Motors/Drives

It was in 1816 that the Revd. Robert Stirling propounded the idea of a heat engine which he termed an ‘Economiser’ now universally known as a ‘Stirling Engine’. The operational concept is that it acted as a heat exchanger, retaining heat from the hot portion of the engine as air passed to the cold side, and released heat to the cooled air as it returned to the hot side and in the process converting energy to mechanical work, with near perfect efficiency.

Stirling engines were widely developed in the 19C until the advent of the electric motor superseded it. Modern versions of the engine are in existence, having been used for specialist civil and military applications. But the need for the development of alternative power sources and the availability of modern technology and materials have resulted in renewed interest and exciting developments in this area.

Bombardier Transportation has its global headquarters in Berlin, Germany with a presence in over 60 countries. It has an installed base of over 100,000 vehicles worldwide.

The Group offers the broadest product portfolio and is recognized as the leader in the global rail sector.Within the UK Bombardier has established a world class engineering maintenance and repair site based at Crewe, the historic railway engineering town established by the Midland Railway in 1839.

Steelmakers Corus (Port Talbot) had been experiencing problems with their 42” edger drive system. The existing gear units were only providing 41 rpm when a drive speed of 59 rpm was required. Added to this, Corus’ Area Engineer Craig Dummer stated that “they were experiencing heavy vibration and ultimately, damage to the gear units”.

When the gears failed, this left Corus vulnerable to transfer bar loss, due to large section gaps in the rollers preventing delivery of the slabs to the down stream process.Hansen were called in and provided a new split drive gear system running the rollers at 59 rpm. Craig Dummer confirmed that “as the Hansen solution was to split the drive,utilising a matched pair of gearboxes, it is now far more economical than the originalconcept with a larger, single gearbox”.

Softstart UK has recently completed the development of a new range of Digital Medium Voltage Soft Starters, designed suitable for all types of induction motors, including synchronous and slip-ring types. The new Digitstart range covers both 3.3kV and 6.6kV in ratings from 60A to 700 Amps and features a completely new programming and monitoring regime.  Clearly starting motors in this category needs well considered programming and sensitive protection.

This is all provided by the 8.1ins full colour industrial PC and facilitates invaluable trend data such as previous starting data such as time to reach full speed, starting current characteristics, power absorbed and much more. All of this data is available at the central control point via ModBus or Ethernet so all start, run and diagnostic data is available to the operator.  Important optional features such as withdrawable line and bypass contactors, switch fuse disconnects and grounding switches have all been catered for and despite the comprehensive design, lead time is just 6 weeks as opposed to the several months experienced in the past.

When BOC Gases Ireland decided to update the inefficient existing worm and wheel drives for their cooling tower fans in Cork and Dublin, the question of which supplier to approach was easily answered

Energy and fuel conservation has been one of the worlds most talked about topics for a number of years. Whether it be the need to conserve fuel and increase the MPG from your car, or simply turning off the lights and appliances when you go to bed to save energy, companies, organisations and governments the world over are all pushing efficiency initiatives and their green credentials. This drive has stimulated the growth of innovations for UK based manufacturer Midland-ACS.

Utilising research into the marketplace and assessments of client demands their new 70 series valve has been engineered to provide customers with higher flow rates, while at the same time consuming less power than both traditional solenoids and competitor valves alike.

The Schaeffler Group has launched a new range of synchronous linear motors that offer peak loads of 13,000N and deadweight of 45kg, ideal for use on large machining centres.

The Schaeffler Group has now extended its range of IDAM-branded direct drives technology with the launch of a new range of synchronous linear motors that offer peak forces of up to 13,000N and which achieve extreme guidance accuracies. 

Thanks to the engineering expertise at Tentec, Hansen Transmissions, one of the world

For process manufacturing companies, the replacement, repair, servicing and maintenance of electrical equipment that is located within a potentially explosive atmosphere, is often time consuming and costly.Today, around 65% of all electrical maintenance carried out is corrective action and 35% is preventive. With preventive maintenance, more than 50% of all apparatus serviced is not actually broken.

Before any electrical apparatus

The Huco Dynatork MS worm gearbox with integral torque limiter is a great product for safeguarding machinery and the people that operate it.  It stops rotation of the low-speed shaft whenever the stall torque exceeds the calibrated value of the internal torque limiter.  Of course, in the event of a power cut this safety gearbox effectively locks and in the majority of applications this is an appropriate consequence.  For others however it is a disadvantage.

Take for example a motorised factory door.  Whilst under normal circumstances the MS gearbox would ensure safe operation, loss of power can leave the door stuck open or closed.  And it is for applications such as this that Huco Dynatork has introduced the MRV50.LS safety worm gear box with disengaging torque limiter. A disengaging lever essentially provides a manual override so that, in our application example, the door can still be operated until power is restored.