At September’s Asia-Pacific International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) in Sydney, SEW-Eurodrive released an important new addition to its industrial gear unit range. Named the Mining Drive, it is a large gear unit in a thermal housing, set to make a significant reduction to energy usage in heavy industry through the lessening of thermal losses. SEW-Eurodrive Industrial Gears National Product Manager, Ian Tribe, says this drive will fill the need for heavy-duty applications with high-transmitted loads, such as those in mining, mineral processing and quarrying processes. “This industry needs energy saving measures as much as the next, maybe even more-so,” he said. “Heavy industry as a rule requires machinery with more torque and more power, hence requiring larger amounts of energy to run their facilities. The Mining Drive will provide a significant increase in thermal ratings, driving down heat losses and reducing overall energy consumption.”
Tribe explained that along with a purpose-designed cast-iron housing, the new drive incorporates several internal energy reducing features that are selected specifically for each application, depending on the operating conditions. “These features result in less heat to be dissipated by the housing,” he said. “The special housing is then designed with larger dimensions and extensive ribbing on both sides and underneath in order to dissipate the heat that is generated more effectively.”
Combined with an axial fan and further efficient internal devices, the Mining Drive will make significant increases on thermal ratings previously only achievable by gear units fitted with complex oil pump and external heat exchanger systems. “Not only does this create a more energy efficient drive, but the achieved lower running temperature leads to further advantages such as longer oil life and safer surfaces to touch. All-in-all the Mining Drive will be an ideal solution for more demanding applications.”
Available as a standalone gear unit or as part of a complete drive assembly (including gear unit, motor, drive base and guardings), the Mining Drive is based on SEW-Eurodrive’s “X Series” industrial gear unit, with identical internal gears meaning that spare parts are shared across the standard “X Series” range. “This is sure to create savings in terms of economies of scale and numbers of spares necessary to be kept by the user,” says Tribe.

Email:  sales@sew-eurodrive.co.nz