SEW Eurodrive puts the drive back into SA’s platinum industry
SEW Eurodrive Nelspruit branch Sales Manager Jonathan McKey says that even though South Africa saw a general decrease in the amount of work coming from the platinum sector; SEW Eurodrive has still maintained their workload as clients are starting to realise the benefits of the company’s modular system and countless combination options.
McKey says that this is evident in SEW Eurodrive’s market share: “Since entering the South African platinum mining market in 2005, SEW Eurodrive has managed to secure the large portion of market share of industrial gears and geared motor solutions in the platinum industry” explains McKey.
He adds that SEW Eurodrive products are being applied to all facets of mining ranging from industrial gears that drive a mine’s conveyor system to the geared motors behind the mine’s processing plant. “The platinum industry specifically has been applying SEW Eurodrive products and solutions to a vast range of applications, including incline belts, as well as strike and overland belts. The vast selection of geared solutions range from 25Nm to 475kNm, while the selection of variable electronic speed drives vary according to kilowatt and voltage requirements,” he explains.
McKey points out that SEW Eurodrive has long been involved in the mining industry and as such understands the wide range of tasks that need to be performed economically; and with modularity and reliability as a priority. Furthermore, SEW Eurodrive’s gearboxes, systems and technology are designed and built to withstand the extreme ambient conditions, high torque loads and long service life demanded by the South African platinum mining industry.
SEW Eurodrive’s range of helical, parallel shaft helical, helical-bevel, Spiroplan and planetary gearmotors offer power levels from 0,06 to 200kW with torque from 25 to 500 000Nm, combined with closely-spaced power steps.
McKey points out that the gearmotors can be complemented by Movidrive drive inverters and Movitrac frequency inverters.
Speaking on trends within the platinum industry, McKey points out that both new and existing clients are starting to realise the benefits associated with proactive maintenance versus reactive maintenance. “Clients are starting to realise that a proactive system of maintenance and condition monitoring produces a higher level of reliability. As a result, many clients have begun adopting SEW Eurodrive’s DUV10A diagnostic unit, which makes use of vibration analysis for preventive maintenance,” explains McKey.
The DUV10A diagnostic unit is the ideal sensor for the monitoring of anti-friction bearings. McKey says that SEW Eurodrive started fitting these units to many of its industrial gear power packs in order to monitor the condition of the gearbox‘s bearings at each gear stage. SEW Eurodrive also offers a DUO10A sensor unit, that monitors both the oil temperature and oil change intervals within SEW Eurodrive’s gearboxes.
McKey explains that the DUV10A diagnostic unit measures the structure-borne noise and uses this value to calculate the frequency spectrum. The unit uses this frequency spectrum to constantly evaluate the condition of the anti-friction bearings. The structure-born noise sensor and evaluation electronics are fully integrated in the diagnostic unit.
Looking ahead, McKey says that SEW Eurodrive will not only maintain high levels of service to the platinum industry but will also continue to make greater inroads into the chrome, coal and gold mining sector within South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ends.
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