The drives are being delivered for three different conveyor systems. The first drive system has two 220kW drives, while the other two have three 360kW and one 300kW drives, respectively.

The drive systems form part of the OEM’s X Series, covering torque ranges from 6.8kNm to 475kNm. The selection of predefined accessories available for the X Series allows for flexibility in catering for diverse mining applications.

Rudi Swanepoel, head of projects at SEW-Eurodrive, commented: “A special requirement on this project was the extremely short delivery time, placing us under tremendous pressure to have the first drive system assembled and on the mine by the beginning of March.”

The tight timeframe was due to the fact that the mine has specific shutdown periods for proactive maintenance requirements. In order to facilitate the schedule, the complete drive systems were assembled at SEW-Eurodrive’s Nelspruit branch and transported directly to the platinum mine.

Delivery of the drive systems for the second conveyor system is scheduled for April, and for the last conveyor system in May, for which the gear units are being airfreighted especially from Germany to meet the deadline.

The X Series industrial gear units feature high- and low-speed couplings, motors and base plates. These preassembled units can offer cost savings and reduced downtime, as the power pack is supplied with the input coupling shaft with the alignment already carried out, the company explained.

Combined with the above-mentioned shaft alignment, in general there are only two interfaces that need to be fitted.

Nearly any mounting position or shaft arrangement on a driven machine can be implemented. A reversible gear unit housing also facilitates variable installation.