Sunward launches full range of extended range electric drill rigs
Last week, Chinese heavy equipment brand Sunward unveiled unveiled a new class of rotary drilling rigs that combine electric drive and actuation with onboard range-extending generators – bringing smooth, low-vibration performance to projects just about anywhere.
Rotary drilling rigs like these are used to bore deep foundation piles for everything from bridges to high-rise buildings, enabling the sort of massive urban mega projects that allow so many cities in Southeast Asia to make Manhattan look like Tulsa. As such, rotary drilling rigs like Sunward’s new SWDM 420E, 520E, and 620E are among the most critical machines operating on a major modern construction site. And that modern site? It may not have access to grid power.
That’s where things get tricky. Electric drive brings quieter operation, lower costs, and smoother, more precise performance – but it also assumes these sites have reliable access to grid power, and that’s not always true. That’s where the Sunward’s on-board generators (quite literally) kick on.
In practice, that means the big SWDM machines operate like extended-range hybrids, running on battery power with energy recovery systems in place to harvest wasted energy and an internal-combustion engine to generate kW when the batteries are depleted, offering exactly the sort of flexibility that Sunward’s customers have been asking for.
The combination of electric drive and reduced noise emissions makes the rig suitable for use in urban areas with strict environmental regulations. At the same time, the range-extended capability enables deployment in remote construction sites where electrical infrastructure may be limited.
The company reportedly claims an overall energy savings of 5–10% at the system level compared to conventional diesel, with more efficiencies gained through multi-motor synchronization and transient load buffer control – technical words that mean reduced mechanical stress on the machine, itself.
Building big
The new Sunward SWDM 620E has an operating weight of 200 tons, a maximum 620 kNm (a ridiculous ~457,000 lb-ft) of torque, along with a drilling diameter of up to 3,500 mm. All those specs make the biggest of the new Sunward machines perfect for drilling the massive bridge foundations typically associated with China’s high-speed rail infrastructure.
Those reduced stresses and vibrations also contribute reduced wear and tear on the machines, further reducing downtime and total cost of ownership (TCO).
Sunward Machine rolled out the new machines at a rain-soaked event in Changsha, China last week, where the rigs took their place alongside Sunward’s broader range of ICE- and electric-powered construction equipment.
Sunward launch event
SOURCE | IMAGES: Sunward Machine, via Int’l Construction Equipment.
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