The X Series is quickly establishing a footprint in Africa, as it is the preferred industrial gear unit specified by drive engineering specialist SEW-Eurodrive for the mining industry, says the company.

SEW-Eurodrive head of projects Rudi Swanepoel notes that the completion of a project for a Limpopo-based platinum mine in May represents “a revolution” for SEW-Eurodrive’s successful introduction of the X Series.

SEW-Eurodrive boosted productivity at the platinum mine by supplying three complete drive systems equipped with X Series industrial gear units for three conveyor systems within six months.

Swanepoel says the first drive system has two 220 kW drives, while the other two systems comprise three 360 kW drives and a 300 kW drive respectively.

“A special requirement of this project was the extremely short delivery time, placing us under tremendous pressure to have the first drive system assembled and at the mine by the beginning of March,” Swanepoel says. The project had a staggered delivery schedule, structured in accordance with the scheduled maintenance of the conveyor system at the mine.

To facilitate the schedule, the complete drive systems were assembled at SEW-Eurodrive’s Nelspruit facility and transported directly to the platinum mine.

The delivery of the second drive system took place in April, with the last conveyor system delivered in May.

The preassembled units provide significant cost efficiency and reduced downtime, as the power pack is supplied with the input coupling shaft, with the alignment already carried out, Swanepoel explains. The company aligned the separate parts to produce a complete drivepack.

Besides the shaft alignment, there are only two interfaces that require fitting, says Swanepoel, adding that, if all the civil work is carried out correctly, rapid on-site installation and commissioning can be facilitated to the benefit of the client.