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The Port of Baltimore
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May/June 201 2
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Turner
Station
Gets A
Hand
O
n a Saturday in late
April, the Baltimore Port
Alliance Environmental
Committee, together with
the nonprofit Turner Station
Conservation Teams,
performed a clean-up effort on
a tract of land near Dundalk.
The work was performed along
a tidal inlet between the new
Sollers Point community center
and the entrance to Turners
Station Park. The community
would like to see the area
re-landscaped with a fitness
path for walkers.
Hard-working
Crane
Reduces
Emissions
T
he gigantic, two-year-old crane at Rukert Terminals
Corporation is 23 stories tall, mounted on 80 truck tires
and boasts a 28-yard bucket for bulk cargo. But what’s
impressing people at Rukert is its smaller carbon footprint.
The crane operates in a more environmentally friendly
manner, thanks to technological advances by its manufacturer,
Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbH.
The Liebherr crane is equipped with an ECO-Control System
that uses up to 25 percent less diesel, without impacting the
crane’s operations. Once the designated speed of the crane
movement is achieved, the Litronic® crane control system
automatically calculates the minimal required revolutions per
minute for the diesel engine.
The reverse power during deceleration and lowering modes
is reused for other main movements, as well as to cover auxiliary
energy needs such as cooling, heating and air conditioning.
A further side effect is the low rpm of the hydraulic
system, which means longer lifetime of hydraulic pumps and
components. The crane uses up to 75 percent less hydraulic oil,
and is significantly less noisy.
The crane also can run on biodiesel, and Liebherr has
developed a biodegradable oil for its products. The end result?
A 79-ton reduction of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
With assistance from the
Baltimore Port Alliance, a group of
volunteers met near the Turners
Station Park entrance in April to
remove litter and clear fallen trees
and other debris from a tract of
land near Dundalk.
GREEN PORT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL MCALLEN
KATHY BERGREN SMITH