MechChem Africa June 2018

⎪ Products and industry news ⎪

Bucket elevator transmission solution

mendedfurtherimprovementstoenhance efficiency and reduce downtime for the customer. “Shortlyafterwards,we secured theorder throughour authoriseddistribu- tor, Bearing House.” The customer requested SKF to in- crease the capacity of the elevator from 60 tph to 100 tph. Odendaal explains that this presented the challenge of accommo- dating theupgrade in the existing elevator casing while meeting a minimum safety factor of 14 for the chain. “We consulted with our team in Singapore who suggested a chain design which we had previously used success- fully in Vietnam. This particular design presented us with the perfect solution providing an even higher than required safety factor.” After SKFdid the necessary inspection of the bucket elevator, they proposed a full power transmission solution complete with modified sprockets and a new chain and buckets. SKF’s solution included a special pitch relief designon the sprockets for improvedchainengagement, theuseof segmented sprockets to facilitate replace- ment of teeth, hardened teeth for longer wear and life, and a stronger mounting design for the buckets. www.skf.com

Industry leader in bearing and rotating technology, SKF, has provided a complete power transmission solution for a long-

standing key customer, one of southern Africa’s foremost cement suppliers who had been experiencing problems with a bucket elevator over a protracted period. The additives that this bucket elevator handles are exceptionally abrasive and sticky materials such as natural and synthetic gypsum, limestone and slag. Frans Odendaal, SKF product manager for power transmission explains that the machine already started giving problems in 2016 as to costly unplanned downtime. “At that time we conducted a survey andmade a few recommen- dations based on the existing chain condition. A fewmonths later, inApril 2017, the customer decided to not only replace the existing chain but to simultaneouslyupgrade thebucket elevator,” explains Odendaal. In addition to the upgrading of the bucket elevator within a result of inappropri- ate chain selection for the particular applica- tion, which was leading

the requested require- ments, SKF also recom-

SKF provides complete power transmission solution to longstanding key customer.

36 ¦ MechChem Africa • June 2018