Caterpillar has introduced the outcomes of its prototype demonstration mission for a battery-powered discipline elevator with Flory Industries, a specialist within the manufacturing of nut-harvesting gear.
Accomplished through the fall harvest season within the Central Valley area of California, the sphere check efficiently confirmed how a 600-volt battery-powered powertrain can ship the efficiency, reliability and sturdiness at present offered on this software by a traditional 74-horsepower diesel engine whereas decreasing upkeep and working with zero tailpipe emissions.
Supported by Holt of California, the native Cat supplier, the prototype was examined over seven weeks within the almond and walnut orchards in California, with one web site being Heinrich Farms, a 1,200-acre crop farm based mostly in Modesto. Right here, the unit operated a whole 10-hour workday on a single cost, loading 422,000 lbs of nuts into trailers all through the check.
To beat the constraints of being off-grid, Heinrich Farms totally recharged the electrified discipline elevator in a single day throughout non-working hours utilizing the Cat XES60 Compact ESS cellular battery vitality storage system, which offers as much as 56.8kWh of capability.
“The electrified discipline elevator from Flory was dependable and unloaded our harvest as quick as standard gear powered by diesel engines whereas producing far much less noise,” says Jerad Heinrich, orchard supervisor for Heinrich Farms. “It lasted a whole day of labor with out stopping for a recharge, and we’re keen to make use of it once more for our subsequent harvest because the know-how continues to progress.”
The mission was the primary presentation of a prototype machine by a third-party OEM utilizing Caterpillar’s battery-powered resolution. Based mostly on the optimistic outcomes of the demonstration, Flory plans to supply pilot items to pick out clients later this 12 months, with full manufacturing anticipated in 2026.
“The elevator is an ideal software for electrified machines because it sits idle for a lot of the workday,” says Tyler Hupp, product growth supervisor for Flory Industries. “This collaboration was a chance to indicate our dedication to delivering superior applied sciences to our clients that enhance efficiency sustainably.”
Discipline elevators are utilized for harvesting all tree nut crops, which embrace almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, macadamias and pistachios. Used for transferring nuts into trailers or stockpiles, discipline elevators can course of wherever from 50,000 as much as 250,000 lbs. of nuts day by day through the fall harvest season.
Usually, discipline elevators powered by diesel engines spend about 80% of their obligation cycles at low idle in between masses, which accounts for about 45% of their whole gas consumption. These lengthy durations of non-productive operation interspersed with the necessity for instantaneous energy make the elevator a perfect goal for electrification.
By changing the normal engine with an electrified powertrain, the brand new system can get rid of as much as 126 lbs. of carbon emissions per machine within the discipline every day whereas eliminating diesel gas buy, transport and storage prices and decreasing ambient noise for close by staff.
With the help of the XES60, the sphere elevator was in a position to work off-grid through the day and be charged in a single day.
Caterpillar supported the mission by evaluating system necessities, optimizing system architectures, managing system controls growth, calibration, and verification and performing closing system validation.
Engineers built-in the batteries with inverters, motors, digital controls, digital companies and different vital applied sciences in a power-dense resolution that addresses frequent consumer considerations whereas demonstrating the quite a few advantages.
The electrified powertrain featured Caterpillar’s new prototype battery, which makes use of lithium-ion know-how and incorporates a modular design to spice up efficiency whereas minimizing packaging. Caterpillar is creating a variety of batteries for the off-highway trade.
Holt of California utilized its particular information of Flory’s gear structure and obligation cycles to supply day-to-day engineering, integration and testing help.
Flory engineers coordinated the demonstration mission from the Flory Industries’ headquarters and growth centre in Salida, California, with help from Caterpillar and Holt of California’s groups situated within the Sacramento space. Flory has specified Cat diesel engines for powered gear all through its fleet of agricultural gear since 2002. The corporate at present makes use of US EPA Tier 4 Closing Cat engines for self-propelled harvesters, shuttle vehicles, elevators and brush shredders.
The battery-powered elevator is designed to be configured with Cat Join, enabling gear homeowners and Cat sellers to remotely monitor efficiency throughout operation and charging cycles. This intelligence can then be leveraged to enhance productiveness by optimizing in-use and on-charge processes.
“We’ve gained priceless insights from working with Flory to use our information of electrification and high-voltage techniques to the difficult environments of working California farms,” says Steve Ferguson, senior vp of Caterpillar Industrial Energy Programs. “This mission demonstrated how Caterpillar is efficiently aligning with fellow innovators to develop applied sciences that maximize the efficiency and reliability of electrified machines at real-world worksites. Caterpillar can present clients with entry to the total ecosystem of parts to insights and the charging infrastructure.”
