DRIVES & CONTROLS
Evertz says the interest to work with gear solutions , also in the very high-power range , has increased very much . " Due to continuous improvement of the gear technology , we are now able to offer our customers the highest performance and availability at affordable costs ."
The company recently announced an expansion in Western Australia with a new state-of-the-art facility in Tonkin Highway Industrial Estate in Bayswater . It is now the only OEM facility on the West Coast with a 1.5 MW test bench capable of testing complete drive systems up to a voltage of 6.6KV . " It is very important for the local market in Australia , especially in the western part . There is a large installed base in the Western Australia mine sites and new projects are expected . So , an assembly and service facility was essential to service the installed base and increase Flender ' s market share . Western Australia is a key market globally in the minerals and mining space and this investment is a critical part of executing our independence strategy and investing in being close to our customers . This also shows our long-term commitment to the mining industry ."
Concluding , Evertz stated : " We continuously aim to maintain our technological leadership and to extend our leading position . Above all , we try to be not only a gearbox specialist for our customers , but also an application specialist who knows the exact requirements of our product and translates them into the individual solution . Partnership-based cooperation with our customers and highest reliability of our products are our concept for success .”
Bonfiglioli ' s travel and track drives
Roberto Antonaci , O & K Global Sales Manager at Bonfiglioli says with its brand O & K it covers almost all track , slew and winch applications in the mining market but is specialised in track and slew drives for mining excavators , bucket wheel excavators , crushers and feeders as well winches in drilling machines and some other special applications . " Thanks to the long history in the mining sector of O & K we can benefit of all the experience the company had as machine producer in this market and support our customer in the right selection of the drives . Our gearboxes are extremely robust and reliable thanks to the forged steel structure and the tight tolerances that allows to transmit the highest torque in the most compact diameter ." The range of products covers all applications up to the largest 1,000 ton mining shovels . Bonfiglioli says it works very closely with the OEMs to support them with customised solutions and says this is fundamental especially in large mining drives where the needs of the OEMs are extremely different . " We are also developing , together with our customers , a condition monitoring system . This system increases the productivity of the machines thereby reducing TCO for our customers . This is possible thanks to optimised maintenance programs , where early fault detection is critical in increasing reliability as well as lowering operational and maintenance costs and reducing downtime ."
Bonfiglioli also says it has been investing for many years in electrification and has long experience in the production of e-motors & application of e-mobility for the industrial segment and is well placed to serve this
growing market in mining .
IM construction applications that leverages Dana ’ s leading portfolio of vehicle electrification technologies .
Designed for underground mining trucks , large wheel loaders , and reach stackers , the e-Hub Drive integrates proven heavy-duty Spicer ® axle expertise , Dana Brevini Electrified™ planetary drive designs , TM4 ® electric motor technology , and Dana ' s advanced control expertise into a single package that delivers efficiency , reliability , and performance .
“ The ultimate measure of hybrid and electric technologies is their ability to meet the rigorous performance expectations of off-highway vehicles at the work site ," said Christophe Dominiak , Chief Technology Officer for Dana . " This e-Hub Drive illustrates how rapidly and effectively Dana has capitalised on our strategy to produce hybrid and electric propulsion solutions that perform in the harshest work environments anywhere in the world .”
Q Do autonomous underground machines place unique demands on underground machine electric drives ? A Dana already supports autonomous vehicle operation in the mining industry . Without a person at the controls of an autonomous vehicle , diagnostics & analytics are critical for perceiving issues that previously would have been felt by the operator , and reliable telematics are needed to communicate performance remotely . “ Operating environments in mining are often challenging – especially underground – so it is imperative to consistently harvest and analyse data from the vehicle to ensure safety , reliability , and performance ,” said Jeroen Decleer , Vice President & General Manager Mobile , Europe for OH Drive & Motion Systems . “ We leverage data and telematics to communicate a consistent , accurate , and real-time picture of the vehicle remotely to deliver optimal performance .”
“ The greatest challenges in the development of autonomous vehicles are safety and data management . Since most autonomously operated equipment spends at least part of the duty cycle in a mixed environment with workers , safety is paramount . Additionally , autonomous vehicles provide opportunities to reduce the specifications for equipment since comfort and shift behaviour are much less important considerations when an operator is not present .”
Q Dana solutions are very well known in underground mining but in the surface mining market are there any drive technologies or solutions that you would highlight ?
The Dana Spicer Electrified™ with TM4 ® e-Hub Drive is a fully integrated , electro-mechanical system for heavy-duty mining applications
A The Dana TM4 ® IPM On-Engine Generator breaks new ground by opening new vehicle architecture capabilities for off-highway hybrid applications where space constraints previously impeded hybridisation or engine downsizing . Currently available for field testing , it offers improvements over competing technologies with respect to overall performance , physical packaging size , features , and flexibility . Utilising interior permanent magnet motor construction and a concentrated wound winding architecture , the Dana TM4 ® IPM On-Engine Generator offers increased performance and power density . Weighing up to 70 % less than competing generators that use traditional motor construction methodologies , it is suitable for applications including telehandlers and other small to mid-sized off-highway vehicles with IC engines . It also integrates directly onto engines by either coupling directly to the engine crankshaft or via a mechanical integrated clutch system , which eliminates the need for a costly electromagnetic clutch .
Dana is also supporting surface mining screeners and crushers with full hybridisation . Work on the Terex / Dana TM4 ® Powerscreen Hybridisation has encompassed compact IPM technology for motion and operations system encompassing the feeder drive , screen drive , engine and generator , discharge conveyors and controllers .
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020 | International Mining 73