InfraStructures - June/July 2019 - K-HEM | It Is the Age of Rightsizing

K-HEM | It Is the Age of Rightsizing

The Bauma trade fair is the beating heart of the construction industry. Each edition offers a glimpse of what is coming to the market in terms of state-of-the-art technology and latest developments.

In this context, Kohler is responding to the new demands of a constantly changing market for solutions that are more dynamic and flexible and greater focus on what customers really need. Kohler is expanding its range of hybrid solutions, ensure everyone can choose the best engine for their application.

Electrification refers to the design of a system running on electricity: in the construction industry, these can be hybrid systems or purely electrical systems. In the panorama of hybrid solutions, there is also a distinction to be made between series and parallel hybrids.

A series hybrid system simply converts chemical energy into mechanical energy, and this is converted in turn into electrical energy.

A parallel hybrid system can deliver mechanical energy, coming from chemical energy, at the same time as it delivers electrical energy, coming from a previously-charged battery pack. This offers the advantage of using mechanical and electrical energy simultaneously. The combination of the 2 types of energy is the main plus point of any parallel hybrid system.

The range of K-HEM hybrid units is based on the concept of a parallel hybrid system. This enables constructors to fit K-HEM units onto the hydraulic system of their applications, just like they used to do with internal combustion engines. Later, when they decide to re-engineer their machines in order to exploit the full benefit of running applications on electrical power, our engineers will be ready to support them step by step to design increasingly efficient machines.

After analyzing the market case by case, Kohler realized there is a series of applications fitted with over-dimensioned engines for specific features. Their operating cycles do not need all the power that the engine is capable of delivering, or does not need it all of the time.

Consequently, Kohler offers an alternative solution consisting of a KDI 2504TCR 55.4 kW (74 hp) diesel engine and a 48 V electric motor that guarantees 19.5 kW (26 hp) peak power and 9 kW (12 hp) continued power, and a high safety levels due to the low voltage. The new K-HEM 2504 hybrid unit offers an even more efficient DPF management making the regeneration processes fully transparent for the end user, as it is possible to exploit the temperatures reached to recharge the battery pack.

The modern and advanced DNA of the KOHLER KDI 2504TCR engine makes it the perfect partner for an electrical unit. KDI engines deliver a very high performance and the combination with electrical power can equal, if not exceed, the performance offered by higher-spec engines in terms of horsepower, as well as a smaller footprint.

Kohler hybrid solutions are not designed to offer just a simple downsizing, but to be part of a broader concept of the rightsizing of applications, namely choosing the right size – the most suitable size for each specific application.
Kohler offers equipment manufacturers a full range up to 105 kW (140 hp), which investigates different sources of energy that are increasing and diversifying as time goes by.

Hybrid solutions not only save OEMs the complexity of post-processing systems and add extra power, they also offer a range of possibilities. They can simply replace an internal combustion engine without worrying about installation problems because K-HEM units have the same integration with the hydraulic system or with the mechanical transmission as a diesel engine. Otherwise, the application can be re-engineered in order to make it more efficient – the current generated by the electric motor can run a series of actuators and guarantee more punctual and optimized management, leading to improved machine performance as a whole. Hybrid units guarantee the general optimization of machines and the possibility to store surplus energy in the batteries to be delivered when needed, drastically reducing running costs. The applications will enjoy the inherent flexibility of parallel hybrid systems, namely the possibility to run on mechanical energy, on mechanical energy plus electrical energy, or with electrical energy alone, soon available for the K-HEM range.

Source: Kohler Co.

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