Long Beach terminal operators switching RTGs to power system

Long Beach terminal operators switching RTGs to power system Long Beach Container Terminal has placed a second order with an Orange County manufacturer for a high-tech system to cut fuel use and reduce emissions from rubber-tired gantry cranes at the Long Beach terminal.
   LBCT purchased two REGEN system RTG retrofits in December 2007 and the new order will convert the terminal's remaining four RTGs to the system.
   The REGEN system, manufactured by Yorba Linda-based Vycon, utilizes a flywheel system to recapture electrical power generated by the cranes' diesel engines during the lifting of containers. This generated power is normally dissipated while the crane operator lowers a container or brakes the crane mechanism. The Vycon system shunts this previously lost electrical power to a storage system that utilizes a high-mass flywheel that rotates in a vacuum chamber on near frictionless magnetic bearings. The power is stored as long as the flywheel continues to spin and can be redirected back to the crane's main lifting motors, reducing the amount needed to be generated by the RTG's diesel engines.
   According to Vycon, the system significantly reduces the load to an equipped crane's diesel generator, thereby cutting fuel consumption by up to 25 percent and reducing diesel emissions by more than half.