Successful deployment on innovative all-electric demolition site

Erlangen in Franconia is home to a very special building site: On the site of a former administrative building, two buildings with a surface area of around 3300 square meters are being demolished. The extraordinary feature: All vehicles and machines from excavators and wheel loaders through to the crushing plant are operated electrically. This is probably the first fully electric demolition site in the world.

No diesel, no exhaust gases, hardly any noise. Instead, electric motors hum quietly, powered by a specially constructed power infrastructure. An all-electric impact crusher MOBIREX MR 100 NEOe from Kleemann is used for materials processing on site.

“In our eyes, the crushing plant differs significantly from others – especially with regard to its low starting currents,” reports Michael Metzner, Managing Director of Metzner Recycling and Site Manager on this project. “This feature was a decisive factor in choosing to deploy the plant.”

Infrastructure as the key

In order to implement the idea of an “electric construction site” that arose during the ongoing project, the energy supply first had to be expanded. “We had to set up a new transformer station, underground cables, and charging stations,” says Michael Metzner. Although basic power was available on site, it was not sufficient to operate all machines simultaneously. The power supplied is green electricity from the Erlangen municipal grid. Our aim is to leverage the potential for reducing carbon emissions on our sites compared to conventional demolition sites by using electric machines and recycling materials on-site. And, on top of this, that noise and particulate emissions on site can be significantly reduced.

Ready to go immediately and significantly quieter

The electric impact crusher offers advantages not only in terms of emissions, but also with regard to handling: “As soon as you push the button, all functions go live and the plant is ready to go,” says Tony Heimann, machine operator at Metzner Recycling. The MR 100 NEOe goes on-line immediately without a warm-up phase. There are no breaks for refueling or topping up the DEF. This saves time, reduces the risk of accidents and makes logistics on the work site easier. At the same time, the noise level is significantly reduced, which is a big relief not only for local residents but also for employees working on the site. Machine operator Tony Heimann uses SPECTIVE CONNECT for plant control and monitoring: “It‘s a great help. I can also see from a distance how many tons we have produced, or how high plant utilization is. In the event of malfunctions, I can forward fault and error codes directly to other employees via the app.”

Efficient Processing, High-Quality Final Product

The MOBIREX MR 100 NEOe impact crusher at the site processes a recyclable mixture of bricks, concrete, asphalt and cast concrete with feed sizes of 0 to 300 millimeters. The result is a pure grain mixture. “The material produced has a lower content of fines than from other impact crushers known to us. That significantly improves its recyclability,” says Michael Metzner. The produced fractions – 0–4 mm and 4–16 mm – can be used, among other things, as aggregates for new concrete. The goal is the direct re-use of around 96 percent of the mixed rubble. Important and helpful special equipment at the crushing plant includes a wind sifter and a magnetic separator.

Insights for the future

“We gained a lot of valuable experience over the last few weeks – particularly with regard to the all-electric drives and the power supply for the machines,” says Michael Metzner. Kleemann sales representative at Wirtgen Deutschland, Michell Blasczyk, confirms: “We were able to demonstrate that the plant can be seamlessly integrated into on-site workflows despite other equipment such as excavators or wheel loaders being connected at the same time.”

It’s a Loud Wake-Up Call for the Industry

Demand for all-electric crushing and screening plants is increasing, especially in urban environments. The potential benefits are clear: lower emissions, less noise and fewer material transport movements thanks to the re-use of the recycled material on the site. “We see this as the future of the construction industry,” Michael Metzner concludes.