Nord Drivesystems, the full-scale drive systems provider recently supplied Europe’s foremost supplier of shellfish products and clue muscles with a complete installation which was equipped to handle their aggressive manufacturing environment.
Fresh catches arrive in the factory and are put into large basins with a constant flow of salt water. This serves to keep the product in good health while continually rinsing it. The biggest challenge for component suppliers in this industry is the humid, salty atmosphere. The aggressive environment spells swift corrosion for all sorts of unprotected metal parts across the automation process.
Conventional cast iron geared motors had their first rusty spots within a matter of weeks and a life span of only a year or two. Even special coatings or varnishes can only partly offset the damage caused by the harsh environment.
Stainless steel drives didn’t qualify as a solution either as they proved to be costly and impractical because of the disruptive cooling off periods required before hose downs.
The nsd tupH from Nord Drivesystems provides a cost-effective solution to these problems. The aluminum drives can comfortably be washed down to achieve stainless steel grade resistance to corrosion.
The customer has begun the roll out of the nsd tupH systems to provide longer service life and the ability to function at optimal performance in the salty and humid atmosphere created by their production processes. The price of the aluminum drives is more expensive when compared to conventional cast iron units but studies have shown that the units will typically last the better part of 10 years in these harsh environments. When weighing up the total cost of ownership and the increased uptime combined with the reduction in health and safety hazards due to paint chipping which occur on conventional units, the decision was a no-brainer.
The nsd tupH provides physically ingrained protection. There is no application of a coating but rather a surface conversion that produces a base layer permanently bonded to the substrate. Based on an electrolytic process this treatment renders aluminum cases similarly unsusceptible to corrosion as stainless steel. The scratch resistant surface also becomes more than six times as hard as untreated alloy and a thousand times as hard as paint.
It offers a smart alternative to stainless steel. Lightweight, compact and self-draining, the nsd tupH system provides a cost effective and safe solution for the food industry.
The units are able to handle harsh wash-down chemical and cleaning agents including acids and alkaline solutions as well as high pressure cleaners.
The nsd tupH surface treatments are universally available for all NORD aluminum products unlike many stainless steel geared motor series which most manufacturers limit to a few types.
According to Nord Drivesystems Managing Director in Australia, Martin Broglia, the demand for nsd tupH has been unprecedented. “Customers are realising the benefits of using a unit which is so adaptable and long lasting. The price and weight comparison when compared to stainless steel, also count in favour of these units. We expect to see a greater market demand in the future. We stock and service nsd tupH locally,” Broglia concludes.
