Cool auxiliary power solution from Liebherr

Liebherr is offering a new auxiliary power unit (APU) for its LR crawler crane series to power the operator cabin's air conditioning.

The APU allows the operator to turn off the engine and remain in a temperature controled environment. This saves the crane owner money on fuel, service costs and operating hours, said the manufacturer.

Liebherr estimates that up to four gallons (16 litres) of fuel per hour can be saved by switching off the main engine and only using the APU for cabin climate control. If a crane is run idle for 50% of the time, the savings can total 4,000 gallons (16,000 litres) of fuel a year.

With operating hours halved, service intervals are lengthened and the amount of maintenance required is also halved. This reduces costs further and also cuts the downtime, explained Liebherr.

The APU runs off an 11 kW Hatz diesel motor, much smaller than the 270 kW or 450 kW diesel engines used to power the LR series, produced at Liebherr-Werk Nenzing.

The APU is integrated into the machinery house, designed into the machine, and secure from the possibility of damage.