Liebherr LTC 1045-3.1 takes on long-term refinery work

BP has put its new LTC 1045-3.1 mobile crane to work amid a maze of pipelines at the Emsland oil refinery in Lingen, Germany.

The 45 tonne capacity LTC 1045-3.1 was delivered to the Emsland BP Europe SE site in March and is one of the first units off the production line at Liebherr-Werk Ehingen. It is replacing a Liebherr LTM 1025, which has been used at Emsland for 20 years.

A compact design makes the machine ideal for the tight work spaces at the refinery, says the company. It will mainly be used for the installation and removal of pumps, rollers, and pipes, but it is also suitable for a range of other activities, such as offloading containers and heat exchangers.

"For 20 years the LTM 1025 worked really hard for us and was totally reliable. The new LTC 1045-3.1 is a modern crane, and that means we are now back with the latest state of the art in crane technology," said Michael Wilde, responsible for BP's mechanical engineering and machinery at the Lingen refinery.

He added that a 30-tonner was no longer sufficient for the job, but a conventional 50-tonne mobile crane cannot be used in some of the confined areas due to its dimensions.

"The answer is a compact crane with the performance capacity to cover the daily requirements for lifting work at the refinery. The decision was made for the LTC 1045-3.1, which BP ordered with the optional lift cab, which telescopes the crane driver to an eye height level of about 8 m. This in turn makes the view of the operational situation significantly better," added a company spokesman.