VOLK Electric Tow Tractors at the European Nuclear Research Center

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	VOLK Electric Tractors at the European Nuclear Research Center

Geneva, 29.06.2007 – It is a superlative project. On Europe’s largest building site, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator is currently being constructed near Geneva. In order to transport components with a weight of up to 30 metric tons to their destination over many kilometers in the narrow underground tunnel system, compact tow trucks from VOLK are used.

The aim is nothing less than to take a look at the beginnings of the universe. At the CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, the largest technical research system ever to be devised by humans is currently being built: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a gigantic underground particle accelerator which stretches from Lake Geneva to the French Jura mountain range on a ring-shaped path.

The LHC is due to be put into operation at the end of this




	VOLK Electric Tractor EFZ 30 NK

year. Hydrogen atoms, so-called protons, will then be accelerated in two pipes in opposite directions close to the speed of light and then allowed to collide head-on at defined points. In this way the scientists hope to simulate for a few fractions of a second the conditions which existed at the time of the Big Bang around 15 billion years ago. The research results will be recorded in four detector systems, which are accommodated in gigantic underground halls. The data thus obtained are then to be analysed by scientists all over the world over many years.

So much for the task the scientists of CERN have set themselves. But until the time comes, the construction and development engineers still have some work to do.

The various components are first transported about 100 meters under the earth’s surface via cargo cranes. Then they are pre-assembled in the four cathedral-like detector halls before being transported to their final destination through the narrow tunnels.

The 1.232 dipole magnets which have to be evenly distributed in the 27 km long ring-shaped system to keep the protons in their orbit during the experiments represent a special challenge. Every single one of these cylinder-
shaped magnets is 15 meters long and weighs at least 30 metric tons. This is a transport task which can only be handled by extremely compact and powerful electric tractors.

For tasks like this, the CERN uses VOLK Electric Tractors of type EFZ 30 NK. With their 20 KW AC asynchronous drive, they achieve a drawbar pull of up to 20.000 N and therefore can tow loads of up to 35 metric tons. With a length




	One of the dipole magnets in the underground tunnel system of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

	of only 2.50 meters, a width of only 1.25 meters and a turning radius of only 2.83 meters, they are ideally suited to use in the narrow corridors of the LHC. So that they do not get puffed out eventually in the kilo- meters of tunnels, the vehicles have a traction battery with an impressive capacity of 80 V / 560 Ah. “Our em- ployees sometimes jokingly refer to this vehicle as a traction battery with a front axle”, says VOLK Managing Director Dr. Matthias Baur, not without also smiling himself. While this sounds funny, the battery capacity has been a decisive criterion for the persons in charge at CERN. Most compact tow tractors on the market have a rather small battery capacity. And in the narrow corridors of the LHC, it would be quite difficult to recover a stranded vehicle with a flat battery.

		innovation@work^®