08 August 2008
The planetary gearboxes were provided by Brevini and replaced ‘varatio strateline’ gearboxes that had begun to fail on two half bridge scrapers.Using its range of planetary gearboxes, Brevini designed a drop-in solution that allows any standard motor to be directly mounted onto the gear units so the gearboxes can be installed straight into any existing system.Jon Snaith, general manager of Brevini, visited the site to develop a planetary solution to meet the criteria of the STW and bring the site up to date. Planetary gearboxes are capable of producing large reduction ratios (they can reach 15,000:1) meaning that they are suited to driving large slow moving rotors. Producing up to 800kNM of torque the gearboxes are able to create the same power as large ‘worm and wheel’ gearboxes despite being smaller, often 60 per cent lighter than their equivalent. Brevini gearboxes have a lifetime of more than 100,000 hours when they are in constant use, keeping maintenance down to a minimum.The gearboxes are smaller than conventional ‘boxes, so are driven by a smaller motor, which reduces running costs. Each stage has three planetary gears, mounted on two rows of needle roller bearings. This reduces point pressure and internal friction in the gears and means that Brevini gearboxes run at 98 per cent efficiency per stage. For many applications in the water industry gearboxes need to be able to survive working continually in harsh conditions. With features such as twin taper roller bearings and extremely high torque ratings, they are capable of surviving in conditions where other transmissions fail. Jon Snaith said: ‘The compact, rigid design of our planetary gearboxes makes them ideally suited to applications within the water industry where very often the drivers are working 24/7 and need to be extremely reliable.’
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