The Influence of High Operation Platform Mode on U-Shaped Automated Container Terminal Efficiency

Improving operational efficiency and reducing energy consumption are common objectives for all ports. In previous research by authors, a new high operation platform mode was proposed. It had been proven to reduce energy consumption and be economically feasible. On this basis, this paper studied the influence of high operation platform mode on automated container terminal (ACT) efficiency. This paper took U-shaped ACT as the research object, put forward the operation characteristics of U-shaped ACT under high operation platform mode, and constructed the operation time model of high and low operation platform mode respectively. This paper took 30 containers at the same bay as an example to calculate and verify. The computational results shows that when V_{v}^{1}/V_{h}^{1} is above the V_{v}^{1}/V_{h}^{1}-\alpha curve, the operation time of high platform mode is shorter, and the operation efficiency of ACT is higher ( V_{v}^{1} represents the speed of spreader with container vertically moving; V_{h}^{1} represents the speed of spreader with container horizontally moving.); when V_{v}^{1}/V_{h}^{1} is under the V_{v}^{1}/V_{h}^{1}-\alpha curve, the shortening time of quay cranes operation is greater than the increasing time of yard cranes operation, so the overall operational efficiency of ACT is still improved. Therefore, high operation platform mode can improve efficiency of ACT.