minimized losses of potential

Optimized distribution of concentration
and current density
Improved product quality through acidification of the brine supply
5 GDE the technology of the

future
The formation of hydrogen in the cells
can be inhibited by using porous cathodes
(Gas-Diffusion Electrodes GDE) that are
depolarized with oxygen or CO2-free air.
Such electrodes are well known from the
field of fuel cell technology, where oxygen
is likewise reduced in an alkaline medium.
The potential level of the oxygen reduction
results in a substantial decrease in the
thermodynamic decomposition voltage in
chlor-alkali electrolysis, which can result in
energy savings of about 30% (Fig. 6).
The GDE electrolysis cell developed by
Krupp Uhde operates on the falling film
principle. It utilizes a half shell that reflects
the state of the art in chlor-alkali electrolysis. The cathode half shell has been newly
developed from scratch but is nevertheless
compatible with the single element design.
A cation-selective membrane separates
the anode compartment from the cathode
compartment. The GDE is located in the
cathode compartment. The side of the GDE
facing the membrane is covered with a

hydrophilic layer, the opposite side with
water saturated oxygen (Fig. 7). The hydrophilic layer ensures a constant distance
between the GDE and the membrane,
allowing a caustic-soda falling film to form.
Promising performance data have been
obtained in various tests with the falling
film cell patented by Krupp Uhde, which
uses an oxygen-consuming cathode.
Market launch is therefore expected in
2005. This successful development was
made possible by the syntheses of a silver
catalyst at the Krupp Uhde Laboratory in
Ennigerloh, Germany.
Demanding tests of the new cell generation at Krupp Uhdes own heavy-duty test
stand in Gersthofen, Germany, underscore
the excellent performance of the new generation of elements. The almost linear
course of the current/voltage curve up to a
specific current of 8 kA/m2 attests to the
high efficiency of the cells internal components and the improvements in the new
single element.
Trend in specific energy consumption and maximum current density in Krupp Uhde membrane
technology (Fig. 6)
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40
Principle of the Krupp Uhde GDE cell (Fig. 7)
6 Outlook a strengthened
market position
The trend in worldwide production of
caustic soda in recent years, with a capacity of 50.9 million metric tons in 1998 and
a projected capacity of 54.7 million metric
tons in 2003 (Fig. 2), underscores the
market potential for improved technologies
in chlor-alkali electrolysis. Krupp Uhde is
the only company in the world that can
supply the full spectrum from the expansion of electrolyzer capacity to the provision
of a complete turnkey plant from a
single source. At the same time, a growing
number of existing systems based on
the diaphragm or amalgam processes
are being converted to the leading-edge
membrane technology. Krupp Uhde also
supplies designs for such upgrades that
can help minimize downtime and production losses during the conversion.
In terms of market shares for membrane
electrolysis systems, Krupp Uhde has continually improved its position in recent
years notwithstanding the strong market
position of Japanese competitors and
has further strengthened its long-term
position through a joint venture with
Gruppo De Nora (Fig. 8).
In January 2001, Krupp Uhde and Gruppo De Nora, Milan, agreed to collaborate in
the field of electrolysis. The two companies
intend to pool their technologies and their
R&D know-how so as to be able to offer
even stronger performance to their worldwide customers in the chlor-alkali industry
for the engineering, construction and aftersales service of electrolysis plants. The
objective is to optimize the technologies
and further reduce energy consumption.
The partners have already established
Uhdenora S.p.A., a joint venture in Milan.
The new companys own highly specialized production of cell elements and electrode coatings from De Nora Elettrodi will
enable it to supply an entire electrolysis
plant from a single source. Krupp Uhde
and Gruppo De Nora have accumulated
decades of experience in this field and
have built more than 100 reference sites
worldwide using membrane technology.
They are now represented by subsidiaries
on every continent. Krupp Uhde in Dort-
mund, Germany, is responsible for business management of the joint venture.

Through its continuous advances in this
technology, Krupp Uhde has gained a technological edge and will be able to ensure
its market leadership well into the future.
Market shares of the suppliers of membrane electrolysis plants (Fig. 8)
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41
Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Halbleib,
Dr.-Ing. Uwe Maas,
Dipl.-Ing. Franz-Josef Zurhove
Developing the future in cement manufacturing technology
Four cement production plants in Egypt with an annual production

of 6 million metric tons of cement (Fig. 1)
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42
Worldwide consumption of cement over time (Fig. 2)
1 Definition
The DIN definition of cement goes like
this:
Cement is a binding agent that sets in
the air or under water and is water-resistant after setting. It essentially consists of
calcium oxide, silicic acid, alumina and iron
oxide. The raw material must be heated at
least to the point of sintering, i.e. the state
just prior to melting (1,400 to 1,450 C).
2 Worldwide cement
consumption
Today cement is one of the most
important building materials of all, and our
modern world is unthinkable without it.
Worldwide cement consumption adds up
to approximately 1.6 billion metric tons
annually. China is the largest consumer
with 570 million metric tons, followed by
the US with 110 million tons. Germany
consumed about 35 million tons in 2000.
Fig. 2 depicts cement consumption over
the past 30 years. It shows that the
demand for cement has been increasing by
about 33 million tons per year and has
been doing so continuously over a span of
more than 30 years. Noteworthy current
developments in the industry include especially the adaptation of the technology to
ecological requirements by means of emission-reduction measures and the replacement of primary fossil fuels by alternative
fuels, including refuse-derived fuels (RDF).
quarries and comminuted in a crusher to

the size of gravel. It takes 1.56 tons of raw
materials to produce 1 ton of cement.
The steps in the cement-making process
are illustrated in Fig. 3.
Efficient production of high-quality
cement products mandates that the
production processes be optimally adapted
to the available raw materials. It is not
enough to merely string together a chain of
optimized individual processes let alone
machines. Success depends on planning
and optimizing the system as a whole, with
due regard to investment and operating
costs.
3 Process steps in a cement

plant
The most important raw materials in
cement production are limestone, clay and
marl. These materials are mined in
Process steps in a cement plant (Fig. 3)
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The cement-making process takes place

in three main stages: raw materials preparation, clinker production and cement production.
3.1 Raw materials preparation

Raw-materials preparation involves the
following individual steps:
Quarry operations, crusher, prehomogenization and storage, transportation and
component metering, analyses and
blending checks, raw meal drying, raw
meal homogenization and storage, plus
metering and conveying materials to the
43
Using ISAR to measure homogeneity characteristics in raw materials preparation (Fig. 4)
burning process.
Raw materials preparation begins with
the analysis and evaluation of the quarry
situation and the raw materials. Study and
evaluation of raw material deposits lays the
groundwork for the further process design.
The Polysius Research Center provides the
capabilities of a fully equipped chemical,
mineralogical and physical laboratory for
the examination, analysis, evaluation and
testing of raw materials and fuels. Even if
the available data about the intended raw
materials are limited, these materials can
nevertheless be graded and classified by
means of the extensive statistical data
already stored in the Polysius materials
database. ISAR is a program developed
especially for this purpose by Krupp
Polysius that ensures the optimization of
the raw materials preparation line.
This program is based on decades of
worldwide experience in project planning
and in the operation of cement plants. It
utilizes the chemical and geological
requirements as a basis for quantifying the
interrelationships among the systems used
in raw materials preparation. Hundreds of
materials from different quarries were studied and analyzed to build the ISAR database so it could calculate the overall homogeneity of the raw materials.
Krupp Polysius has the capability of
simulating all the different plant and
process configurations to determine the
optimum for each individual project with its
particular materials requirements and
boundary conditions. For instance it is
possible to change the size of the homogenization system for a materials preparation line, such as a blending bed and/or
blending silo. ISAR ensures the optimum
configuration of various types of system
used in materials preparation to suit each
particular type of plant. With regard to the

efficiency of homogenization, an optimized
materials preparation line depends not only
on the properties of the materials but also
on the equipment used. The blending bed,
the type and size of silo, and the preceding
control process (including analytical
methods and the frequency of analyses)
are all extremely important. ISAR
accordingly analyzes both the homogeneity

of the raw materials and the homogenization effected by the system.
Fig. 4 illustrates ISAR computation of the
homogeneity characteristics during raw
materials preparation.
State-of-the-art materials handling is
unthinkable without high-tech control and
analysis technology. Krupp Polysius has
Circular blending bed for limestone in a cement plant in Argentina (Fig. 5)
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44
The POLAB AOT quality control system (Fig. 6)
(Fig. 6). This is an analytical system installed in the vicinity of the raw meal plant
immediately downstream of the raw mill to
sample and analyze the chemical composition of the raw meal. The composition of
the raw meal is then precisely adjusted by
an electronic controller to ensure optimum
raw meal quality in the raw meal silo.
3.2 Clinker production
therefore developed a new online analytical

system for such applications.
Once they have left the quarry, the next
opportunity for improving the homogeneity
of raw materials presents itself in the
blending beds. At this point in the process,
the POLAB CNA online analysis system
can be used to ensure the earliest possible
implementation of data concerning the
chemistry and/or homogeneity of the
transferred materials. Continuous analysis
of the entire materials flow after crushing
makes it possible to selectively control the
homogeneity of the materials at an early
stage in the process. Knowing the
composition of the materials delivered to
the blending bed also makes it possible to
adaptively regulate the different
components or material qualities.
Especially in the case of problematic
deposits, this capability can improve the
degree of homogenization so significantly
that the size of the blending bed can be
drastically reduced.
Fig. 5 depicts a circular blending bed for
limestone in a cement plant in Argentina.
Another advance in this direction was
achieved by the introduction of the
POLAB AOT quality control system
Cement clinker is the principal ingredient

of cement. The raw meal that has been
temporarily stored and homogenized in the
silo is fed into the kiln, where it is subjected
to a burning process producing cement
clinker. During the burning process, the
material is heated to temperatures that
reach about 1,450 C high enough to
partially melt the material. This sintering
process (the term denotes the coexistence
of solid and liquid phases in the blend of
materials) is a key feature of the clinker
burning process. The partial melting is also
referred to as the melting phase and
promotes the generation of the clinker
phases.
The formation of the clinker phases
during the burning process results from a
number of chemical reactions that occur in
part sequentially, in part simultaneously.
The sequence of these reactions has been
the subject of many studies and is still not
fully understood.
In the early days, clinker was burnt in
annular kilns, later in shaft kilns. Since
about 1900, the rotary kiln has become
increasingly common. This kiln is especially
economical to operate, particularly at high
throughput rates. Another advantage is the
blending of the sintering materials at
higher temperatures. A disadvantage,
however, is poor heat transfer in the
temperature range below about 1,200 C.

Process steps during which the material
is not yet sintering and in which efficient
heat transfer is accordingly more important
were therefore removed from the rotary kiln
and transferred to more efficient equipment
systems: By implementing a separate
facility for preheating the material (LEPOL
grate, cyclone preheater) it became
possible to substantially shorten and
redimension the rotary kiln.
In the burning process, calcination
occurs mostly at temperatures below
950 C. In this temperature range a molten
phase has not yet formed. In the calcinator,
a unit equipped with one or more burners,
as much as 80 % 85 % of all CO2 is
extracted from the raw meal even before
the material reaches the rotary kiln. As a
result, the revolving tube can be shortened
even more, or the capacity can be
increased without any change in volume.
In plants without a calcinator, all the
energy in the fuel and all the combustion
Modern cement plant (Fig. 7)
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45
Preheater (Fig. 8)
air passes through the revolving tube. In

precalcining systems, on the other hand, a
portion of the fuel and potentially a
portion of the combustion air can first be
fed into the calcinator.
In state-of-the-art cement plants (Fig. 7)
the burning process takes place in three
successive units. The raw meal is heated to
temperatures between 800 and 900 C,
and the major part of the calcination occurs
in a multistage cyclone preheater-calcinator unit. The material is then heated
further to the sintering temperature and
maintained at that level in the rotary kiln.
The burnt clinker is then generally cooled in
a reciprocating grate cooler with partially
movable and ventilated slats.
The high temperature required in the
rotary kiln necessitates the use of highquality and accordingly costly fuels at this
juncture. Even though most of the energyintensive calcination has already taken
place in the precalcinator, at least 50 % of
the total fuel quantity used in the burning
process is consumed in the rotary kiln. An
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exceptionally thorough evaluation of the

rotary kiln subsystem is therefore a
prerequisite for optimized dimensioning of
the system as a whole.
Clinker production is a high-temperature
process ideally suited for the use of refuse
as a fuel. Waste materials can be substituted for the precious and costly fossil fuels
normally used in the cement burning
process. Fuel costs account for about 50 %
of all energy costs in cement production.
Cement manufacturers consequently
began early on to search for ways of
reducing these costs.
The 1980s witnessed the first use of old
tires to fuel rotary kilns in cement production. In recent years, an increasing variety
of waste products have been added as fuel
sources, and the additional advantage of
being paid for accepting them has become
increasingly important. Today such
refuse-derived fuels (RDF) are considered
very important in the cement industry since
they can meet up to 80 % of the energy
requirements in rotary kilns.
To further increase the proportion of very

coarse-grain RDF in the cement-making
process, Krupp Polysius has developed the
preheater (Fig. 8). This is essentially a
shaft reactor, in which such coarse fuels
are fed into a rotary air lock and thermally
converted at very low oxygen levels. This
process essentially results in gasification of
the fuels, whose calorific value is fed into
the cement burning process in the form of
reactive gaseous and coke components.
The preheater makes it possible to triple
the use of very coarse-grain RDF in the
precalcination phase versus customary
amounts.
Even the conventional rotary kiln, which
has been used in clinker production for
over 100 years, still has room for improvement. During the development of the
POLRO 2-support kiln with its direct drive,
the process engineering and mechanical
engineering experience of Krupp Polysius
was therefore used to produce an integrated, more advanced subsystem with
enhanced performance. The rotary cement
kiln is the core system of the plant, since
the sintering process determines the
essential properties of the cement product.
The required heating, the chemical
processes involved, and the dwell time in
the sintering zone determine the length of
the rotary kiln, which must exceed a certain
minimum that also depends on the kiln
capacity. At the same time, the flow
velocity of the air and the combustion
gases flowing through the kiln must not
exceed a certain maximum to prevent
excessive carry-through of dust. The layout
of the rotary kiln is accordingly characterized by the ratio of its length to its diameter
its L/D ratio.
State-of-the-art rotary cement kilns are
designed with either two or three supports.
46
Tiltable drive station of the POLRO kiln (Fig. 9)
Each support consists of a live ring a

hoop that encircles the rotary kiln and is
supported by two rollers. In the past, the
practical L/D ratio of 2-support kilns was
limited to about 12: Accurate meshing of
the ring-gear pinion drive could no longer
be achieved at greater lengths.
Optimum process conditions, however,
generally mandate an L/D ratio of 14 15,
which is incompatible with the conventional
2-support kiln. This problem has been
overcome by the development of the
POLRO kiln. This rotary kiln is turned by a
friction drive that utilizes the live ring and
the rollers. This approach makes it possible
to combine the specific advantages of the
2-support kiln (a statically defined system)
with the required dimensions (L/D 14 15).
To ensure 100 % contact between the
surfaces of the live ring and the rollers at
all times, a self-adjusting roller station
has been developed (Fig. 9).
3.3 Cement production

To produce cement, the coarse-grained
cement clinker must be finely ground and
combined with a setting regulator. Other

raw materials may also be added at this
point.
The product spectrum of the cement
industry has substantially changed in
recent years. This trend is sure to continue
for economic as well as ecological reasons.
An important aspect is the substitution of
waste products or other materials in place
of cement clinker either (and preferably)
waste products from other industries or
Hoisting a mill cylinder onto its sliding support system (Fig. 10)
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naturally occurring materials. The first

category includes granulated blast furnace
slag from the steel industry and fly-ash
from fossil-fuel power plants; the second,
natural pozzolans and limestone. Another
option is to use gypsum from flue gas
purification as a substitute for natural
gypsum or anhydride. This substitution
reduces investment and operating costs,
and decreases environmental pollution by
eliminating emissions from the burning
process in particular the substantial CO2
emissions from the calcining and burning
processes. But thats not all: Such
substitute materials also endow such
composite cements with superior
technical characteristics. Cements containing granulated slag for instance emit less
heat while setting, experience less shrinkage and are more resistant to sulfates than
are Portland cements.
The increasing diversity of components
used in cement production also increases
the complexity of cement plants and the
demand for technical know-how in their
design and implementation. Moreover, the
productive capacities of such plants are
47
Computational simulation of the live ring of a mill cylinder (Fig. 11)
constantly on the increase. In addition, a

modern plant must be able to produce
different types of cement. In the design of
such plants, several criteria must be
carefully balanced. These include on the
one hand the grinding resistance of the
individual components, the dissimilar
degrees of fineness in the cement, thermodynamic considerations regarding the
drying of wet components, and the grain
size distribution which is so important in
determining the properties of the cement.
Laboratory tests of the grinding resistance
are used in designing the cement grinding
process. Several types of tests are used
either in combinations or separately as
alternatives. The results are scaled up to
an industrial scale with continually
improving correlations.
Krupp Polysius not only has the process
engineering know-how, it also has the
necessary core equipment to meet the
requirements of the plant operator. In the
context of grinding technology, this equipment includes tube mills, vertical roller
mills, high-pressure grinding rolls and air
separators. These machines have to be

engineered for continual use under harsh
operating conditions. This fact calls for very
high competency in mechanical engineering, especially the disciplines of drive
technology, bearings and lubrication, wear
protection, and the design of highly stressresistant forged and cast components.
Krupp Polysius mills are generally large in
size and high in capacity.
Simulation of separator optimization with the rotor vanes in motion (Fig. 12)
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Vertical roller mills are used for cement

grinding and feature a disk diameter of up
to 6.6 meters, forged parts weighing about
150 metric tons, an installed drive power of
4,600 kW, and a gas flow of 600,000 cubic
meters per hour.
Ball mills are used with a drive power of
up to 9,000 kW in the cement industry and
with more than 15,000 kW in the ore
industry. For loads of up to 12,000 kN per
bearing, these mills are mounted on
hydrodynamic runners. Fig. 10 shows a
large mill cylinder being hoisted into
position on such runner bearings. A unique
software simulation was created especially
for this development and proven in
industrial tests. As a result, it was possible
to reduce the dimensions of the bearings
and live ring, and to increase the reliability
of the operation (Fig. 11).
For energy-saving pressure comminution, Krupp Polysius uses high pressure
grinding rolls with throughputs exceeding
1,000 metric tons of material per hour. The
rollers were engineered in collaboration
with forging companies to withstand sustained operation without fatigue, even
48
State-of-the-art control stand with POLCID NT process control system (Fig. 13)
assurance and a high degree of automation

(Figs 13 and 14).
Reducing investment and operating
costs, enhancing quality, and continuing
the improvements in environmental
protection will be among tomorrows
challenges. The use of secondary raw
materials both as alternative fuels and as
cement ingredients will be part of these
challenges.
Cement production plants already exist in
which 80% of the heating energy is
generated from alternative fuels. A rotary
tube kiln for instance can burn more than a
million old tires per year, which saves
12,000 metric tons of coal.
under the required high grinding pressures.

This technology has proven itself in many
years of industrial use, and is an exclusive
feature of Krupp Polysius machines.
Advanced development in process
engineering will be supported by
experiments at technical universities as
well as by cutting-edge simulations of
multiphase flows encountered in the plants
and machines (Fig. 12). By combining
different processes, it is possible to overcome the limitations of individual processes
and gain entirely new insights. As a case in
point, lab-scale and industrial-scale tests
have demonstrated that the energy
efficiency of the comminution process in a
ball mill can be substantially improved:
Quite remarkable when one considers that
the ball mill uses technology developed
more than a century ago.
4 Outlook
Due to the excellent properties of cement
as a building material as well as its
acknowledged ecological soundness, the
diversity of available types of cement will
continue to grow, and application-specific,
high-performance products will enter the
market.
These trends will require cement plants
with great flexibility, excellent quality
POLAB AMT robotically supported laboratory

automation system (Fig. 14)
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49
Dipl.-Ing. Christof Brewka,
Dipl.-Ing. Martina Shehata, MSc, P. Eng.
Krupp Canada supplies the worlds largest downhill conveyor system
Transfer station between first and second downhill conveyor section (Fig. 1)
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50
1 Introduction
2 The Challenge
When the Chilean mining company Minera Los Pelambres decided in the mid
1990s to upgrade the production of its
copper mining operation, a daunting difficulty arose: How would it be possible to
transport 127,000 tons of copper ore per
day from the mine site located high in the
Andean mountains down steep mountain
slopes to the concentrator plant? Belt conveyors present the only economical means
of transportation, however, no downhill
conveyor system of this magnitude had
ever been attempted. Preliminary studies
showed that the boundaries of belt conveyor design would have to be pushed to
new limits to make this undertaking possible. Minera Los Pelambres turned their
attention to the leading conveyor designers
and, in the summer of 1997, awarded the
contract to Krupp Canada, a subsidiary of
ThyssenKrupp Frdertechnik, located in
Calgary, Canada. Krupp Canada was now
presented with the unique challenge to
build the worlds largest downhill conveyor
system.
The Los Pelambres project is the latest of

several Chilean copper mega-projects,
which have unfolded in that part of the
world since the late 1980s. Different to
most other Chilean copper operations,
which are primarily located in the high
plains of the countrys northern desert, the
Los Pelambres mine is nestled on a mountain ridge, about 150 kilometers north of
Santiago and only a short distance away
from South Americas highest mountain
peaks (Fig. 2).
The mine site lies at an elevation of
approximately 3200 m above sea level,
some 1600 m above and 12.7 km from the
concentrator plant. Flanked by towering
rock faces and constantly exposed to
rockslides, the only road from the concentrator to the mine follows an ancient Inca
foot trail.
The weather conditions at the mine site
vary greatly from the ones at the concentrator. Precipitation at the mine falls mainly
as snow and can reach a maximum accumulation of 3 m in a 24 hour period, while
the concentrator site (Fig. 3) sees milder
conditions with precipitation mainly as rain.
Crusher discharge conveyor with mine in background (Fig. 2)
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Both areas are susceptible to frequent

electrical storms and avalanche hazards
are present for elevations above 2000 m.
Considering the hostile environment it
became clear that most drive stations and
most of the conveyor length would have to
be built underground and routed through
tunnels to avoid the constant exposure to
snow and rock avalanches.
Besides the obvious environmental concerns, another design factor became more
and more prevalent: A downhill conveyor
system of this magnitude requires an entirely different approach to conveyor design
than a horizontal or uphill system. The
potential danger of a conveyor run-away
under load makes safety the highest
design priority. A loss of control over the
conveyor could result in a catastrophic
system failure and subsequently lead to the
collapse of tunnel sections, to endangerment of human lives, to extensive material
damage, and to extended loss of production.
Conveyor section 3 and concentrator stockpile building (Fig. 3)
51
Mine ore stockpile and roof of first drive station with cooling air intakes (Fig. 4)
3 The Conveyor System

Copper ore is blasted from its rock bed,
then loaded by hydraulic excavators onto
large mine trucks, capable of transporting
up to 300 tons of ore in one load. The mine
trucks travel a short distance to the primary
crushing station located just outside the
mine. A gyratory crusher breaks the rock to
pieces of less than 300 mm size, i.e. small
enough to be conveyor transportable. A
discharge conveyor, 3 m wide and 120 m
long, receives the material from the
crusher and dumps it onto the 72,000 ton
capacity mine stockpile (Fig. 4). Four belt
feeders are located underground below the
stockpile to reclaim the ore at a precisely
determined rate and load it onto the downhill conveyor system.
The downhill conveyor system consists
of three conveyor sections: Section one
has a length of 5967 m, section two is
5337 m long, and section 3 measures
1446 m, with a total elevation drop for all
three flights of 1307 m (Fig. 5). All conveyor belting has a width of 1800 mm. The
subdivision of the conveying distance into
shorter sections became necessary, since
no conveyor belt would be able to with-
Technical specifications (Fig. 5)
stand the belt tensions generated in a

single flight. Still, the belt force determined
for the first two conveyor sections necessitated the strongest conveyor belt ever
employed. The drive of each conveyor is
positioned at the tail end, where the belt
tensions and thus the traction forces
between the belt and the pulleys are at
their respective maximums.
To provide protection from the harsh
environment, the drive station for section
one, measuring 45 m long by 16 m wide
by 19 m deep, is fully underground, with its
concrete roof at grade level. Only air inta-
kes protrude above the grade level, which

can be easily sacrificed to snow or rock slides (Fig. 4).
The conveyor system is routed inside a
tunnel driven into the mountain (Fig. 6) and
emerges only for the last 500 m before terminating in the concentrator stockpile building. The conveyor end is equipped with a
shuttle car, allowing the conveyor discharge
point to be moved 62 m back and forth and
thus forming a longitudinal stockpile of
560,000 tons capacity inside an A-frame
pile shelter (Fig. 3).
Over 12 km of the conveyor system runs inside a tunnel (Fig. 6)
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52
Conveyor tail end with drives and pulley (Fig. 7)
Moving at a speed of 6 m/s, the conveyor system transports up to 8,700 tons

of copper ore per hour. The 12.7 km journey from the mine to the concentrator lasts
some 35 minutes. At any one moment, up
to 5,100 tons of copper ore are loaded on
the conveyor system, exerting a pulling
force of up to 3,300 kN onto the belt.
In the loaded condition the motors of the
three overland conveyors act as generators, and for the fully loaded conveyors
25,000 kW of power are fed back into the
grid. As the belt load decreases, the power
generation drops to zero at some 15% of
belt loading. At lower belt loading rates, the
conveyor drives consume power to overcome friction within the system. In this
case, the drives are no longer acting as
generators, but as motors.
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Drive station of first downhill conveyor section. In foreground 2500 kW

reducers, brakes and pulley (Fig. 8)
4 The Drive System

The downhill conveyors are driven by a
total of ten individual drives units of 2,500
kW each. Four drives are installed on each
of sections one and two, and two drives on
section three. The two stage helical bevel
reducers, custom designed for the application, are the worlds largest conveyor reducers. The conveyor pulleys, at a diameter
of 2500 mm, likewise are the worlds largest. The mechanical brake system is comprised of 13 disc brakes, each with a rotor
diameter of 2,500 mm (Fig. 7 and Fig. 8).
The power and control system of the
downhill ore conveyors represents the
latest and most innovative state-of-the-art
technology. The power distribution system
for the ore conveyor system consists of 23
kV power centers located on each conveyor
substation. The ten 2500 kW squirrel cage
induction motors are controlled by adjustable frequency inverters with vector control
(AFD). With this drive system, the closed
loop speed control with secondary closed
loop torque control allows a defined initial
starting and stopping torque to be applied
to the conveyor belt at all operating conditi-
ons. This inverter drive system further

ensures that the tension forces in the conveyor belts are kept to a minimum. In addition, this means minimized mechanical and
dynamic stresses to the equipment and
structures by a step-less smooth adjustment of torque and speed. The inverter
drive systems are equipped with braking
choppers, braking resistors, and UPS to
maintain their normal stopping capabilities
for a short time in case of line/power failure.
The conveyor control system is linked to
the overall DCS (Digital Control Station)
system and is executed by three programmable logic controllers (PLC) and
several remote I/O (Input/Output) stations.
The PLCs are interconnected by an industrial open network (H1 network) used for
interlocking, diagnostic and operator control as well as for video and telephone
communication. The H1 network information is carried between the substations and
the operator control rooms over a redundant fiber optic network (OTN network).
Two local profibus networks are used in
each substation. The first network is used
to interconnect the AFD drives and the
PLC. The second network is used to
53
connect the PLC to its remote I/O modules,

the maintenance workstation, and local
operator interface terminals.
The entire downhill ore conveyor system
is operated from four supervisory computer
stations (HMI - Human Machine Interface)
located in various control rooms. All four
HMIs communicate to all the PLCs via the
H1/OTN network. All HMIs have monitoring
and control capabilities. Furthermore,
advanced help and diagnostic information
is available through the use of a separate
interactive help file system working in conjunction with the supervisory system
(advanced help function). The control functions of each station are protected with
multi-level passwords.
Each substation is equipped with a maintenance workstation for local and manual
control and status information of all equipment. A small operator interface is also
provided at each substation for basic status information.
The PLC system, the central nerve
system of the conveyor, constantly monitors all vital conditions of the equipment.
Should an abnormal condition be detected,
the computer selects and initiates the
appropriate reaction. The reactions can
range from a simple warning signal to the
operator for minor problems to an emergency conveyor stop for more serious conditions.
5 The Safety Levels

Safety has been the highest design priority. An elaborate control philosophy has
been developed and incorporated into the
control system. To prevent a conveyor runaway, five levels of safety have been built
into the system in order to react to any
possible condition or malfunction (Fig. 9).
Level 1
In the case of a normal stop command,
or a minor malfunction, the adjustable frequency drive (AFD) controlled electrical
motors bring the conveyor to a stop, following a predetermined 70 second S-curve.
Level 2
In case of a failure of the power network,
which may for example occur as a result of
a lightning strike, the motors are isolated
from the external power grid by the AFD
choppers. The electrical energy is now
diverted into large resistor banks and dissipated into heat. A battery back-up system
The five levels of braking (Fig 9)
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provides the necessary power for the control system.

Level 3
In the case of a malfunction to the AFD
system itself or the electrical motors, the
conveyor disc brakes will be utilized to stop
the conveyor. During the stopping process,
the speed of the conveyor is constantly
monitored and the brake force is adjusted
accordingly. This allows the conveyor to be
stopped following the same smooth speed
ramp as in levels 1 and 2.
Level 4
In the case of a PLC system malfunction,
or if an extreme overspeed condition is
detected, the brake calipers will engage
immediately by gradually releasing the
pressure of the hydraulic control system.
With decreasing line pressure, the caliper
springs apply increasing breaking force.
Different to the lower stopping levels, the
brake time is dependent upon the actual
belt loading conditions.
54
Forces acting on conveyor drive structure (Fig. 10)
splice passes by the sensor, the splice

length is measured and compared to its
reference value. The measured value is
then normalized for temperature and belt
loading. In case the measured value deviates from its expected value, an impending
splice failure may be the cause. The belt
can now be safely stopped and the splice
can be inspected. With this method, catastrophic belt rips can be avoided.
Level 5
In the event of a severe failure to the
brakes hydraulic system, or should an
overspeed condition occur during level 4
braking, the brake calipers are released
using the so-called quick-dump method.
The hydraulic pressure is now released
using valves located directly at the brake
calipers. The brake force will thus be
applied in full and immediately.
6 The Conveyor Belt

From the onset of the project it was
obvious that a new approach needed to be
taken with regard to the belt design. Conventional belt safety factors and the high
belt forces would combine to a belt
strength requirement far beyond tested belt
constructions. More than the belt itself, the
belt splices are of great concern due to
their tendency to fatigue. Weighing all the
factors a ST-7800 belt was selected, which
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pushed the previous belt strength record by

10%. At the same time, the belt safety factors were lowered from the conventional
values to 5.4 for nominal operation and 4.0
for emergency stopping. A rigorous testing
program was established as a precondition. Belt samples were manufactured and
tested for the dynamic fatigue strength
according to DIN 22110 in a revolving loop
test rig. Ultimately it could be proved that
the selected belt including the belt splice
could withstand more than 10,000 load
cycles at over 50% of the ultimate braking
strength of the belt. As conveyor belts in
general follow the Woehler fatigue theory, it
can thus be concluded that the belting will
be fatigue safe for belt safety factors better
than 2.
As an additional safety precaution, a
splice monitoring system has been developed and installed. This system measures
the length between embedded markers on
either side of the belt splice. Each time a
7 Structural Design
The combination of environmental conditions such as high earthquake loads to
UBC zone 4, extreme snow loads for the
equipment at the mine site, the potential of
large differential settlements of foundations
due to unstable ground conditions, and
large material loads as well as high belt
tensions, set the parameters for the structural design of the conveyor system.
For the crusher discharge conveyor
(Fig. 2 and Fig. 4) a snow load of 7 kN/m2
had to be considered, together with the
material load of 14,000 t/h copper ore.
The connections to the foundations were
designed to accommodate 50 mm differential settlement, and allowances were made
in the support structure to monitor settlement and to jack the conveyor structure to
compensate for excessive settlements.
The 12.7 km length of the conveyor
required careful optimization of the conveyor modules. The modules had to be
economical to fabricate as well as to install
in the long conveyor tunnels (Fig. 6). The
modules were optimized in 9m sections,
resulting in a total number of 1415 conveyor modules. The modules had to be
designed for the steep downhill sections
and the high earthquake loads, and had to
55
allow for adjustment to the terrain as well

as to accommodate the temperature
expansion over the length of the conveyor.
The drive structures, which support the
drive and brake systems for the conveyors,
and also incorporate a take-up carriage to
release the belt tension for belt splicing and
maintenance, are subjected to very high
belt forces and braking forces (Fig. 10).
Finite element analysis was used to determine the critical stress values, the stress
distribution, and the loads to the concrete
foundation (Fig. 11). To anchor the drive
stations against the resultant pulling force
a combination of pre-stressed Dywidag
anchor bolts, conventional cast-in-place
anchor bolts and a concrete thrust block
was used to provide a redundant anchorage system to the concrete foundation. This
in turn required multiple analyses to design
the structure and anchors for different possible support conditions and multiple load
paths.
8 Conclusion
The challenge, which presented itself to
the engineering team at the beginning of
the project, was overcome by the combined effort of all engineering disciplines
involved. The conveyor system has been in
operation since December 1999. The operating experience shows that the ambitious
design capacities were exceeded, and up
to 140,000 tons of copper ore per day
have been moved by the system.
Finite element analysis: Stress contour plot corresponding to force diagram (Fig. 11)
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56
Burckhard Bussmann,
Dr. Jrgen Schilling
SVI Noord-Brabant sewage sludge incineration plant, Netherlands
SVI Noord-Brabant sludge treatment plant, Netherlands (Fig. 1)
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57
Main flows in the SVI Noord-Brabant sewage sludge treatment plant (Fig. 2)
1 Background
Sludge is an inevitable by-product of
wastewater purification, and its quantity
increases in the course of advanced
wastewater treatment steps in sewage
treatment plants. Recycling is only possible
to a limited degree and at best after
expensive pretreatment.
The primary aim of sewage treatment
plants, which treat sewage of human and
industrial origin (polluter), is to release a
clean effluent into natural surface waters
(receiving water) and to remove the
pollutant load in as concentrated a form as
possible as sludge. The good quality of the
surface water in Central Europe indicates
that modern sewage treatment plants are
achieving this primary goal. However, the
same cannot be said of the sludge. One
look at its basic structure reveals the
reason:
The anhydrous part (the dry matter
DM) of the sludge contains not only mineral
substances, which mainly accumulate
during the sedimentation of the suspended
particles in the water purification process,
but also approximately twice the amount of
organic matter. This consists largely of the
dead microorganisms which, on the one
hand, were mainly responsible for
successful purification during the biological
treatment step but, on the other hand, are
difficult to clear of adhering water. The
resulting sludge has a high or very high
water content, depending on the degree
of further treatment. The figures in
Fig. 2 illustrate the ratios based on the
SVI Noord-Brabant project.
In addition to these technical boundary

conditions, ecological and economic
requirements significantly influence the
choice of sludge disposal procedure, the
most common versions of which are briefly
outlined.
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Spreading liquid sludge on agricultural

land for the fertilizers and soil improvers
it contains is now only applied on a small
scale in rural areas. This method is
criticized even by advocates of

biological recycling because potential
contaminants that have already been
collected are redistributed over a large
area.
The disposal of mechanically dewatered
thickened sludge in landfills is subject to
increasingly stringent requirements, for
example sealing against groundwater,
and the collection and treatment of
leachate. Broader waste regulations due
58
to take effect shortly will prohibit this

formerly inexpensive method of disposal
in the future.
Mechanically dewatered sludge
usually also thermally dried can be
burnt in specially constructed
incineration plants, and to some degree
also by co-incineration of fully dried
sludge, for example in cement kilns or
power plants.
nominal plant capacity, based on the dry

matter (DM) of the sludge:
Against this background the five water

associations of the Dutch province of
Noord-Brabant founded the company N.V.
Slibverwerking Noord-Brabant as part
of a project to develop a central sludge
incineration plant, the worlds largest and
most environmental friendly of its kind
(Fig. 3). ThyssenKrupp EnCoke emerged
successful from the international tendering
process and, in cooperation with
subsidiaries Thyssen Still Otto Nederland
B.V. and Blohm + Voss Industrietechnik,
was the leading industrial partner in all
phases of project development and
implementation.
incinerator capacity
(based on DM):
3.8 tons per hour
annual plant operating hours
(continuous):
8,760 hours per year
number of working incineration lines: 3
nominal capacity
(based on DM): 100,000 tons per year
installed reserve number of standby
incineration lines:
1
The standby line, provided in addition to

the three working lines to accommodate
fluctuations in sludge volume and already
included in the annual tonnage of 100,000
DM, adequately compensates for down-
times of individual incineration lines due to

faults or maintenance work and ensures
that overall incineration capacity is available
at all times.
The design of the environmental
protection equipment was based on the
BATNEEC philosophy (best available
techniques not entailing excessive cost).
This calls for the use of the best available
technology, but not at any price. For
example, the dream of zero emission must
not be bought with unreasonably high
energy input. The resulting design satisfies
statutory and official thresholds even when
incinerating sewage sludge with maximum
pollutant loads, and with normal input is
well below the already extremely low
emission limits applied in the Netherlands.
2 Basis of the design

In the first step, the specifications were
defined in close coordination between the
client and the engineers. The properties
and quantities of the sludge from the
individual sewage treatment plants in the
area were tested for their combustion and
pollutant emission indices, and assessments were made of expected future
changes. Special attention was given to
finding the ideal combination of buffer
capacity, line throughput capacity and
installed reserve to meet seasonal and
meteorological fluctuations (rain) in sludge
volumes. This resulted in the following
One result of the approval planning project phase (Fig. 3)
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59
Schematic of an incineration line (Fig. 4)
With regard to the quantities and properties

of the unavoidable residues, the plant is
designed to maximize the quantity of
reusable residual material and minimize the
amount of waste requiring disposal.
3 Process
The dewatered sludge from the various
sewage treatment plants is incinerated
centrally at the SVI Noord-Brabant plant in
a fluidized bed incinerator (Fig. 4). With an
installed capacity of 133,000 tons of dry
material per year for all lines, this is the
largest plant of its kind in Europe. The four
incinerator lines (one of them a standby
line) each have a capacity of 3,800 kg/h of
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dry sludge material to ensure full availability.

The key process steps of the plant are:
common sludge storage bins with a

volume of 5,600 cubic meters
four separate process lines, each
including:
2 disc dryers for sludge pre-drying,
heating area 250 square meters per
unit
incineration in fluidized bed incinerator,
nominal size (air distributor area)
10 square meters
steam boiler for recovery of heat,
capacity: 11.1 tons per hour at 10 bar
and 180 C
triple-field electrostatic precipitator

2-stage flue gas scrubber to remove
sulfur and chlorine compounds
fabric filter system to remove ecotoxic
pollutants (for example, mercury)
common infrastructure, auxiliary
equipment and residual material
treatment facilities
3.1 Sludge delivery and storage

The dewatered sludge with an average
DM content of 24 % is transported by road
to the incineration plant, where it is
dumped into deep storage bins. A fully
automatic crane system mixes the different
types of sludge and charges the process-
60
ing lines by means of mechanical

conveyors and intermediate silos. Foul
smelling air, which forms over the sludge in
the closed storage bins, is extracted and
fed to the incinerators. A biofilter is on
permanent standby to supplement these
arrangements, especially when several
incinerators are shut down.
3.2 Sludge drying and vapor

condensation
the incineration chamber at the bottom,

supports the fluidized bed, and through its
nozzles ensures good air distribution, which
is a prerequisite for optimal incineration
with a low excess air level. Normal operating conditions and especially any cases of
expected breakdown or even mishap lead
to extra loads. The most important types of
these extraordinary stress situations can be
characterized as follows:
Steam-heated disc dryers are used to

increase the dry solid content to approximately 45 %. The steam is generated
using waste heat from the incineration
process. The vapors arising from the drying process are condensed, stripped of
ammonia by steam and fed to a sewage
treatment plant. Non-condensable residual
vapors are fed to the incinerator for
burning.
3.3 Sludge incineration

The pre-dried sludge is burned without
any additional energy (fuel) in a refractorylined fluidized bed incinerator using the
ThyssenKrupp EnCoke process (Fig. 6).
The principle: air enters the reaction
chamber through nozzles in the distribution
plate to achieve intense fluidization of the
fine-grain, inert material (sand). The
sewage sludge falls into this fluidized bed
from above and is fully incinerated at
temperatures of approximately 870 C.
Lime is added to the incinerator to significantly decrease the SO2 content of the flue
gas. The already low NOx levels in the flue
gas are reduced further by a non-catalytic
aqueous ammonia injection system.
The distribution plate plays a significant
role in the fluidized bed process. It closes
Load per unit area of up to 2 tons per

square meter due to the fluidized bed
when not in operation. In operation this
load is relieved by the surface pressure
of the air below the air distributor. However, this results in cyclic dynamic loads
of several hundred kg per square meter
generated by the turbulence of the fluidized bed.
The temperature load on the system is
determined from the heat of the fluidized
bed as well as the temperature of the
incoming combustion air. It can, in the
case of an emergency furnace shutdown, be up to 900 C.
The operating schedule can constitute an
additional load if it specifies frequent
shutdowns (there are plants used in
Whereas distribution plates are

conventionally made from solid ceramic
plates, which are generally less durable,
ThyssenKrupp uses a metallic design
comprising several modules. After
intensive consultation with the Groups
structural analysis experts and steel
specialists, a material was selected that
has proved successful under long-term
exposure to the aforementioned loads in
numerous plants and, in addition, is
inexpensive and readily available: material
no. 4541, (X10 CrNiTi 18 9), also generally
known even to the general public as
V2A. Good solutions are even better if they
are simple.
3.4 Energy recovery

The flue gases exiting the fluidized bed
incinerator at approximately 870C enter a
steam boiler in which they are cooled to
approximately 200 C, thus generating
saturated steam at 10 bar and 180 C for
sludge drying and wastewater evaporation.
This simple sounding task is performed
by a complex subsystem comprising not
only the steam boilers but also numerous
elements of the water/steam cycle; the
engineering, design and manufacture of
this subsystem are subject to national and
European rules and corresponding
acceptance tests. This whole area was
Configuration of the sludge drying, incineration and

steam generation systems (Fig. 5)
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one-shift operation that start and shut

down again every day). In such cases,
expansion/contraction stresses are
added to the aforementioned loads.
Waste contains corrosives (e.g. chlorine)
or erosives (e.g. kaolin, used in the
paper industry). These substances also
act on the elements of the distribution
plate.
61
Typical fluidized bed incinerator design (Fig. 6)
4 Results
The incineration of 417,000 tons of
sewage sludge per year (in the dewatered
condition as delivered) yields the following
residues or products:
fuel feed
freeboard
start-up burner
secondary air
fluidized bed
air distributor
ash removal
combustion air
engineered and built by sister company

Blohm+Voss Industrie GmbH, Hamburg.
After joint consideration of the key properties, an advanced natural-circulation,
angular tube-type water boiler was chosen
with cleaning of the flue gas-side heating
surfaces via ball cleaning.
3.5 Flue gas scrubbing

A triple-field electrostatic precipitator is
provided to remove dust from the flue gas.
The separated dust is discharged and conveyed together with the boiler ash to a road
vehicle loading facility.
After cooling in a cross current heat
exchanger, the flue gas passes through a
two-stage scrubber process: an acid spray
scrubber cools the gas and removes HCl,
HF, heavy metals and excess ammonia
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from denitrification; and an alkali packed

scrubber with caustic soda removes SO2.
Scrubber slurries are neutralized in the
wastewater evaporation plant to guarantee
that no wastewater is discharged from the
flue gas scrubbing process.
After reheating, the flue gas passes
through a filter system for final cleaning, in
particular to remove mercury. Activated
carbon mixed with hydrated lime is injected
into the flue gas stream as an adsorbant,
which is removed in the downstream fabric
filter.
As with the residue from the wastewater
evaporation, the filter dust is conveyed
to a silo vehicle loading facility for environment-friendly disposal.
approximately 30,000 tons of fine-grain

ash, which is processed into pellets by a
construction materials company for use
in road construction
approximately 1,000 tons of dry salts
and other wastes from flue gas
scrubbing; this is the pollutant content of
the sewage sludge concentrated to a
minimum and is properly disposed of
Experience from 4 years of service has

shown the plant to meet all expectations
in full. Of the criteria delivering betterthan-expected results, one is particularly
important to the customer:
In practice, the amount of downtime due
to breakdowns was significantly lower than
conservative estimates predicted. This
allowed the plant management to
activate the unused reserves to incinerate
edditional sewage sludge for other
provinces of the Netherlands. Obviously,
this has significantly enhanced the plants
economics.
The positive overall impression,
interesting technical details, good functionality, low production costs and high
ecological compatibility of the plant have
shown it to be a wise investment and have
earned great recognition for our company
from experts in the field. This makes the
Noord-Brabant sewage sludge incineration
facility an outstanding advertisement and
hence an excellent reference for ThyssenKrupp EnCokes fluidized bed technology.
62
5 Outlook
The plants higher degree of utilization
also netted additional benefits to the
plants designers and builders.
As stated above, the plant was designed
to operate with three working incineration
lines and one standby. Since the capacity
of the auxiliary plants was designed for
three-line operation, it was only possible to
run all four lines simultaneously for short
periods. In December 1999 the operator
decided to expand the infrastructure of the
incineration plant. NV Slibverwerking Noord
Brabant (SNB) awarded Thyssen Still
Otto Nederland B.V., a subsidiary of
ThyssenKrupp EnCoke GmbH, an order to
increase capacity with the goal of running
permanent four-line operations.
Key to this order was the construction in
a new building of a new evaporator for
wastewater from the flue gas scrubbers.
Installation of heavy machinery (Fig. 7)
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This building was also used to house

various storage tanks and a hot water
flushing system for maintenance and
cleaning of the entire system. The order
also included upgrading the existing
compressed air supply and naturally also
adapting the process control system to the
new equipment. Test runs for this capacity
expansion were successfully completed in
August 2001.
63
Dr. jur. Reinhard Mehl
The Sachsen impressions from the sea trials
The frigate Sachsen at sea (Fig. 1)
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64
1 Introduction
At around 8:15 a.m. on August 28,
2001 the frigate Sachsen cast off from the
shipyard Blohm+Voss and left for maiden
sea trials. It was on June 13, 1996, some
five years earlier, that the contract had
originally been signed to build three frigates of the 124 class. The general contractor for the project is the ARGE F124
consortium, which comprises the shipyards
Blohm+Voss GmbH (project leader),
Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG and
Thyssen Nordseewerke GmbH.
A member of the frigate class F124, the
Sachsen is the largest warship in the
German Navy (Fig. 1). The F124 program
falls under the trilateral frigate agreement
between Germany, the Netherlands and
Spain. At a contract value of around 1.5
billion, it is one of the largest of the German armed forces procurement programs
currently running and involves some 800
subcontractors throughout Germany as
well as in other NATO countries. For the
participating shipyards, the project involves
around 1.9 million office hours and some
one million construction hours per ship.
The technical specifications of the frigate
are listed in Fig. 2.
FWES together with the command

deployment software CDS, again a new
development (Fig. 3). Here, processing
requirements are spread across 17 computers connected up by a multiply redundant ATM bus. As such, the system is
capable of simultaneously registering
more than 1,000 potential air targets at
a maximum range of around 400 kilometers. Capable of attacking targets at a
range of more than 100 kilometers, the
new frigate is designed to serve as a
command and control platform. Aside
from its principal anti-air warfare (AAW)
capability, it is also designed for all other
combat operations such as anti-surface
warfare (ASuW) and antisubmarine
warfare (ASW).
Two distinguishing features in particular
determine the outer appearance of the new
frigate: the APAR radar fixed to the forward
mast and the so-called x-form of the outer
skin, which extends down as far as the
C-Deck (Fig. 4). This design of the superstructure drastically reduces the reflection
of incident radar signals and therefore
2 Technical equipment
The main difference to the previous
(F123) frigate class is that the new vessels
are primarily designed for area air defense
and escort duties. To this end, they have
been fitted with a range of extra equipment, including the newly developed radar
systems APAR and SMART-L as well as
long-range anti-aircraft missiles. Similarly,
the frigates also feature the decentralized
command and weapons control system
Technical specifications of the Sachsen (Fig. 2)
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gives the vessel stealth qualities. The

design incorporates all the characteristics
of the MEKO concept, as developed by
Blohm+Voss, with regard to modularity,
strength and signatures.
3 Marine systems trials

The sea trials involve comprehensive
tests, with a particular focus on the vessels machinery. In addition, initial trials of
the FWES command and weapons control
system are also being conducted. The
decision to hold relatively early sea trials
more than a year before the frigate is
scheduled for commissioning (November
2002) means that there will also be
plenty of opportunity to fine-tune the ships
systems under operational conditions and
identify the existence of any possible faults
in good time.
The main emphasis of the marine
systems trials is to test the combined
diesel and gas turbine propulsion system
CODAG. This comprises a gas turbine with
an output of 23,500 kilowatts plus two
65
Block diagram of the command and weapons control system FWES (Fig. 3)
diesel engines, each delivering 7,400 kilowatts. These are connected up via a
cross-connection gearbox to two operating
shafts, which in turn drive two variablepitch propellers (Fig. 5). Unlike the
propulsion system installed in the previous
generation of vessel, this configuration not
only dispenses with a second gas turbine
but is also capable of propelling the vessel
at cruising speed with the use of just one
diesel engine a feature which markedly
reduces operating costs over the life of the
vessel.
Another installation of particular
significance is the newly developed
Integrated Monitoring and Control System
(IMCS), which is based on a data bus. Via a
total of some 7,000 different monitoring
stations distributed around the vessel, the
IMCS monitors and controls all the various
marine systems on board (Fig. 6). In
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addition, the IMCS is equipped with a

comprehensive range of user interfaces
plus a fully automatic malfunction and
damage analysis system. For the purposes
of crew training, the system can be set to
simulate any conceivable malfunction or
damage scenario.
In addition to the vessels propulsion
unit, trials will also focus on the onboard
electrical and ventilation systems as well as
all the remaining supply and disposal
systems. These will first be tested and then
presented to the clients acceptance commission. Aside from the minor teething
troubles always encountered in a project of
this nature, the trials have been very successful to date.
Further highlights of the sea trials have
included measurement of the acoustic
characteristics of the Sachsen in waters off
the northern German town of Eckernfrde
on September 9 and dynamic tests of the

radar systems including the use of
Tornadoes and helicopters from the
German Navy on September 6 and 7,
2001. Afterwards, the frigate transferred to
the Skagerrak for a further week of marine
systems trials, before returning to
Blohm+Voss on September 13.
The main emphasis of the FWES trials
has fallen on the newly developed CDS
software and SMART-L and APAR systems.
As the land-based facilities capable of
testing such a system within the corresponding development plans can only
handle parts of FWES, the sea trials
provided a first opportunity to see how the
various elements will function together in
their ultimate configuration and under
operating conditions. As such, the trials
also offered a chance to collate data
required for further development of the
66
The frigate Sachsen at sea (Fig. 4)
systems. It was for this reason and to

minimize the risks that problems here could
pose to the program as a whole that it
was decided to bring the FWES trials
forward and conduct them at an earlier
date than originally planned.
These initial pre-tests proved exceptionally successful. For example, the longrange radar system SMART-L was able to
reliably detect air targets at a range of
around 400 kilometers. Moreover, good
results were also achieved with the newly
developed APAR system.
innovation cycles in the IT sector. Without

parallel development, a frigate built
according to definitions established some
eight to 10 years previously would hardly
correspond to the latest technological standards once it came to be commissioned
a consequence that is less and less
acceptable given the danger this might

involve in a crisis.
In addition, the costs and risks involved
in certain developments are such that it
was decided to proceed with these on the
basis of a joint international program. It is
then the responsibility of the ARGE F124
consortium to integrate these developments, together with the CDS software
(which was developed under the responsibility of ARGE F124), into a fully functioning
total frigate weapons system.
A further feature of the project is that the
frigates are being developed and built for
a fixed price that may only be modified in
order to take account of the effects of
inflation or any subsequent modifications
desired by the client.
As such, risk management has played a
major role from the very beginning of the
project. A central pillar of this process was
the establishment of permanent monitoring
procedures designed to ensure that the
various system elements developed can all
be fully integrated with one another. Here,
4 Risk management
A specific feature of the F124 program
was that major elements of the complete
system i.e. the radar systems,
automation systems and the entire FWES
software were developed in parallel with
the construction of the frigates. Despite the
element of risk that such a procedure
involves, it was chosen in order to
accommodate the increasingly shorter
Functional principle of the CODAG propulsion system (Fig. 5)
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67
Block diagram of the automation system IMCS (Fig. 6)
a corresponding agreement was signed

before the construction contract between
all the companies involved came into force.
In line with this agreement, the ARGE F124
consortium has been guaranteed access to
all essential documentation and processes,
including those relating to projects
conducted by third-party companies, so
that it is able to monitor the state of
development on a continuous basis as well
as identify any potential inconsistencies.
The independent team specially created
for monitoring purposes is involved not
only in identifying problems in this area but
also in developing appropriate solutions.
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5 Outlook
At the end of October 2001, the Sachsen
was handed over to her crew and then
moved to Wilhelmshaven. The period until
delivery in November 2002 will feature a
host of further tests and integration work,
involving particularly the highly complex
AAW system. Given the good results
achieved during initial sea trials, the
attitude of all parties involved in the project
is very positive and cooperative something that is absolutely essential if the tight
schedule is to be met.
With the launch of the sea trials in
August 2001, the F124 program reached
another major milestone right on schedule
as has been the case with all the other
important project dates so far.
Work on the two remaining ships in the

F124 program is also proceeding to plan.
In Kiel, dock assembly has just begun on
the frigate Hamburg, while construction of
the third member of the F124 class, the
Hessen, officially started on September 14,
2001 at Thyssen Nordseewerke in Emden.
The procedures adopted for the F124
program have proved their effectiveness.
Despite various problems during the course
of the project, the program still remains on
schedule and within the original budget.
The partners involved in the program have
forged a pioneering path to achieve an
optimal mix of performance, risk and price.
As such, the approach used in the F124
program is well suited to serve as basis for
future naval projects of a similar complexity.
68
Dipl.-Ing. Martin Braun,
Dipl.-Ing. Achim Hollung
Research and testing vessel from Thyssen Nordseewerke
3-D view from starboard (Fig. 1)
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69
General plan side view (Fig. 2)
1 Introduction
On December 12, 2000, a 92 million
contract for the construction of a Class 751
research and testing vessel (FES) was
signed at the German Federal Office of
Defense Technology and Procurement
(BWB) in Koblenz.
The twin hull vessel is to be delivered on
October 31, 2003 after a relatively short
design and manufacturing period. It will
be used to replace two already-decommissioned vessels of the WTD 71 research
station in Eckernfrde and the research
vessel Planet of the Underwater
Acoustics and Marine Geophysics Research
Institute in Kiel.
The FES will be constructed as a SWATH
(Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) vessel
and thus represents a technical challenge
for the shipyard. This platform, which is
particularly stable in varying sea conditions, appears ideal for its future assignment
as a research vessel. It will be used mainly
for basic scientific research, particularly
into the influences of the oceanic environment on acoustic and electromagnetic
underwater location and communications
systems. After commissioning, the vessel
will initially be used mainly to perform research tasks for the Technical Center for
Ships and Naval Weapons 71 (WTD 71),
for which an array of shipboard equipment
will be provided. In addition, container
spaces will be provided on deck for additional necessary scientific equipment.
SWATH vessels are characterized by a
relatively wide platform mounted on narrow
struts with minimal waterplane area,
ending underwater in large submersible or
floating hulls similar to submarines. The
small waterplane areas minimize the
impact of sea movements on buoyancy,
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providing platform stability even in heavy

seas and thus significantly reducing restrictions on research activities caused by bad
weather (Fig. 1).
design of submarines, making the FES one

of the quietest surface vessels in the world.
(Fig. 2)
2 Principles
The fundamental technical design of the

FES is based on the regulations applying to
commercial vessels. Building regulations
of the Federal Armed Forces are only considered where appropriate civil regulations
are not available and/or special requirements were set by the client.
The FES project is accompanied by the
development commissioned by the BWB
in May 1997 of permanent magnet (PM)
excited machines for vessel propulsion and
power supply. These machines have been
supplied in part and were taken into consideration in the technical design of the FES.
The acoustic requirements are based on
the hydro-acoustic tasks which the FES has
to perform and result in underwater sound
limiting curves corresponding to those of
advanced submarines in silent running
mode. These requirements are met
by Thyssen Nordseewerke (TNSW) using
its specialist know-how in the acoustic
Vessel propulsion by means of electric

motors.
Energy generators positioned on the
main deck, well above the waterline.
All other significant noise generators also
installed above the waterline to avoid
direct transfer of structure-borne sound
to the water.
Where possible, pumps installed jointly
on elastically mounted intermediate
bases.
Electric motors for acoustically relevant
equipment are of multistage design
where possible.
3 Vessel design
The vessel design is shaped by the seakeeping requirements.
The decision to construct the FES as a
SWATH was based on BWB research. Preliminary studies defined limits for heavy
physical work at specific wave heights in
the North Sea. Put into words, this roughly
translates as: given even distribution of
70
vessel speeds and courses in the defined

sea conditions, the selected limiting criteria
are not exceeded in 75% of all cases.
Monohull vessels, according to the preliminary studies, require a design approximately 23 times larger to achieve comparable values.
The shape of the hulls has a key influence on resistance and damping. The trapezoidal shape selected here (the so-called
elephant foot) offers optimum damping.
The hull cross-section tapers continuously
toward the stern and bow, and there is only
an approximately 3 meter long parallel
central section. This shape is costly to
manufacture, but offers significantly lower
resistance than, for example, cylindrical
hulls (Fig. 3).
The forward fins, which each have an
area of approximately 8 m2, can be used to
further improve seakeeping. They are
mounted horizontally and have an operating range of +/-20. They are provided to
compensate for any speed-related trimming, which can also be performed by
taking on ballast. The fins are also used for
controlled equalization of pitch caused by
heavy seas. The eight fins are permanently
integrated and serve to improve the
longitudinal stability of the FES.
Another key design criterion is weight.
The weight sensitivity of the FES is
exemplified by the waterplane area. The
entire waterplane area of the FES is approximately 280 m2. Each additional 2.8 tons of
weight results in 1 centimeter more draft. A
planned 72 ton load of research equipment
increases the draft by 25 cm. Consumption
of the planned fuel load of approximately
350 tons results in a change in draft of
1.25 m.
These observations assume that the
masses act at the center of gravity. A one-
sided load causes a correspondingly

greater list. The shape of the waterplane
area, which runs to a point at the hull ends,
allows significant trimming with appropriate
fore or aft loading.
On the FES these effects are countered
using ballast. After a change in loading,
the FES is appropriately ballasted with the
aid of a trimming computer. Over 1000 m3
of volume is available for equalization on
the FES in various ballast water cells.
To get a clear picture of the weight situation, a weight calculation, like those used
for submarines, is performed during the
engineering phase of the FES.
Bow view (Fig. 3)
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The steel ship design of the hull is determined by the prevalent transverse loads.
As in all twin-hull vessels, the transitional
area from the struts to the wet deck is
particularly affected by transverse loads in
rough seas. For this reason, a transverse
frame design has been provided with
500 mm spacing above the platform deck.
The hulls have a longitudinal frame design
with 400 mm longitudinal frame spacing
and 1500 mm web frame spacing.
Dimensioning is based on a global finite
element analysis. In various studies, the
transitions between strut/haunch and
haunch/wet deck were investigated. It was
71
Overview of ship electrical system (Fig. 4)
found that an angular transition design

was preferable in terms of structure weight
and manufacturing costs. Rounding the
angles does not reduce stress levels.
However, it is important that the angles are
supported by the intermediate deck or a
longitudinal wall.
4 Propulsion/drive
Not only the vessels shape is new but
also its propulsion concept: the design of
the power generation and propulsion
equipment is similar to that of an all-electric vessel.
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direct drive of the propellers by particularly low-noise electric drive motors,

inclusion of propellers with cavitation at
vessel speeds above 12 knots.
The key components utilize permanent

magnet (PM) technology. These include the
propulsion engines, generators and the
associated power electronics.
4.1 Fundamentals
4.2 Diesel-electric propulsion unit
The higher acoustic requirements and

the travel profile of the FES, which differs
fundamentally from those of a merchant
vessel, have to be taken into account in the
selection and design of the propulsion unit.
Fundamentals for the design of the
propulsion unit with increased acoustic
requirements include:
4 identical permanent-magnet synchronous motors, 2 per shaft, are used to cover

the full speed range. Power is supplied and
speed regulated via inverters. For acoustically optimized operation up to 12 knots,
only 1 motor is required per shaft. The
second motor, typically connected in series,
is separated from the shafting via a clutch.
72
4 current generating units (2 x 1250 kW

and 2 x 1700 kW) are available for energy
generation. For reasons of modularization,
all 4 generators consist of identical
1700 kW PM generators, which supply the
750 VDC propulsion network via rectifier
cabinets.
The diesel engines are MTU engines
from the 396 series, which meet the emission limits listed in Annex VI of the
MARPOL Convention (prevention of pollution from ships). The diesel engines can be
run at light load without limits.
Typically, the port diesel engines power
the port propulsion motors and the starboard diesel engines the starboard propulsion motors. However, cross switching is
possible, as is powering all propulsion
motors from one unit at low speed. In practical terms, the main switchboard, from
which all 750 VDC consumers are supplied,
represents the DC link between the PM
generators and the PM propulsion motors.
Further major consumers such as the lateral thrust units and the rotating converters
are also supplied with 750 VDC. As electrical power is supplied and removed via controlled rectifiers and/or inverters, normal
network protection via short-circuit power
cutoff is no longer possible. Appropriate
sensors have to be used to determine
in real-time where atypical situations occur
and correct them through suitable
measures.
All military and civilian voltage systems

are available throughout the vessel via
appropriate transformers, 24 V power supply units, and distributors. A 400 Hz supply
is also available for special applications.
4.4 Operation and supervision

All facilities related to vessel technology
are designed according to the specifications of GL (Germanischer Lloyd) for 24-hour
unsupervised operation in the degree of
automation AUT. The automation and
control facilities are designed to allow central operation and supervision of the
4.3 Ship electrical system

Since the primary electrical power is provided as 750 V direct voltage, converters
must produce the 450 V 60 Hz and 400 V
50 Hz. Rotary converters are used to ensure high network quality and simple selective network protection.
Stern view (Fig. 5)
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
propulsion facilities,
electrical facilities and
ship operation facilities
from the machine control room and from

the bridge.
In addition to steering the ship and monitoring from the control room on the bridge,
the vessel can also be steered from the
bridge wings and from a portable joystick
operator terminal on the aft H-deck. The
entire propulsion facility is monitored by
two controllers, port and starboard. All
equipment needed to steer the vessel is
integrated in these propulsion facility con-
73
trollers. During dynamic positioning, the

settings are provided by the DP system on
the bridge.
4.5 Special features

In addition to the supply with 750 VDC,
3 AC 450 V 60 Hz, 2/3 AC 115 V 60 Hz
via an IT network and 2/3 AC 400 V 50 Hz
via a TN network as already mentioned, it
is also possible to power the ship from a
containerized fuel cell (green generator)
for harbor operation and silent ship operation.
For scientific operation, very high EMC
requirements are placed on the vessel, so
the equipment configuration and cable
routing meets military requirements
to a very large extent (Fig. 4).
5 Scientific equipment and apparatus/testing equipment

A wide variety of research equipment
and apparatus is available to the scientists.
There are three laboratories adjoining the
free H-deck, while 4 workshops house a
wide range of tools, from metal cutting
machines to electronic testing devices.
The main crane (maximum 12 tons) and
two auxiliary cranes (2.7 tons), one on the
starboard stern and one on the starboard
B-deck, are provided for lifting loads. In
addition, stern booms, side booms and
further small booms are provided to handle
equipment. For scientific operation, three
winches are supplied. They are installed in
standardized mobile flats to make them
interchangeable. A multibeam echo sounder, a sediment sounder, and a surveying
sounder are installed on shipboard sonar
facilities. A Doppler log is also available for
navigation along with a UT (underwater
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
telephone) facility for underwater communication. A further sonar, not permanently

installed, is supplied for locating torpedoes. The control panels and evaluation
equipment for all shipboard sonars are
installed in the central sounding room.
Military towed arrays are used for research and testing, and torpedo search
sonar is used for torpedo testing. The port
hull is provided with a spherical cap which
can be removed to allow the installation of
sonar testing mounts. These projects are
carried out from a separate central testing
room in which the required operating
equipment is also installed for the duration
of the test.
A combined torpedo delivery and ejection tube is integrated in the vessel to enable the testing of various underwater weapons. The first such test will be on the DM2
A4 torpedo, which is currently under development.
A conference room is available for meetings. Ten laboratory containers will be supplied with the FES. 5 of these 20 containers can be placed on the H- and B-decks.
Alternatively, a 40 container can also be
placed on the B-deck. Some of the laboratory containers are designed to be coupled
together. The containers allow greater overall flexibility for the laboratory equipment.
Naturally, other containerized equipment
and apparatus can also be installed instead
of the laboratory containers (Fig. 5).
The key vessel data are:

Length
Width
Draft
Displacement
Power
Speed
Crew
Scientists
73 m
27.2 m
6.8 m
3500 tons
2 x 2,080 kW
15 knots
25
20
74
Dr.-Ing. Jrg Rollmann
Environmentally friendly marine propulsion systems

rely on large-diameter antifriction bearings from Hoesch Rothe Erde
The cruise ship Elation with 2 x 14 MW Azipod units (Source: Azipod) (Fig. 1)
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75
Environmentally friendly marine propulsion systems rely on large-diameter antifriction bearings

1 Introduction
2 Pod propulsion units
Large-diameter bearings are extremely

versatile machine components that are
used in different forms in virtually every
segment of mechanical engineering and
transportation. The development of new
technologies is continually expanding the
range of applications. In the past, largediameter antifriction bearings have proven
successful especially in general mechanical
engineering systems related to materials
handling and the extraction industries as
well as in harbor, deck and assembly
cranes and earthmoving equipment. Today
such bearings also play an important role
in many new areas of technology. These
include radio telescopes and wind power
systems, tunnel driving machines, offshore
systems and industrial robots (Fig. 2).
Since the 1980s, large-diameter
bearings have also been used in marine
applications as swivel bearings for thruster
systems. Until recently, thrusters have
been used mainly in ships whose operation
calls for high maneuverability, such as
tugboats, ferries and offshore supply
vessels. In these vessels, large-diameter
bearings transmit forces and moments
from the thrust bearings of the ships
propeller screws, which are driven by a
propulsive power of up to about 6 MW
(Figure 2).
The introduction of innovative, environmentally friendly pod propulsion systems
in shipbuilding is now expanding the range
of applications of large-diameter bearings
to include cruise ships, whose propulsive
power is currently up to about 20 MW.
The origin of the pod unit dates back to

a shipbuilding contract for an icebreaker at
the Kvaerner-Masa shipyard (KMY) in
Helsinki in the late 1980s. Built under
contract for the Finnish Maritime Administration, this ship was to be designed with a
more efficient propulsion system.
Modern icebreakers are generally
powered by diesel-electric propulsion
systems. Diesel engines provide the
primary propulsive power, while generators
convert the kinetic energy into electrical
energy for the electric motors that power
the ships propeller screws. The dual
energy conversion in this power train is
Application examples of large-diameter antifriction

bearings (Fig. 2)
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
more than compensated by the fact that

the diesel engines can operate at their
optimal design level and electric motors are
more economical in the face of inconstant
power requirements. In actual use, icebreakers must be highly maneuverable, so
they can break their way out of narrow
channels or exploit cracks opening in the
ice pack.
These requirements are best met by
thrusters that can be rotated about a
vertical axis and thus steer the ship even in
very tight quarters. A weak point of
thrusters, however, is the Z-drive between
the electric motor in the ship and the
propeller screw, which is mounted on a
vertical shaft. This propulsion system, in
76

Thruster (Fig. 3)
which the moment must be transferred

through two sets of miter gears, is only
suitable for motors with a power output of
up to 6 MW. Moreover, when thrusting
through heavy ice, the gear sets are also
subjected to severe wear, while the
systems efficiency is reduced by the
related losses.
To avoid such problems, the engineers
at KMY decided to house the motor and
propeller screw in a pod. The pod is
mounted with 360 rotation beneath the
hull of the ship on a vertical shaft and a
large-diameter bearing (azimuth bearing).
As with a thruster, this design eliminates
the need for a rudder.
The pod units did exceedingly well during

the first operations in the icepack. It turned
out that the best way for ships equipped
with a pod system to force their way
through heavy ice is stern first, with the
reinforced propeller screws breaking
through the ice. The stern-first approach
uses only 60% of the power required by
bow-first maneuvers, and higher speeds
are attained. It also became apparent that
the efficiency of the propulsion system was
further enhanced by the use of a pulling
propeller screw, i.e. by a design pointing
the pod in the direction of motion (Fig. 4).
These good results led to the formation of
the ABB Azipod OY company by KMY and
the electrical systems manufacturer ABB
for the continuing development of this
innovative propulsion system under the
name Azipod.
Once the Azipod system had proven
itself in icebreakers and ice-breaking
tankers, it also attracted the interest of
cruise ship builders. Decisive criteria for
this sector were maneuverability, reduced
fuel consumption, reduced noise, and
better utilization of onboard space.
The reduction in moving masses by
eliminating the long propeller shafts and by
relocating these masses into the pod
outside the ships hull substantially
Icebreaker and flume model with Azipod system (Source: Azipod) (Fig. 4)
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decreases mechanical noise. More of the

ships interior can be used to make the
passengers voyage more comfortable.
Even more space becomes available
because the shaft tunnel is eliminated, as
are the stern thrusters commonly used in
large cruise ships (Fig. 5).
The first cruise ship to be equipped with
pod units in 1997 (2 x 14 MW) was an
engineering upgrade in which only the
electric motors, propeller screws and rudder system were replaced by one Azipod
each, while the existing power generating
systems were retained. The performance of
this ship could be directly compared with
that of sister ships with conventional
diesel-electric propulsion systems that had
not been upgraded. The upgrade enabled a
40% reduction in turning circle, while the
distance required for a crash-stop was
reduced to 60 % of that required by the
sister ship. Moreover, fuel consumption
was decreased by about 8 % and vibrations
in the ship were noticeably reduced
(Fig. 1).
In the light of these benefits, newly built
cruise ships are now increasingly designed
for pod systems. By the end of 2001,
16 large cruise ships were equipped with
Azipod systems, including the MS Europa
(2 x 6 MW) and the ships built at the
77

Installation space required for marine propulsion units on cruise ships (Source: SSP) (Fig. 5)
Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, Germany:

Radiance of the Seas and Brilliance of the
Seas (2 x 19.5 MW each). The success of
the pod systems also brought competitors
into this market, such as the Siemens
Schottel propulsor (SSP) from the Siemens
Schottel consortium. The pod system
developed by SSP uses a permanent
magnet-excited synchronous motor that
requires less space than an electrically
excited motor, so it can be fitted into a
smaller pod with better hydrodynamic
properties. In this design, the power feeds
two propeller screws that are mounted on a
shared shaft at both ends of the pod and
revolve in the same direction, functioning
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as a push and pull propeller pair. Several

vessels have already been equipped with
these systems (Fig. 6).
3 Large-diameter bearings for

thrusters and Azipod propulsion
systems
As the power output of marine engines
increases, so do the loads that must be
transferred by the large-diameter bearings
that support the pod units or thrusters. A
key task of these large bearings is to
reliably transfer the thrust from the thrust
bearing of the electric motor shaft to the
ship, and to absorb the moment of tilt
resulting from the product of thrust and

shaft length at any given slewing angle. In
specific cases, however, the bearing design
must also take into account the forces and
moments from possible contact of the pod
with the sea floor or with ice.
These tough requirements are met by
three-row roller-bearing slewing rings
mounted between the rotatable pod housing and the ships hull. The three-row roller-bearing slewing ring is a combined
axial-radial roller bearing that withstands
high moments of tilt. The design of these
bearings is illustrated in Fig. 7a. Three bearing rings (A, B, C) enclose two axial rows
and one radial row of rollers. This construction results in a self-supporting bearing, in
which the loads for each row of rollers can
be clearly defined. All three rings are made
from seamless-rolled, heat-treated steel.
The raceways are case-hardened by an
induction scan hardening process. Through
the use of special spacers a higher number
of rollers is possible, which increases the
load carrying capacity of the roller slewing
ring. The roller-bearing slewing ring is
fastened to the adjacent structure by
through bolts, for which bores are provided
in the bearing rings. The induction hard-
78

Cross-section of Siemens Schottel propulsor (Source: SSP) with azimuth bearing* from Hoesch Rothe
Erde (Fig. 6)
ened gear teeth minimize wear in the transfer of the steering moments. Hoesch Rothe
Erde delivers similar bearings as assemblyready machine components to all leading
manufacturers of pod propulsion systems.
4 Summary and outlook

The development of pod propulsion
systems increases the efficiency and environmental friendliness of ships with dieselelectric drives. The use of pod systems is
now no longer limited to special-purpose
ships. There are many indications not only
the increasing demand for environmentally
sound tourism that these systems are
becoming the standard in large cruise
ships as well. Pod propulsion systems are
already in use in a number of merchant
vessels. Three-row roller-bearing slewing
rings from Hoesch Rothe Erde are an
essential component in this design and
ensure the reliable function of these
propulsion systems.
a) Three-row roller-bearing slewing ring

b) Cross roller bearing
Large-diameter bearing from Hoesch Rothe Erde, examples of azimuth bearings for pod units (Fig. 7)
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79
Dipl.-Ing. Winfried Kracht,
Luitpold Miller,
Dr.-Ing. Friedrich Lser
The latest Transrapid vehicle, the Transrapid 08, in operation on the

test line in Emsland (Fig. 1)
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80
1 The Transrapid project in

Shanghai
With the first commercial application of
the magnetic levitation train Transrapid in
Shanghai, this mode of transportation has
again become the focus of public attention.
In Shanghai, ThyssenKrupp and its
consortium partners Siemens and the joint
venture Transrapid International are linking
the large new Pudong International Airport
to the downtown subway network with a
line that is roughly 30 km long and extends
to the Longyang Road subway station.
As recently as the summer of 2000, a
feasibility study was begun together with
the Chinese side. In January 2001, the
contract was signed and on January 1,
2003, the Chinese President Zhu Rongji
will take a first ride. Commercial service is
expected to begin a year later. A German
consortium of technology companies is
delivering the required trains, the energy
supply, the propulsion system, the
guidance technology and the guideway
equipment required by the propulsion
system. The Chinese side is building the

guideway according to the design
instructions of a German consortium made
up of construction companies and
consultants.
The technology being used in China is a
German development, in particular by
Thyssen, which decided to invest in the
Transrapid technology in the late 70s. In
the early 80s, the German government
gave considerable support to the
construction of the test facility in Emsland
on which, following the TR 06 and TR 07
prototype vehicles, the 8th-generation
vehicle (TR 08) is now running (Fig. 2). This
vehicle was built in the Thyssen Transrapid
center in Kassel.
2 The Transrapid principle

The Transrapid system was designed for
passenger transport at speeds of up to 500
km/hour in fully automatic operation. It is
the first fundamental innovation in rail
technology since the construction of the
first railroad the first train system that
TR08 (1999)
HMB2 (1976)
TR07 (1989)
TR05 (1979)
TR06 (1984)
The evolution of the Transrapid 08, which will now be used in Shanghai (Fig. 2)
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ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
moves without axles and wheels. Electronic

components immune to wear take the
place of mechanical parts.
The heart of the Transrapid technology is
a non-contacting electromagnetic
levitation, guidance and propulsion system
that takes over the functions of the wheels
and rails (Fig. 3). The propulsion magnets
draw the vehicle to the guideway from
below; guidance magnets keep it centered
on the track laterally. An electronic control
system ensures that the train levitates
approximately 10 mm above its guideway.
In contrast to a car or railroad, the motor
of the high-speed magnetic train is located
not in the vehicle itself but in the guideway.
The operation of the long-stator linear
motor can be compared to that of a
rotating electric motor whose stator is cut
open and stretched. Instead of a rotary
magnetic field, it produces a traveling field
which propels the train synchronously and
without contact via its support magnets. If
the direction of the traveling field is
changed, the motor becomes a generator
that brakes the vehicle without any contact.
Compared with the wheel-rail train under
similar conditions, the Transrapid system is
quieter, smoother, consumes less energy
(Fig. 4) and requires lower investment and
operating costs. Also, the advantages of
the system allow considerably higher
speeds at comparable rates of energy
consumption. At the same time, because
of its high flexibility, the guideway can be
integrated into the landscape as most
appropriate elevated, near the ground or
at grade, even in densely populated urban
areas all the while allowing for high
traveling speeds. Combining these
properties opens up applications not only
as a means of high-speed, long-distance
transportation but for airport shuttles, such
81
Locomotive state of the art: Wheel-on-track systems have been replaced by electromechanical
levitation (Fig. 3)
Wheel-on-rail
3 The vehicle
Electromagnetic levitation
Guidance
Guidance
Propulsion
Propulsion
Support
Support
as in Shanghai, or for regional transport.

Feasibility studies are currently being
carried out in Germany for an airport
shuttle application in Munich and for a
regional Metrorapid linking Dortmund
and Dsseldorf in the Rhine-Ruhr area.
Additional application studies are underway
in the USA for a Pittsburgh airport link and
a line connecting Baltimore and
Washington. And studies are being done in
the Netherlands as part of the RondjeRandstad Project (Amsterdam Utrecht

Rotterdam The Hague Amsterdam),
and for a line from Amsterdam to Bremen
via Groningen and on to Hamburg.
Additional applications will emerge not only
because of the high level of availability and
security, but also due to the attractiveness
from the users point of view.
The vehicle wraps around the guideway

and is therefore prevented from derailing
(Fig. 5). Depending on the application,
a train can be made up of 2 to 10 sections,
each roughly 25 m long, and can
transport around 100 passengers in each
section.
In order to achieve a high level of
comfort even during rides through tunnels,
the vehicle body is pressure sealed for a
load of 6,000 Pa. To satisfy this
requirement while maintaining low weight,
a hybrid solution consisting of hollow
aluminum sections and aluminum
sandwich panels was chosen.
The cylindrical part of the body is
composed of three sandwich section
modules, the complete roof and the left
and right floor/sidewall units. These three
main modules account for the full length of
approximately 24 m of the cylindrical part
of the body. The sandwich components for
the passenger compartment and the
exterior chassis fairing consist of aluminum
paneling and a core of rigid foam. The
bonding is done with epoxy resin. The
components have a wraparound aluminum
section that is connected to the aluminum
paneling by means of laser welding. This
results in:
Comparison of energy consumption (Fig. 4)
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
better protection of the core material

and the bond
high load capacity through continual
introduction of the load into the sandwich
assembly
a simple technique for bonding the
wraparound aluminum sections with the
longitudinal extruded aluminum sections
of the vehicle structure by means of
riveted joints
82
The guideway and vehicle system with the most important system components. The vehicle wraps around
the guideway and therefore cannot derail (Fig. 5)
Electromagnetic levitation
Stator pack
Guidance magnet
Eddy current brake
Support
magnet
linear
generator
The spherical nose sections of the body

consist of self-supporting glass-fiber
reinforced sandwich components with
carbon and glass-fiber reinforced polyester
resin paneling. To conform to lightning
protection requirements, a copper netting
(weight 80 g/m2) is laminated into the
whole surface of the glass-fiber reinforced
structure. To achieve adequate penetration
resistance the sandwich structure must
withstand the impact of a 1 kg standard
brick moving at 600 km/h a rubberaramide layer is integrated into the
sandwich structure. The sandwich
components in the front are manufactured
using the vacuum injection process and
bonded with the cylindrical body structure
using polyurethane cement.
Each levitation chassis consists of two
levitation frame units that wrap around the
guideway and a longitudinal connector, all
of which are bolted together. Redundant
screw joints are arranged in the power
flux. Because of the low strain they
experience when the vehicle moves, the
structural components can be manufac-
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
Guidance rail
tured inexpensively from extruded aluminum sections and aluminum sand castings.
In the case of the levitation frame in the
nose area, a supporting structure made of
extruded aluminum sections is mounted at
the front of the levitation frame unit to
accommodate five collision elements and
to fasten the frame-mounted nose paneling.
The collision elements are arranged
across the width of the guideway. The
deformation elements and the vehicle
structure are designed in such a way that
operational safety is ensured should the
following events occur:
Collision with a 15 kg object on the

guideway while the train is moving at
500 km/h
Collision of the nose section with a 50 kg
object lying in the middle of the
guideway while the train is moving at a
speed of 500 km/h
Collision of the nose section with a tree
trunk lying on the elevated guideway at
an angle of 45 while the train is moving
at 500 km/h
Collision of the nose section with a tree

trunk lying across the guideway while the
train is moving at 500 km/h
The box structure accommodates the

modules for the power supply, magnet
control, guidance electronics and
pneumatic system, which are installed as
slide-in units, as well as the equipment for
air conditioning, suspension and the
control of the onboard power supply. The
EMC-shielded cable ducts that separately
house the halogen-free power and
signaling cables are an integral part of the
structure. On the guideway side, the box
structure has a floor with a flat surface. The
chassis supports two aluminum
sections each mounted on the outsides of
the box structure guide the compressed
air in three channels for the activation of
pneumatic springs, doors and current
collectors.
The box structure essentially consists of
a riveted aluminum structure with
longitudinal extrusion sections and
bulkheads arranged lengthwise and
crosswise. The bulkheads consist of
aluminum sheets 3 to 4 mm thick. They are
riveted to the floor and the extrusion
sections. The floor is made from
longitudinally welded aluminum extrusion
sections.
4 The guideway equipment

The guideway equipment forms the
interface between the vehicle and the
guideway for the suspension, guidance,
propulsion and braking functions. The
components transmit the forces between
the vehicle and the guideway and
constitute a part of the magnetic control
system for realizing non-contacting
83
Long-stator winding: Equipment module with guideway components (Fig. 6)

(Source: GP Dr. Grossert Planungsgesellschaft)
magnetic suspension and guidance. The

guideway equipment includes
Stator packs
Long-stator windings
Location reference flags
The stator packs are about 1 m long and

0.18 m wide and weigh roughly 100 kg.
Each stator pack consists of 360 magnetic
steel laminations with a thickness of
0.5 mm and 3 slotted crossmembers for
fastening it to the guideway support. The
stator packs are cast in epoxy resin in a
vacuum and in this way permanently
protected from the effects of weather. The
slots of the stator packs are shaped in such
a way that the long-stator winding can
be secured positively in the slot in an automatic laying process. The system dimension for the stator packs is 1,032 mm. This
corresponds to twice the cycle length of the
traveling magnetic field, which is 516 mm.
To take account of the assembly
Guidance rail
Stator pack profile
Fixing LRF
Lacation reference flag (LRF)
Stator pack
Long stator winding
Phase 1 (u)
Phase 2 (v)
Phase 3 (w)
requirements, balance out lengths in

curves and make provision for expansion
joints on the guideway girder joints, three
types of stator packs are being used. They
have varying lengths that are less than
the system dimension (1,030 mm;
1,027.5 mm; 939 mm). For the Shanghai
Levitation frame
Guidance magnet
Guidance rail
Fixing LRF
Location reference flag (LRF)
Stator pack profile
Stator pack
Long stator winding
Levitation magnet
Long-stator winding: Guideway equipment and vehicle magnet module (Fig. 7)

(Source: GP Dr. Grossert Planungsgesellschaft)
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
project alone, 126,000 stator packs are

required.
In order to locate the trains using the
operation control technology, absolute
position information is fixed on the
guideway at intervals of 200 to 1,000 m in
the form of passive, digitally encoded flags.
The absolute position information is read in
redundantly by the vehicles. At every
absolute position, three location reference
flags with a total of 12 bits of location
information are set up redundantly on both
sides of the guideway (Figs 6 and 7).
These location reference flags consist of a
holder that is fastened to the guideway
support in the area of the long stator and a
plastic body. The plastic body contains the
location information in the form of a
copper-laminated circuit board cast in
epoxy resin.
The long-stator winding is realized as a
three-phase traveling field winding. Every
winding strand is created by means of
meandering and bending of the traveling
field wire (Fig. 8). The conductors consist
of aluminum wires with a total cross
84
sectional area of 300 mm2. The highvoltage insulation consists of ethylenepropylene rubber for a maximum operating
voltage of 20 kV. The copper sheath and
the conductive outer shell consist of
chloroprene rubber.
To create defined grounding conditions
on the outer shell of the traveling field
winding, the stator packs are faced with
stainless steel laminations, which are
interconnected by means of a grounding
cable. At the ends of the guideway
supports, the grounding line is connected
to the grounded guideway structure.
The long-stator winding is created with
a mobile laying unit on the guideway
supports. The traveling field wire is
unspooled from the transport drum, put
into the meandering shape of the traveling
field winding with a bending device and
Device for bending the traveling field wire (Fig. 8)
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
pressed into the slots of the stator packs.

The process is carried out for each of the
three winding strands in succession. This
method of laying the windings was tested
with manually controlled prototype devices
and developed further for automatic
operation.
5 Switches
The switches are another primary
element of the overall Transrapid system
for which ThyssenKrupp is responsible.
They are made of welded steel in lengths
between 70 and 300 m. On straight line
sections they can be crossed at a speed of
500 km/h, on bends at up to 400 km/h,
depending on the switch length. The
switches are shifted and locked
electrically.
6 Development potential and

prospects
The Transrapid technology has a great
deal of potential for innovation, especially
with regard to the electronic modules of the
suspension and guidance system. Here,
developments in microelectronics will help
further reduce weight and volume and
lower the costs. The same applies to the
electric components of the suspension and
guidance magnets, where advances in
insulation technology and manufacturing
processes also make additional
improvements possible, particularly when it
comes to volume production.
The coming decades will bring increased
demand for transportation services
worldwide. At the same time, ever greater
importance will be attached to accessibility,
safety, environmental impact and the
economical use of resources. The
Transrapid vehicle technology provides an
attractive solution to these requirements.
85
Wolfgang Schmidt
Certified pre-owned CNC machines:

The alternative to new equipment
Bremen Technology Center of Hogema Gebrauchtmaschinen GmbH (Fig. 1)
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
86
Certified pre-owned CNC machines: The alternative to new equipment
1 Introduction
Global demand for machine tools is
running high. This is borne out by statistics
recently published at the EMO trade show
that confirmed peak volumes in machine
tool imports as well as exports. A tenpercent increase over the prior year to
10 billion a new record is projected
for Germanys machine tool production
in 2001.
But investments in new equipment are
not necessarily the best choice for every
production site. Nor does a high degree of
automation guarantee success in every
country. An extremely dynamic trade in
used machines is therefore thriving alongside the market for new equipment. Its
growth rate of around 18% even exceeds
that of new machines. The export share of
used machines exceeds 50%. Demand has
recently soared not only in countries like
Canada, the Peoples Republic of China,
Spain, the Czech Republic and in parts of
Asia but also in the USA and in neighboring
European countries.
Trading in used machine tools therefore
offers significant opportunities that can be
further increased by using more professional methods, because in this respect
broadly speaking there is still a lot of
room for improvement. Against this background, Hogema Maschinenhandel GmbH
was established in 1990. Hogema
Gebrauchtmaschinen GmbH is a subsidiary
of the Hommel Unverzagt group, a manufacturer-independent sales and customer
service organization for CNC machine tools
within the ThyssenKrupp Serv segment.
Hogema Gebrauchtmaschinen GmbH provides a broad spectrum of services and
support focused on the purchase and sale
of pre-owned machine tools for metal
cutting applications. With three locations in

the German cities of Cologne, Bremen and
Schramberg, Hogema is a highly competent supplier of CNC lathes, machining
centers, grinders and honing machines for
German and international customers.
2 The concept
The core competency of the Hommel
Unverzagt group is the exclusive sale in
Germany, Austria and Slovenia of new CNC
machine tools from various manufacturers,
including a comprehensive spectrum of
financing and other services and support.
But every new machine will eventually
become a used machine. Neglect of these
machines might degrade their performance
and thereby mar the brand image even
the reputation of the companys new
equipment. This was one of the reasons
why the Hommel Unverzagt group decided
to become active in this market by establishing Hogema Gebrauchtmaschinen
GmbH. The central idea is to integrate the

sales force while closely tracking the
machine-tool market as a whole.
The process of accepting machines as
trade-in, certifying and reintroducing them
into the cycle creates the opportunity of
influencing their entire life cycle. What sets
Hogema apart from other manufacturerindependent machine-tool dealers when it
comes to implementing this process with a
high degree of professionalism is the
access it has to the competencies of its
sister companies. With this wealth of knowhow, business connections and comprehensive services, Hogema can achieve
a high level of professional excellence that
puts the company out in front in the
pre-owned machines business.
This cooperation among the sister
companies also benefits the financial
services company Hommel CNQuickFinanz,
the services company ComLink Service
and the sales companies Hommel CNCTechnik, UVA Unverzagt, Hommel Przision
Process flow plan of Hogema CNC-Gebrauchtmaschinen International (Fig. 2)
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
87
Backup by the Hommel Unverzagt Group: Modular range of services equivalent to the new machine market
(Fig. 3)
from various manufacturers. Hogema

furthermore provides its customers with the
same range of services available to the
new equipment customers of the Hommel
Unverzagt Group.
This includes:
and precisa CNC Werkzeugmaschinen.

Trade-in acquisitions of ThyssenKrupp
machines or third-party equipment, which
are often the key to new-equipment sales,
are handled reliably by the pre-owned
equipment company. Whats more, the
companys expert knowledge of the market
and machines in the pre-owned machines
sector allows precise calculations of
residual values, and this in turn translates
into favorable financing terms and rates.
Another advantage is more incidental: In
special cases, for instance when deliveries
are delayed or when orders are at a peak,
Hogemas machine rental service helps
customers bridge the gap.
Customers are the ultimate beneficiaries
of these mutual and synergistic effects.
After all, these interlinked resources enable
the Hommel Unverzagt Group to live up to
its claim of providing a full spectrum of
services focused on profitable machining.
3 Hogemas products
and services
Hogemas range of machines encompasses CNC lathes, milling machines/
machining centers, grinders and honing or
cross-grinding machines from all of the
manufacturers sold by the Hommel
Unverzagt Group as well as by other
manufacturers. The majority of the machines originate in the product programs of
the sister companies: Okuma, OkumaHowa, Nakamura-Tome, Hwacheon, Fadal,
Colchester, Okamoto, Kellenberger and
Sunnen. In many cases the machines are
obtained from expiring financing agreements or as trade-ins and are no more
than ten years old. Every machine is sold in
top condition and with a test certificate.
Hogema handles the acquisition and
sale on behalf of customers or on the
companys own initiative as well as the
evaluation, corrective maintenance,
reconditioning and brokering of machines
Pre-sales services: technical and commercial consulting, financial consulting,

time/profitability studies, accessories,
customized leasing and financing
models, machine insurance.
Training and know-how transfer:
introduction to operation/programming of
the machines, CNC/CAD/CAM training,
individual, one-on-one training.
After-sales services: transportation,
installation, commissioning, ServiceLine,
troubleshooting, customized inspection
and maintenance agreements, spare
parts management, customized add-on
warranties.
The motto for used machines offered

by Hogema is like that for the new machine
business within the Hommel group: The
customer gets whatever services the customer wants. That these services come at a
price goes without saying.
USP customer service: Highly efficient hotline

support minimizes downtimes (Fig. 4)
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
88
3.1 USP financial services

To ensure the liquidity of the customers
independently of banks, Hogema offers its
customers flexible purchasing and insurance models in exclusive cooperation with
its sister company CNCQuickFinanz and the
latters partner Deutsche Leasing AG.
The advantages of leasing are obvious:
No large tie-up of capital, no impact on the
balance sheet, reduced taxes. In a financed purchase the pre-owned equipment
becomes the users property and can be
fully depreciated. The customer acquires
an asset while also protecting its own
liquidity. Leasing and financed purchase
are available in four basic versions, so the
financing model can be attuned to the
individual needs of the company.
Hogemas pre-owned equipment
customers also have access to insurance
services providing coverage against fire,
downtime or a machine crash.
and repair ComLink also provides special

billable services. These include machinespecific maintenance agreements, each of
which is accompanied by a machinespecific uptime guarantee of up to 98%
according to the VDI 3423 guideline
(VDI = German Engineers Association).
Another way of minimizing costly
machine downtime is ServiceLine (a highquality telephone support service available
in two versions, Basic and Premium).
Unlike many hotlines, ServiceLine is
reliably available ten hours daily. Its
highly qualified experts restore machine
function over the telephone in verifiably
over 60% of all cases.
Even beyond Germanys borders
Hogema has the structures in place to
support used machines throughout their
life cycle. In Austria and Slovenia the
required services are provided by precisa
CNC Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH a sister
company. In other countries Hogema works
with selected service partners.
3.2 USP customer support

services
Customer support services for Hogemas
pre-owned machines are also the same
as for the companys new machines. These
services are provided in collaboration with
Hogemas own technical staff, thirdparty service providers and ComLink
Service GmbH, a sister company. Services
can be modularly combined and include
components such as installation, commissioning and training of the operating
personnel as well as programming courses
for the user.
The customer moreover has access to
extensive after-sales service by ComLink
Service. In addition to conventional
services such as inspection, maintenance
Participation in international trade shows (Fig. 5)
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
4 The process
4.1 Acquisition/procurement
The 12-member Hogema team does not
wait passively for trade-ins to flow in from
its fellow sales companies. Instead the
trading company takes the initiative
pursuing good pre-owned CNC machines
in the marketplace. The team uses
every available tool and a diversity of
approaches. Trade-in acquisitions are
actively pursued with Hommel Unverzagt
customers; alternatively these customers
may approach Hogema when requirements
arise. Since customers machine tools are
registered with a complete history in the
customer service database of Hommel
Unverzagt, an especially accurate machine
evaluation is assured. Market prices are
generally paid.
Hogema furthermore uses advertisements or the internet to extend its search
activities into international markets.
89
Rapid on-site service by experienced field service

technicians (Fig. 6)
Searches are conducted either on Hogemas own initiative or against customer

orders. Here the motto is: Virtually any kind
of CNC or conventional machine can be
obtained on customer request. The
company can live up to this due to its
excellent international customer contacts.
As a rule the machine is acquired by
Hogema. In a minority of cases Hogema
only acts as an intermediary.
4.2 Technical procedures and

quality assurance
Every incoming pre-owned machine is
first thoroughly cleaned before being tested
by a Hogema engineer. This thorough
checkup is conducted systematically
according to a comprehensive protocol.
A Renishaw measurement system is used
in testing machining centers. In what is
known as Q 10 testing, nearly all parameters are measured and displayed on the
computer both graphically and numerically.
The evaluation of lathes for instance
includes criteria such as the external condition of the machine, operating panel,
scraper and slideways of the different axes,
running noises in the drives, spindle or
sub-spindle, functioning of the turret indexing, fan, chuck and clamping cylinder,
tailstock, the entire lubrication system,
coolant system, chip conveyor and many
other points. Measuring the geometry and
operating times of the various components
is also part of the general check-up. The
protocol is used to determine appropriate
measures based on application-related,
technical and economic considerations. As
a rule these decisions concern the replacement of potential wear parts by OEM new
parts.
Virtually all of the technical inspections
and tests of machines are conducted by
the companys own technical experts in the
Bremen technology center and at WIG in
Cologne, an industrial maintenance
company within ThyssenKrupp Serv.
Uncommon and particularly complex tasks
such as surface-grinding a bedway are
performed by specialized partner companies. An intensive test run is followed by a
comprehensive machine acceptance test,
complete with a test log (certificate).
Machines are always categorized according
to the quality classes defined by the FDM
(German industry association for the
machine and tool wholesale trade). The
rock-solid documentation of the individual
pre-owned machines is a boon to customers as it provides transparency about the
machine and assures its reliability as a
production tool.
Customers can personally check out the
consistently excellent condition of Hogema
pre-owned machines at the companys
technology centers in Cologne, Bremen
and Schramberg. Just like in new machine
sales, competent professionals are
available there for consulting also
regarding issues relating to financing and
service. These experts are pleased to give
practical workpiece-specific demonstrations on request.
4.3 Sales structure

Nearly half of all Hogema machines find
new owners not far away within Germany
often customers of the Hommel Unverzagt
Group. That is not surprising, since about
20,000 active machines at over 6,000
customer organizations represent a
dynamic market. Especially in combination
with the dependable support services by
Hogema, these pre-owned machines in
their certified top condition provide companies with additional capabilities and the
flexibility to respond swiftly to changing
production requirements.
But well over 50% of the used machines
travel far afield. Demand has recently
soared especially in Canada, China, Spain,
the Czech Republic and parts of Asia.
Machines are also being exported to the
USA and to neighboring European
countries. In this business, international
Potential wear parts are replaced by high-quality

OEM parts (Fig. 7)
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
90
International hub for pre-owned machines: Hogemas easily navigable website (Fig. 8)
electronic marketplaces that provide interactive virtual exchanges are commercial

hubs the Hogema team uses successfully.
Foremost among these marketplaces
is the companys own website at
www.hogema.de. Up to 30 inquiries are
received here daily. Its clear layout and
intelligent search engines enable visitors to
rapidly review the entire list of available
machines or to apply search criteria that
will pinpoint the particular machine they
want. A typical line-up of 50 machines at
any given time provides a very good
chance of finding the right equipment.
About 100 machines change hands
through this efficient hub every year.
The Hogema team also works with other
internet exchanges. A particularly
successful cooperation has developed with
www.okuma-used.com, an affiliated,
single-brand exchange managed by
Hommel Unverzagt that benefits from a
convenient layout similar to Hogemas own
online marketplace. Another site that is
proving increasingly useful is www.machineStock.com. This is the new portal of the
pre-owned machine working group of the
FDM, which pursues no commercial
interests of its own and has about 300
members. The more than 5,000
immediately available machines from
different manufacturers are listed on this
dealer-owned platform.
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
5 Customer value
The lower investment for pre-owned
machine tools can certainly enhance the
financial flexibility of companies. But in
many case this is offset by considerations
concerning quality, trouble-free
commissioning, performance in actual use,
uptime reliability, warranty and support
services including concerns about longterm availability of spare parts.
It is precisely these entirely rational
reservations of cautious decision-makers
which Hogema is dispelling by its highly
professional approach. Trustworthy
inspections with certification, live demos
and work trials, a large stock of spares and
replacement parts and a network of competent technicians provide customers in the
pre-owned machine market with an
exceptional degree of assurance. Added to
these are the financial advantages related
to the comprehensive financing and

support services, which are equivalent to
those offered alongside new machine sales
and provide Hogema with a unique selling
proposition.
In addition to a high degree of welljustified confidence, Hogema customers
also enjoy a maximum in flexibility as a
result of the modest tie-up of capital and
prompt availability. All good reasons why
Hogema has detected a definite increase in
the acceptance of pre-owned machines
even among large companies that have
traditionally invested exclusively in new
equipment.
TK
forum Technische Mitteilungen ThyssenKrupp

Content Volume 3 / 2001
Issue/Page
Algenstaedt, C.
E-commerce as a success factor in future materials marketing at Thyssen Schulte
1/67
Bartels, R. J.
2/26
Bastin, A.
E-business solution for the transport industry: Telematics-based fleet management

using the internet and online planning
1/73
CENDI an organization created to promote the development of the

stainless steel market in Mexico
1/27
Baumann, A.
Organized decentralized purchasing via the internet at Krupp Presta
1/46
Berger, M.
see Bartels, R. J.
Birkert, A.
Hydroforming Knowledge Store
1/41
Bork, M.
2/31
Braun, M.
2/68
Brewka, Chr.
2/49
Brill, U.
WDISweb: Searching for the optimum material on the internet
1/31
Bussmann, B.
2/56
Cebulla, A.
see Bastin, A.
Deimel, Th.
Service product impact performance hydraulic hammer with integrated electronic

evaluation unit for remote transmission of performance data
1/62
Dejaco, S.
The new modular steering column from Krupp Presta
1/51
Dierkes, H.
see Bork, M.
Dorighi, D.
Online Sales at ThyssenKrupp Stahl
1/09
Euler-Schreiter, D.
2/13
Giger, H.
see Baumann, A.
Halbleib, A.
2/41
Hebel, A.-Th.
E-purchasing at ThyssenKrupp Stahl via the internet-based W3AS online RFQ system
1/13
Hedding, K.
E-Business@Hoesch Hohenlimburg
1/21
Henen, G.
2/36
Hernandez, C.
see Batres, U.
Hollung, A.
see Braun, M.
Humberg, H.
see Brill, U.
Jacke, R.
E-procurement at ThyssenKrupp Stahl by means of electronic catalogues

on the intranet and internet
1/17
Jungemann, L.
B2B in industrial plant construction - spare parts distribution for cement works
1/58
Krner, J.-P.
see Bork, M.
Kracht, W.
Batres, U.
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
2/79
forum Technische Mitteilungen ThyssenKrupp, Content Volume 3 / 2001 - continued
Issue/Page
Kripzak, B.
see Jungemann, L.
Laukas, P.
see Baumann, A.
Lemm, K.
see Jungemann, L.
Leonhardt, S.
see Birkert, A.
Lser, F.
see Kracht, W.
Ludescher, E.
see Baumann, A.
Maas, U.
see Halbleib, A.
Magalln, J. R.
2/18
Mehl, R.
2/63
Miller, L.
see Kracht, W.
Mller-Beckhoff, R. see Jacke, R. und Hebel, A.-Th.

Nnnerich, P.
see Bork, M.
Orthmann, K.
Bilstein shock absorbers via www.Bilstein.de
Prokop, H.-J.
see Deimel, Th.
Rollmann, J.

1/36
2/74
Sainz, A.
see Magalln, J. R.
Schilling, J.
see Bussmann, B.
Schmidt, W.
Schneiders, K.
see Henen, G.
Scholley, H.-F. von
2/09
Schulz, J.
SerKom the mobile communication solution for service engineers
1/54
Shehata, M.
see Brewka, Chr.
Solr, I.
see Baumann, A.
Steinhagen, V.
see Bork, M.
Snkel, R.
see Birkert, A.
Thelen, D.
see Baumann, A.
Truetsch, K.
see Birkert, A.
Wippermann, St.
see Dorighi, D.
Worpenberg, F.
DUAL and LOWRIDER, two new passenger boarding bridges for small
and medium passenger aircraft
Zimmermann, A.
see Henen, G.
Zurhove, F.-J.
see Halbleib, A.
forum
ThyssenKrupp 2/2001
2/85
2/22

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Technische Mitteilungen ThyssenKrupp

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ekkehard D. Schulz, Chairman of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG

Shipbuilding is another area of activity.

Many people still associate ThyssenKrupp

purpose merchant vessels and mega-

only with steel. But this fails to do justice to

yachts through naval shipbuilding to all

the Groups wide range of products and

kinds of ship repair work.

services. ThyssenKrupp enjoys success in

In mechanical and plant engineering we

many other areas, such as automotive

specialize in the production of complex

supply, services, materials trading, and

capital goods, special-purpose machines

capital goods for the mechanical and plant

as well as engineering systems and

engineering and transportation sectors.

components. Our expertise focuses on the

Selected examples from the latter area are

development of processing technologies,

presented in this issue of forum Tech-

the efficient design of production processes

nische Mitteilungen ThyssenKrupp.

and design engineering, and is thus the

The transportation of people and freight

key to producing highly efficient plants,

takes many forms. We have elevator

machinery and equipment tailored to

activities around the globe providing

individual customer specifications. From

products and services in close proximity to

machine tools and conveyor systems to

markets. Our range takes in not only

chemical and cement plants, the com-

passenger and freight elevators, but also

panies of the ThyssenKrupp Group display

escalators, moving walks, aircraft

outstanding capabilities in their respective

passenger boarding bridges and stair lifts.

fields and hold leading world market

In addition to meeting the most stringent

safety specifications, these products also

Dipl.-Ing. Hans-F. Frhr. v. Scholley,

Dipl.-Ing. Dagmar Euler-Schreiter,

The EVOLUTION traffic elevator

Innovative elevators and escalators for a safe future

ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems

As part of a nationwide project to specify

With their state-of-the-art elevators,

Dr.-Ing. Robert J. Bartels,

Dipl.-Ing. Jrg-Peter Krner, Managing Director,

DUAL and LOWRIDER, two

Manufacturing flexibility in powertrain production

New applications of high-pressure

In recent years, the number of 20 to

The Hller Hille group is one of the

Extraction with supercritical gases is a

Dipl.-Ing. Friedhelm Worpenberg,

Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Schneiders, Member of the

Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Halbleib,

Membrane electrolysis innovation for the chlor-alkali industry

Developing the future in cement