Low-maintenance and compact gearbox designs from Bonfiglioli will enhance the efficiency of the new Geelong Port Corio Quay wood chip ship loader.
The project – being completed this year by the Tenova SEMF/ McConnell Dowell joint venture – incorporates new generation Bonfiglioli conveyor drives, slew drives and shuttle drives in a facility that will more than double throughput capacity to 1.5 million tons a year for the next 20 years.
Bonfiglioli supplied some of its low-maintenance, locally engineered heavy duty technology, including its latest HDO drives for conveyor actuation, featuring 110kW motors integrated into alignment-free (AFD) gearboxes that allow motors to be quickly installed and easily replaced with minimal downtime.
The new HD AFD drives, stocked and assembled in Australia, are part of Bonfiglioli’s expanding range of Australasian-engineered mounting options for heavy duty materials handling applications, including mining and energy, mineral processing and primary processing.
AFD drives offer an alternative to laser-aligned baseplate types and allow the use of close coupled IEC B5 flange mounted motors up to a 315 frame size.
The HDO 100 drives specified for Corio Quay incorporated hollow shaft torque arm mounting for compact easy servicing. Bonfiglioli also offers shrink disc or solid shaft with rigid coupling for easy removal as required.
The gearboxes’ internal holdback feature is ideal for inclined conveyors, preventing rollback of material and enhancing operating efficiency and safety, says Bonfiglioli Transmission Australia Managing Director Malcolm Lewis.
He says the AFD drives complement Bonfiglioli’s Hi Torque drives and offer quick, trouble-free assembly and maintenance of high speed components including fans, fluid couplings and brakes.
Bonfiglioli also supplied Corio Quay with W110/315 worm/planetary slew incorporating hydraulic motor adaptor and multi-disc brake for the positioning of conveyors for loading. The very compact drives, capable of very low speed, use 938:1 gearing to provide 130,000 Nm demand torque.
The Trasmital 300 series planetaries employed at Corio Quay are compact and yet extremely torque dense. The project also incorporates 30kW A-series shuttle drives with hollow output shaft and shrink disc for easy removal.
“The drives engineered for Corio Quay showcase the power, flexibility and range of Bonfiglioli technology now available in Australia for heavy duty materials handling applications,” says Lewis.
Bonfiglioli’s HD drive series is a totally new generation of large industrial gears resulting from more than three years development to produce outstanding reliability and torque densities to record values, says Lewis.
They feature excellent torque distribution across their entire ratio range, with gear ratios laid out in close progression and the drives having a rugged capacity to cope with the shock and impact of intermittent loads.
HD AFD models can save both time and money in a range of applications because there is no need to use a baseplate or have to laser align the motor and gearbox shafts.
In addition to reduced initial costs compared with traditional baseplate designs, the HD AFD configuration enhances serviceability by permitting high speed components to be removed and replaced without the need for re-alignment. Applications include conveyor drives, shuttle drives, bucket elevators, inching drives and other materials handling equipment.