Bhutan, Costa Rica, Germany, Albania, Italy, South Africa – these are just a few countries where plant operators rely on the technical know-how of Austrian Braun Maschinenfabrik GmbH.

The product range of the hydraulic steel engineering experts covers trash rack cleaning machines in a variety of designs. From large-scale to small-scale power plants, Braun has the solution to all requirements and application needs.

Braun Maschinenfabrik, based in Vöcklabruck, Upper Austria, has been engaged successfully in the fields of hydraulic steel engineering and the construction of trash rack cleaning machines for over 50 years. In a business area that is constantly growing, Braun offers individual solutions to power plants of all sizes with a comprehensive product range. Braun’s portfolio covers conventional cable winches, hydraulic telescopic arm trash rack cleaners, fully automatic cleaning machines with articulated arms that are movable along tracks, as well as all usual types of trash rack cleaners. Braun’s largest trash rack cleaning machine with an articulated arm is employed at the Sohlstufe Lehen power plant in the center of the city of Salzburg. This machine is a showcase project in its own right as the parameters for dimension and total weight have broken many in-house records.

Larger – farther – heavier
The trash rack cleaning machine with an articulated arm is a tool that moves along tracks and consists of a traction and a rotary drive. The balance weight, the booth, the switchboard and the hydraulic power unit are assembled on the rotating upper operating console. The main arm has a total length of 14 m and a weight of 5 tons and is also attached to the upper operating console. The cleaner rake is attached together with the grabber to the lower end of the 12.3-m-long articulated arm. During the cleaning process the rake tines of the cleaner rake enter the fine rack. At this stage the grabber is open and will not close around the collected debris until it reaches the water surface. The grabber bottom is ro-tatable and is put into the initial position during the cleaning process. After the cleaning process is completed the grabber bottom on the upper end of the rake is slewed all the way up. The collected debris falls into the rake through this “spooning-like motion”. Then the grabber closes and the trash rack cleaner moves to the container. During the emptying process the grabber bottom is slewed all the way down and the debris falls out of the rake. In this position the grabber is securely holding on to debris of any size.

Between 2009 and 2014 many other extra-large trash rack cleaning machines with articulated arms were ordered by the German energy suppliers EnBW and LEW/BEW for equipping various power plants on the Danube and the Neckar River. An extraordinarily large unit is used at the Knochendorf power plant on the Neckar River. Braun designed a tailor-made unit with a cleaner rake breadth of 3.4 m. The complete cleaning breadth amounts to 30.6 m. The machine moves in both directions along tracks of a length of 39 m. The trash rack cleaner, which was installed by company experts, is designed for the fully automatic execution of 9 different cleaning positions. Trash rack cleaners with articulated arms have been part of the product portfolio of the Upper Austrian hydraulic steel engineers since 2005. Braun has built an excellent reputation in the field of trash rack cleaners and has been successful with countless plants around the world.

Small design – huge output
For some years now smaller hydropower plants have benefited from Braun’s experience in the planning and execution of cleaning devices for large-scale plants. Because of the increase in orders by small-scale hydropower plant operators, Braun’s engineers have adapted their collected know-how of large-scale projects onto smaller power plants. The results are tailor-made telescopic arm trash rack cleaners offering the most reliable cleaning performance and an excellent cost-performance ratio, just as their “big brothers” do.

The telescopic cleaners were first used in 2012 in Upper Austria, at the inlet channel of the small-scale hydropower plant of Ludwig Hatschek AG, where the old, worn-out traveling screens had been replaced. The conclusion for the operator, one year after the cleaner was put into operation, is that the functionality of the telescopic arm trash rack cleaners is absolutely identical to that seen in larger plants. During fully automatic operations it keeps the protective rack, which is located at the inlet, free from debris and in this way contributes considerably to an undisturbed and smooth operation of the power plant.