Crisplant — a leading global supplier of automated baggage handling systems — will work in partnership with BCS Conveyor Solutions, a global provider of airport, security and baggage-handling IT systems, to install Australia’s first baggage-handling system to be based on the industry’s most energy-efficient ‘green’ sorter, in 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 will help Melbourne to increase their 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.
Supporting growing passenger numbers was a key driver for installing a new baggage-handling system: as one of the first Australian airports to be equipped to handle the A380 passenger aircraft, Melbourne has seen continued growth in passenger numbers, with almost 7 million passengers passing through the airport in the last quarter alone, representing growth of 8% on the same quarter last year. This growth combined with the need to continue to provide fast accurate baggage-sorting was at the heart of Melbourne International Airport’s decision to choose Crisplant’s LS-4000E tilt-tray sorter.
Crisplant will install two LS-4000E sorters with a total length of over 500m 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.”