Its a tough job ... but somethings got to do it
Fitting inverters eliminates shock loading to reduce wear and tear
If you were deliberately designing a tough operating environment for motors, drives and couplings, you would probably end up with something like a recycling plant. Debris, fine particles of aggressive materials such as glass, and heavy loads are the norm, and conditions are hard on machinery. Yet many of the machines currently on the market are not built to the high standards required for long, trouble-free operation in these conditions. Which is why many operators - including one of the country's largest domestic waste recyclers - turn to ERIKS for technical support and know-how.
With the expertise and the products to overcome problems in every area of recycling machinery, ERIKS were the obvious choice for a major domestic waste recycler to call in to their plant in the West Midlands. Although they had a relatively new machine in place, the stresses and strains of the environment and the workload were proving too much for it, leading to frequent breakdowns and downtime. A team from the ERIKS Core Competence Centre for Drives identified the potential benefits of replacing the OEM gearboxes with Fenner brand products. These benefits included fewer breakdowns, lower maintenance, availability from stock, and a reduced inventory - with just 43 Fenner gearboxes from ERIKS covering 80% of the customer's requirement.
The customer was so pleased with ERIKS' quick, professional service that they now contact the local service centre for all their requirements, which - with comprehensive ranges of couplings, chain, inverters, and motors - ERIKS can easily satisfy. OEM couplings, for example, are fast-wearing items in recycling plants, usually due to lack of tolerance in their connections, and misalignment on installation. But replacing the factory-fitted spider couplings with Fenaflex Tyre Couplings provides more tolerance for a greater degree of misalignment, and therefore reduces the likelihood and frequency of failure, and increases service life.
Chains are another area of weakness within these machines. Fine particles such as ground glass and other debris cause high levels of wear both on sprockets and chains, and lubricants only help to attract and hold the particles in the places where they can do most damage.
In this kind of environment the Renold Syno Chain is an effective alternative, as its lube-free design means it not only requires no lubrication maintenance, but also won't attract or harbour damaging particles. In addition, the sprockets supplied by ERIKS are manufactured to a far higher standard than OEM sprockets, being induction-hardened for greater resistance to wear.
One component not fitted to waste handling and recycling machines by OEMs is an inverter - yet by eliminating shock loads they can help to minimise wear and tear and increase the life of the machine. Fitting inverters to conveyors, which frequently start up fully loaded, can be particularly cost-effective. Retro-fitting by ERIKS enables machines to be ramped up and ramped down, as well as offering complete speed control.
Finally, a crucial component in the machine - and one which can deliver substantial sustainability benefits - is the motor. With the introduction in June of the first phase of the EU Minimum Energy Performance Standard for electric motors, motors of designated sizes manufactured in, or imported into, the EU must now be compliant with the IE2 efficiency level of this legislation. So naturally, all ERIKS electric motors are now IE2 as standard, and upgrading to an IE2 motor for your waste recycling equipment will increase energy efficiency, reduce costs and improve sustainability. However, ERIKS go one step further by also offering IE3 motors - not yet demanded by the legislation - which provide correspondingly greater energy efficiency, cost savings and sustainability.
The sustainability benefits are not sufficient to justify changing a motor before the end of its service life. But they are certainly impressive enough to warrant an upgrade to an IE3 version from ERIKS - currently sole suppliers of these motors for recycling machinery - next time you need a replacement.
Clearly, with the right components it's possible to greatly reduce breakdowns and downtime of this kind of plant, and increase service life. But what's also required is identification of the areas where improvements and upgrades will have the greatest sustainability and cost benefits, so that you can select the right replacement components, for the maximum advantage from the minimum inventory. Which means you need a supplier to give you the right, impartial, advice.
That's a tough job, but ERIKS can do it.