Volvo loading shovel pumps up the gas
A highly specified Volvo L110H loading shovel has been delivered to Holdingham Biogas as part of a major private investment project in a new natural power generation plant located close to Sleaford in Lincolnshire.
The state of the art Biogas plant which has just come on stream will produce enough energy to supply two Megawatts of electricity for the National Grid from a range of natural products grown specifically for generating gas from the company’s own 1000 hectares of farmland situated within a ten mile radius of the facility. The chief ingredients that feed the anaerobic digester are maize, whole crop rye, sugar beet and grass silage which is stored on dedicated pads around the plant.
And key to the operation comes a new, highly specified Volvo L110H loading shovel which was chosen following a competitive tender process but more importantly on third party references. “We needed a loading shovel that was at ease on delivering a minimum loading capacity of 100 tonnes of material on a daily basis and considered the Volvo L110H to be the optimum size of machine of choice,” comments Holdingham Biogas’ Mark Bates. “This is a 24/7 operation, so choosing a product that has a good pedigree in terms of reliability first and foremost, along with good productivity and fuel efficiency were our key drivers for opting for the new Volvo,” he continues.
The new L110H loading shovel at Holdingham Biogas features a 7m³ Volvo high tip bucket to handle the bulky nature of the material and in order to maximise load retention whilst traversing the site, optional boom suspension or ride control has been included. In addition the machine can easily change from bucket to a hydraulically folding grass fork
for handling silage. To further aid driver comfort and ease of operation the machine has been ordered with the optional single lever control for the boom and bucket functions and, is the first to feature the third line control as a proportional rocker switch incorporated into the lever which operates the high tip bucket. In addition to this the machine has been specified with optional CDC or comfort drive control and a Groeneveld automatic greasing system takes care of the majority greasing points around the machine.
The most striking feature of the new nineteen tonne loading shovel however is its 750/65 Michelin XBIB agricultural wheel and tyre assemblies which will enable the machine to work, not just around the anaerobic digester, but on occasions, on the company’s farm lands when needed – rehandling the bi-product from the process. Powered by a Tier IV final Volvo 8 litre engine developing 258 nett hp with a maximum torque of 1250Nm at just 1450rpm, the L110H also benefits from Volvo designed and manufactured driveline components designed to offer considerable fuel savings each shift. Fuel savings are further enhanced by the Volvo Eco pedal encouraging the operator to run the machine at its optimum rpm in the engine’s torque curve along with Optishift which is an option on the L110H. Optishift technology combines Volvo’s unique and patented Reverse by Braking technology with a torque converter featuring lock-up. This eliminates power losses and can further reduce fuel consumption by as much as 18%.
In order to keep the anaerobic digester fed, the new Volvo L110H will be put to work over two shifts per day working seven days a week loading raw material into the plant’s receiver. The resultant gas that is generated powers two CHP (Combined Heat and Power) engines developing a total of 2 Megawatts of electricity which is fed directly into the National Grid.