In support of the new $225million multi-user public berth development at Port Hedland in Western Australia, leading drives solutions group, SEW Eurodrive has been appointed to design and supply the conveyor drive-assemblies for five load-out conveyors.
Located at Utah Point on Finucane Island at Port Hedland, the new berth is to be operated by the Port Hedland Port Authority and will have an annual capacity of around 17Mtpa. The load-out conveyor system comprises two reclaim conveyors, two transfer conveyors and a wharf conveyor—each of which will be driven by one of five SEW-Eurodrive drive-assemblies.
According to Bryan Brookes, SEW-Eurodrive Industrial Gear Product Manager -WA, the robustness and impressive torque ratings of the X-series industrial gear-units make them the ideal solution for mining and conveying applications such as this. “Every aspect of the X-Series has been engineered for this type of environment, from the precision of its gearing, the high quality of its sealing, strength of its housing, effectiveness of its cooling, and unsurpassed power/torque density,” he said.
The X-Series’ comprehensive torque-rating options also simplify the task of closely matching an industrial gear-unit to the drive application. “With competing gear-unit manufacturers offering fewer gear-unit models and torque-ratings, users often have no choice but to select an oversized unit to accommodate their drive application,” said Brookes. “The X-Series provides more models with finer torque-graduation, allowing users to select a model more closely matched to their needs. This means users are able to make savings in space, capital expenditure, operating costs, and in the structural supports that would otherwise be required for heavier units.”
The SEW-Eurodrive conveyor drive-assemblies destined for Utah Point will incorporate X-Series helical-bevel gear-units size 220 and 240, with output torque ratings from 112 to 156kNm. The assemblies, mounted on base plates, will also each comprise a motor (500 to 800kW operating power), brake and rigid flange coupling on the output shaft. They will be engineered at SEW-Eurodrive’s industrial gear-unit assembly centre in Melbourne, and the assemblies aligned and test-run at no-load at SEW-Eurodrive’s new Perth premises prior to shipping.