Mechanical Technology February 2015

⎪ Materials handling and minerals processing ⎪

ultimately better suited to this application. “The Cat C18 HEP engine is designed to power the locomotive completely and no ad- ditional generator sets are required, thus saving space and cost,” explains Venash Raghunanan, industrial sales manager at Barloworld Power in Boksburg. “The Cat C18 is a six cylinder inline engine delivering 525 kW (703 HP) at 1 500 rpm. For many years Caterpillar has been designing rail powering engines which have proved successful in a wide variety of conditions and applications around the world, ” he points out, adding that Cat engines traditionally perform well in this type of rugged, continuous operation. The collaborative project to find the perfect power solution resulted in some minor changes to the Cat C18 to suit Grindrod’s needs and the company placed an order for six engines with Barloworld Power. All models of Grindrod’s Genset Locomotive will be offered standard with the Cat engine supplied by Barloworld Power in the future. Raghunanan adds that while Barloworld Power works with other OEMs in the rail sector, powering up new locomotives and providing replacement engines, the collaboration with Grindrod has provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the capabilities of this purpose- designed and built Cat engine. “We look forward to partnering with Grindrod and its customers in ensuring that the locomo- tives have long and productive lives. Our parts availability, condition monitoring and fluid analysis services, engine rebuild capabilities and strong after sales team throughout southern Africa will be critical for providing after sales support wherever it is needed.” “We believe the opportunities for movement of commodities by rail, both within mining opera- tions and to ports and beneficiation plants, will form a significant and exciting part of Barloworld Power’s future together with Caterpillar in south- ern Africa.” q

Leone, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The com- pany’s selection of a customised Cat C18 engine as standard in the Genset Locomotive was based not only on the proven Caterpillar technology but also on the ability of Barloworld Power, the southern African dealer for Cat power systems, to support it. A joint solution Barloworld Power’s relationship with Grindrod Locomotives began some three years ago when two stationary Cat generator sets were ordered from Barloworld as part of a pilot project to drive a 60 ton shunting locomotive. A joint initiative between Grindrod, Barloworld Power and Cat- erpillar led to a subsequent decision to change to the head end power (HEP) engine that was

A line drawing of the current GS7 three-axle locomotive.

Mechanical Technology — February 2015

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