According to sales, demand from the African mining market, but mostly West Africa, has increased for drive and automation specialist SEW-Eurodrive’s M-Series vertical industrial gear unit designs for conveyor and agitator applications.

After being in production for 30 years, the M-Series industrial gear units continue to be specified by original- equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for mining applications in Africa. The company supplies 40 to 50 M-Series vertical gear units a year to OEMs working on projects on the continent.

Considering that most mining projects in Africa are based in remote locations with limited access to resources, SEW-Eurodrive projects department head Andreas Meid highlights that the M-Series is a tested design that can easily be maintained by staff on site. “Our OEM customers are looking for reliable products. I can comfortably say we have not had issues with these units,” he emphasises, adding that the efficiency, competitive costing and availability of the M-Series are also attractive to clients.

Meid notes that improvements are continuously made to SEW-Eurodrive’s products to ensure they are fit for the rugged operating conditions of Africa. Consequently, SEW-Eurodrive intends to introduce a replacement product for the M-Series, but has not yet brought it into the African market, as it is still testing the product to ensure it meets the continent’s needs.

Growth Factor

“We foresee considerable growth in demand coming from mines in the rest of Africa, through our OEMs,” compared with demand from the South African mining market, which is hindered by uncertainty, owing to the controversial third iteration of the country’s Mining Charter and upcoming 2019 elections.

Looking at the rest of Southern Africa, Meid says Zimbabwe presents opportunity for SEW-Eurodrive. The country’s mining industry was given a boost by government’s favourable mining policy changes in December 2017, when it scrapped its controversial Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act that limited foreign shareholding in mining ventures to 49%.

Although, Meid tells Mining Weekly that the company has not received any orders for Zimbabwe mining projects, it has had enquiries for SEW gear units in conveyor and agitator applications. “We have heard of projects in Zimbabwe that may receive the go-ahead next year, but the market is still volatile. Nonetheless, we are actively looking at the country.”

In East Africa, the company’s Tanzanian branch actively visits projects to gauge whether there is a need for SEW-Eurodrive’s offering, complementing the efforts of its representative in Kenya.

But it is in the West and Central African mining sectors, where Meid says SEW-Eurodrive’s clients are actively trying to secure business, owing to the substantial increase in mining activity. A big focus for the company is, therefore, to support OEMs in doing so.

Meid notes a marked increase in activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Central Africa, owing to demand for copper, with the red metal also driving developments in West Africa along with gold.

In August, SEW-Eurodrive supplied five M3PVSF80 vertical industrial gear units within five months of being ordered by an OEM for the expansion of an existing plant at a West African mine, where SEW M-Series gearboxes are already in use.

The gear units were supplied for agitator drives procured to rotate large agitator blades at the mine’s minerals processing plant. Meid explains that the gear units supplied are suited to this application, as they can cope with the high axial and radial forces acting on them, with some of the agitator shafts being up to 10 m long. “The gearboxes are designed to handle those forces without any issue.”

Supplied with shaft-end pumps, SEW-Eurodrive also included extended bearing distance to accommodate the loads of the application, with the client specifying the need for a 100 000-hour bearing life requirement.

In addition, when specifying the gear units, the company had to consider the temperatures and humidity levels the products would be subjected to during operation in West Africa, where temperatures reach 40 ºC and humidity levels are up to 70%.

“We had to fit an external air-oil cooler to cool the unit to accommodate the high ambient temperatures and humidity, which is a standard offering,” says Meid.

Though, should a client require assistance on site, SEW-Eurodrive has a dedicated field service team that can travel into Africa for added peace of mind to the customer. “But, the gearboxes are easy to maintain, with maintenance being a matter of changing breathers, oil filters and oil on an annual basis,” highlights Meid. Operating and maintenance manuals are also supplied in any language specified by the client.

About the Product

As “M” stands for modular, the company says the M-Series is based on this idea both in terms of design and economy, making for economical use of the available space.

Supplied in nine sizes, the M-Series has a torque range from 53 000 lb-in to 1.6-million lb-in along with high-torque transfer capacity and finely graduated torque. Delivering high power density and high thermal ratings, the gear units offer a modular platform, extensive predesigned options and accessories, and a split-case design for ease of maintenance. With both vertical and horizontal gear unit designs available, SEW-Eurodrive says its M-Series is suitable for various applications.

The lubrication system of the gear units can comprise a shaft-end pump or motor pump, depending on the requirements of the application. The shaft-end pump is specified when pressure lubrication is needed, and a motor pump is unpreferable.