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News
and Press Releases
Cerritos-based company sells fuel-saving device to port crane operators.
By Kristopher Hanson, Staff writer
As appeared in Press-Telegram 11/06/2006
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LONG BEACH - This is one small business that may
just be in the right place with the right product at
the right time.
A small Cerritos company is marketing a flywheel
device to port crane operators that claims to save
fuel, reduce dangerous emissions and improve
efficiency and power.
With high fuel prices, public pressure to clean portgenerated
emissions and the always-present effort
to streamline operations, shipyard managers are
taking a close look at VYCON Energy and its new
machine.
The $150,000 flywheel regenerator works by
capturing kinetic energy wasted when a crane lowers containers. The regenerator
uses that energy during lifting operations.
By supplementing power to the crane's diesel motor, the high-speed magnetic
flywheel conserves fuel up to 25 percent while reducing the level of toxic
emissions spewing into the air as much as 67 percent.
Inventors say it pays for itself within a few years, has a 20-year lifespan and
requires little maintenance, if any.
Despite its enormous potential at shipyards, the flywheel device only took off in
recent months.
"In the U.S., fuel is still relatively cheap, so we were spending a lot of time in
Europe and Asia selling the system for its fuelsaving
benefits," said Octavio
Solis, a VYCON product manager.
"Then the ports made the decision
to get serious about air pollution,
and we stepped up to prove we
can help in that area, too."
Pottery to ports
Invented by a group of curious
electrical engineers, VYCON's "Regen" flywheel system is a
cutting-edge version of an ancient
system.
Flywheels, or pottery wheels, were used to make pottery in Egypt during the
reign of the
Great Pharaohs and later helped fuel steam engines
during the Industrial Revolution.
Still in use, the pottery wheel is a spinning round
surface, usually powered by a foot pedal, on which
clay is shaped into ceramics. The simple concept
works by permitting the energy stored in the wheel
to be directed to where it's required - the point
where the potter's hand meets the clay.
In the 1990s, VYCON employees began tinkering with
a much more complex flywheel using a magnet
motor/generator, magnetic bearings and integrated
control mechanisms.
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Octavio Solis, the product manager
for VYCON, talks about the REGEN
system, an energy storage device
attached to this RTG crane at the
ITS Terminal in the Port of Long
Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Press-
Telegram)
The VYCON REGEN system is an
energy storage device that
attaches to RTG cranes similar to
this at the ITS Terminal in the Port
of Long Beach. (Scott Smeltzer /
Press-Telegram)
The VYCON Regen is an energy
storage device attached to this
crane at the ITS terminal in the
Port of Long Beach. (Scott
Smeltzer / Press-Telegram)
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To beat the competition, engineers had to develop a
working flywheel capable of recharging every minute
without overheating - making it practicable for
machines with heavy cycles - like trains and cranes.
On cranes, the flywheel works by capturing energy
from AC hoist motors regenerated when the motors
are used as brakes during lowering cycles.
Typically, that regenerated energy is directed to the
crane's resistor banks, where it's wasted as heat.
With VYCON's Regen, the power is directed to the flywheel, which works in sync
with the diesel motor to provide peak power during lifts.
It took about four years for the system to be perfected and ready for market,
said Louis Romo, VYCON's vice president.
"We basically worked on it for free those years because we knew there was a big
potential market for these systems if we got it right," said Romo, an electrical
engineer by training.
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VYCON Energy
Location: Cerritos
Founded: 2002
Executive: Toni Aoun, president/CEO
Business: Flywheel regeneration and UPS systems adaptable to power grids, shipyard cranes and trains.
Employees: 23
How the flywheel works: The
flywheel captures a machine's
wasted energy (such as during
braking) and uses it to supplement
the machine's main motor.
System dimensions: 5,200 pounds, 64 inches high, 63 inches wide, 59 inches deep
Web site: www.vyconenergy.com. |
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The system was first sold to supply temporary power
to hospitals during power outages. The company's
flywheel regenerator replaced or complemented a
hospital's battery backup power.
The system proved
valuable because it didn't need to be replaced every
few years and didn't present the environmental
problems lead batteries pose.
During a visit to an Italian port, a VYCON engineer
realized the technology's potential for the giant
cranes used to lift cargo containers onto trucks and
trains.
"We realized with these cranes there was a lot of energy being wasted during
lowering and braking and that could be captured in the flywheel and used during
lifting," said Romo. "Our guy kind of stumbled upon it."
Earlier this year, flywheels were installed at two terminals in the ports of Long
Beach and Los Angeles, where commissioners are jointly pushing to replace old
technologies with environmentally friendly equipment.
In their draft "San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan," both ports set a goal of
reducing emissions by 50 percent within five years.
The ports' 400 shipyard cranes are responsible for a small but growing
percentage of overall emissions.
Together, the sprawling port complex is listed as the single largest fixed source
of air pollution in the Los Angeles Basin, according to the South Coast Air Quality
Management District.
Port cranes can reach heights of 80 feet or more and work around-the-clock
loading and unloading containers from trucks, trains and ships as often as once a
minute.
Worldwide, there's an estimated 8,000 shipyard cranes in use, with numbers
growing by the month.
Growing market
Needless to say, there's a big market for VYCON to tap.
"For a young company, we're well-positioned with two products to serve the
market," said Tony Aoun, VYCON president and CEO. "We've done some good
things positioning ourselves in the past couple years."
In Long Beach, the regenerator was mounted on an existing Rubber Tyred Gantry
crane used to load and unload containers from trucks at the ITS Terminal. A
regenerator was also mounted on an RTG crane at the Port of Los Angeles'
Evergreen terminal.
"The device is pretty darn seamless, it doesn't affect steering or maneuverability
and actually increases handling," said Chris Rapp, ITS director of maintenance
and repair. "Our ultimate goal here is to reduce emissions. We want a green
facility, but we also want to reduce fuel costs and maintenance costs, and this
helps in all three areas."
VYCON's own emissions testing, performed by a third party, shows it reduces
particulate matter 66 percent, nitrogen oxides 26 percent and hydrocarbons 23
percent.
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The California Air Resources Board is currently
testing the product as well.
Outside local ports, the regenerator's dual benefits
are being used at seaports from Great Britain to
Hong Kong.
In Europe, where diesel can cost $7 a gallon or
more, its fuel-saving capabilities are a key selling
point.
In the United States, where diesel is about $3 a
gallon, the flywheel's environmental benefits are
the hot ticket.
The company has about 25 flywheels currently in
production at its 40,000-square-foot Cerritos
facility.
"Sometimes businesses are overly criticized for
spending money on clean technologies, but I think
we're one of those companies that make economic
sense and environmental sense," Aoun said.
12880 Moore Street
Cerritos, CA 90703
Phone: +1-562-293-1360
Fax: +1-562-293-1361
E-mail: worman@vyconenergy.com
Website: www.vyconenergy.com
Contact: Wendy Orman |
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