MechChem Africa November-December 2024

⎪ Hydraulic, pneumatic and automation solutions ⎪

plications are interchangeable, transfer able and reprogrammable. This modular approach keeps everything very simple. Our keypads, for example, can be fitted onto any of the drive units should param eters or software need to be changed, due to application changes or if repurposing the unit,” Strydom assures. “Everything is modular and a lot of the hardware com ponents overlap as well. The software can be transferred and all of the separate modules can speak to each other,” he adds. MOVIDRIVE Technology, he continues is the most intelligent of the standalone SEW-EURODRIVE inverter drives. “Our MOVIDRIVE Modular can handle up to 64 different axes. It is not a standalone VSD, but a modular solution with one power supply and separate axis modules that can be combined to control up to 64 axis. On the other hand, the simplest and most cost effective solution for a single moving axis is the MOVITRAC unit. “If complex functionality is not really needed, such as for a VSD application on a single pump motor, then MOVITRAC offers the most cost effective solution. Application successes Historically, SEW-EURODRIVE’s elec tronics range has been very successful in automotive, food and beverage, bottling, and packaging applications. “Wherever the movements of items on a conveyor need to be controlled, such as bottle clean ing, filling, sealing and packaging lines for soft drinks, wine or beer, for example, our drives are likely to be driving and synchro nising the activities to get the line moving as fast and efficiently as possible. Here we typically use the decentralised portfolio of MOVIGEAR or MOVIMOT units to drive the line, with a MOVI-C Controller com municating with and synchronising each decentralised unit,” he says. “Previously, a master controller or PLC would have been needed to manage these processes, but not anymore,” he adds. On the mining side, he describes a recent success at a chrome smelter: “The smelter uses an exceptionally slow very high torque steel conveyor system to carry ferrochrome into the furnace. A dual electric drive system is used to drive the pulley of this conveyor, with a planetary gearbox on either side of the pulley. “The customer wanted to replace one of the planetary drives with an SEW P-series equivalent, but the reduction ratios were not identical. Since these units deliver more than two million Nm of torque, they had to be perfectly synchro nised to prevent them from destroying the pulley. So we used a MOVIDRIVE modular

solution to do multi-axis speed control of the two systems, which ensures perfectly synchronised rotation of the pulley and even torque distribution. To demonstrate the synchronisa tion capability of the range at Electra Mining Africa, SEW-EURODRIVE set up two working demonstrations. The first involved a reversing pulley belt drive with a drive at both ends. Interconnected MOVIMOT units were used to drive the two pulleys, with the torque seamlessly switching between the motors to keep the belt tension above the pulleys and the slack below, regardless of the belt’s direction of rotation. The second system used a MOVIDRIVE modular solution with three axis modules to drive one linear and two rotating shafts. As the linear drive moved the two shafts together, the angular positions and rotat ing speeds automatically synchronised so that two pins on the one shaft could lock

into two mating holes on the other, turning on a light when engaged. This regardless of the initial speeds of either shaft. In addition to the units themselves, Strydom highlights the use of an SEW EURODRIVE developed a hybrid cabling solution that enables both communica tions and electrical power to be carried to each interconnected unit through one cable, which significantly simplifies instal lation times and complexity. “From a basic conveyor to a very complex automatic machine or produc tion line, our MOVI-C range, along with associated SEW high-efficiency motors and gearmotors, always enables us a to find and optimal solution,” says Strydom. “The range offers end-to-end modular automation that includes all the necessary hardware and software, from planning and startup to operation and servicing,” he concludes. www.sew-eurodrive.co.za

SEW-EURODRIVE’s MOVIMOT units have the inverter drive clipped directly onto the motor, which enables them to be flexibly deployed in both horizontal and vertical configurations across packaging or assembly lines.

A

B

A: A MOVIDRIVE modular solution with three axis modules driving and synchronising one linear and two rotating shafts. B: A reversing pulley belt drive with Interconnected MOVIMOT units seamlessly switching to keep the belt tension above the pulleys and the slack below.

November-December 2024 • MechChem Africa ¦ 27