Zest Electric Motors & Drives received an order for the largest slip-ring motors ever to be installed by the company on a project in Africa. The three 6,5 MW, 6 pole, 11 kV motors are destined for Aquarius Platinum's Everest South Project.
Chris Chryssoulis, of Zest Electric Motors & Drives, says that in keeping with current trends in the mining industry, two of the motors will be installed while the third will be used as a standby unit.
Prior to receipt of this order, the largest motors to have been installed were at Impala Platinum's Marula Project. These 4,6 MW, 6 pole, 11 kV WEG slip-ring motors were specifically built for the ball mills at this mine, and are electrically and mechanically interchangeable with similar motors already in use by the Impala Group. This, Chryssoulis points out, was to reduce the capital cost of holding a spare motor at the mine.
The WEG slip-ring motors will incorporate the patented automatic brush lifting device which limits brush wear and carbon deposits that can cause flashovers. Chryssoulis says that the control of this device is fully interfaced with the scada system. The mill drive motors will be witness tested under direct load conditions at WEG's manufacturing facility in Brazil. Zest Electric Motors & Drives is the sole importer of WEG electric motors and drives in sub-Saharan Africa. The company operates a network of branches and distributors throughout the region.
For more information contact Chris Chryssoulis, Zest Electric Motors & Drives, +27 (0) 11 723 6000, www.zest.co.za
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