For the first time in its history, drives and automation specialist, SEW-EURODRIVE will be exhibiting at the Mining Indaba at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) from 9-12 May 2022.

Johannesburg, South Africa – On its return to the CTICC, the Mining Indaba is looking forward to a reunion like no other. Under the overarching theme: ‘Evolution of African Mining: Investing in the Energy Transition, ESG and the Economies’, the mining community will be invited to look to the future by finding new strategies to deal with challenges and transform the industry.

This is an ideal first theme for SEW-EURODRIVE SA, which is in the process of transforming the local drives and automation segment with its new 26 000 m2 factory in Aeroton, Johannesburg. The new facility houses the company’s head office as well as its massively expanded assembly, warehousing and repair facilities for geared motors and industrial gearboxes, as well as the company’s variable speed drives (VSDs) and servo motors, which will be assembled in a purpose-built clean electronics assembly area.

New Generation X.e Series IGs

The flagship SEW-EURODRIVE product for the mining industry, the new Generation X.e Series of industrial gear (IG) units will be the first product to be assembled in this new local facility.

X.e Series IGs have been purpose designed to be more robust, reliable, efficient and easier to maintain, making them ideal for the harsh environments of the African mining industry. The number of possible torque/speed combinations and fine-size graduations have been significantly increased to make the X.e series easy to customise to precisely meet the needs of applications such as mine conveyors or mill drives. A number of additional modular features and options, such as motor adapters, backstops, various sealing and shaft systems and many more, also add to ease of use and reliability of X.e Series systems.

SEW-EUREODRIVE’s segmented girth gears

On the mill drive side, the use of the new X.e range in girth gear applications has become the global standard where drive reliability and flexibility with respect to speed and control are critical to secure maximum uptime and optimum grinding efficiencies.

SEW’s segmented girth gears comprise precision-manufactured individual segments that simplify handling, transportation and onsite assembly of these very large open gears. This allows these systems to be more easily shipped to site in standard containers, while also simplifying onsite assembly, which can be done far more quickly and with much less lifting equipment.

And while these girth gears are key final-stage components of mill drives and rotary scrubbers, SEW-EURODRIVE supplies total mill drive solutions and power packs , which typically includes the large electric motors, two-stage industrial gearboxes (IGs) and the external pinions to drive the girth gear, all of which are designed and manufactured locally by SEW-EURODRIVE to best suit the milling application in question.

P-series planetary IGs

For high torque mining applications such as bulk materials handling systems and apron feeder drives on conveying systems, SEW-EURODRIVE’s planetary P-series series IGs can be coupled with primary bevel-helical gear units to offer compact and cost-effective solutions with high thermal ratings.

P-X series planetary units combined with proven X series industrial gear units offer all the advantages of two ground-breaking industrial gear unit concepts. The special optimisation of the gear unit housings and the shared oil chamber for both gear units ensure very high thermal ratings; horizontal, vertical or angled mounting position are possible; while increased load bearing capacity means that even heavy motors can be flange mounted.

Due to simple installation and alignment, in combination with high operational reliability, maintenance costs and total costs of ownership can be significantly reduced, offering extraordinary economic advantages.

DriveRadar® predictive maintenance

Further supporting mine equipment reliability, SEW-EURODRIVE has also recently releases its DriveRadar® predictive maintenance management solution into the local market. DriveRadar® automatically records and analyses digital operational data from industrial gear units and uses it to track equipment condition in real time and predict performance changes. It enables mine operators to plan maintenance and repair activities predictively so as to avoid undesirable and unnecessary system-wide failures.

The local assembly advantage

SEW-EURODRIVE’s new local assembly capability will offer South and Southern African clients massively reduced lead times for replacement drive units and complete drive and power packs, which will result in better support for the local content requirements embedded in the Mining Charter.

The typical lead time for imported large industrial gearboxes by most gearbox OEM’s can range anything from 18 to 24+ weeks or more. Once SEW-EURODRIVE’s assembly plant is complete and operational, it will be able to assemble most common modular designs locally at capacities of approximately 5+ per week.

Final drive assemblies when all components have been received from sub-suppliers will see numbers achieved of approximatelt 10+ units per week.

A bold step that demonstrates the company’s commitment to supporting South Africa’s localisation initiatives.

To view and find out more about these and many other advanced SEW-EURODRIVE drive and automation solutions for the mining industry, come to the Mining Indaba at the CTICC from 9-12 May.