Energy-Efficient Airport Baggage Handler from Crisplant

Crisplant, global supplier of automated baggage handling systems, is to work in partnership with BCS Conveyor Solutions, provider of airport, security and baggage-handling IT systems, to install Australia’s first so-called “green” baggage handler at Melbourne International Airport.

Based on the Crisplant LS-4000E tilt-tray sorter, and scheduled to be operational from December 2010, the new baggage-handling system aims to help Melbourne to increase passenger capacity whilst minimising their impact on the environment. The LS-4000E uses a “revolutionary new motor technology” to achieve a 75% reduction in energy consumption compared to conventional sorters. This will help Melbourne International Airport to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and support energy-reduction initiatives, says Crisplant.

Crisplant will install two LS-4000E sorters with a total length of over 500 m in addition to seven inductions and 38 chutes, to provide a total design capacity of 5,400 bags per hour. The sorters will include Conveyability Kits (Con-Kits), which increase system availability by reducing the gap between sorter trays, to minimise the risk of baggage straps or other irregularities becoming trapped between the trays.

As the main service provider for the baggage-handling system and operations at Melbourne International Airport, BCS Conveyor Solutions will supply the associated conveyors and the high-level controls for the system.

Crisplant airport director, Henrik Mortensen, explains, “The modular design of the LS-4000E sorter allows it to be easily integrated into virtually any baggage-handling system. This allows airports to use the industry’s most energy-efficient sorter to achieve the crucial trade-off between increasing passenger numbers and reducing their carbon footprint.”