We put all our passion for technology into developing the best solutions for our customers. Do you need advice about a specific application?
Location:
Santa Rosa, Texas (USA)
Sector:
Sugar industry
Application:
Modernization of a sugar cane mill
By activating the zip code search, data is transferred to the USA by Google. For more information, see our privacy policy.
End customer: Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc.
Location: Santa Rosa, Texas (USA)
Industry: Sugar industry
Application: Modernization of a sugarcane mill
A complete overhaul of the outdated drives would have been very costly and would have offered little benefit in terms of power rating and plant productivity. This was followed by the replacement of the mill’s inefficient steam turbine drives.
We refined our XP Series industrial gear units —a high-performance three-stage planetary gear unit optimized for use in sugarcane mills. The XP series meets all requirements for sugarcane crushing, such as high torque, strong shock absorption, and low rotational speed. This makes it particularly well-suited for sugarcane crushers and diffusers. The XP series has already proven its reliability in several hundred installations worldwide.
In combination with our two-stage speed reducer, the planetary gear unit of the XP series from SEW-EURODRIVE provide a field-proven modernization solution for outdated drives in sugarcane mills.
As the project progressed, SEW-EURODRIVE’s engineers and service technicians provided expert guidance and hands-on support during disassembly, site preparation, installation of the new drive system, and the alignment phases.
Prior to startup, SEW-EURODRIVE conducted vibration, foundation deflection, and alignment analyses. True to its strong reputation in the industry, SEW-EURODRIVE successfully completed the tests—so successfully, in fact, that we decided to take it a step further.
For the sugar industry, powerful drive technology is the key to a smooth processing of sugar cane. Sugar cane is mainly cultivated in the Caribbean and in the USA. Heat and dirt are the major challenges in these areas. The requirements imposed on gear units are high. In addition, sugar is an aliment and must be processed with the required hygienic care. The failure of a drive is very expensive for operators and should be prevented by all means. Retrofit and Condition Monitoring are valuable possibilities for minimizing the risk of failures..
The drive technology used by the sugar producer Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers was quite old. Therefore it didn't operate reliably any longer. This is why the out-dated gear units have been replaced with modern and efficient planetary gear units and speed reducers by SEW‑EURODRIVE. Not only has the factory been modernized, but also the costs for operation and maintenance have been reduced.
When the Rio Grande plant was modernized, plant manager Mark Nittler first had to exchange the inefficient steam turbine drives of the mill. A complete overhaul of the out-dated drives would have been very expensive and without any particular advantages in regard of performance and plant productivity.
SEW-EURODRIVE was able to offer the necessary know-how to Nittler so that he could successfully modernize the plant – covering all steps, from the system construction to installation and final analysis.
By activating this video, Youtube will transfer data to the USA. More in our privacy policy.
"I’ve been really impressed with the expertise. Whenever we need something spec’d out we give you guys a call, they come up with a very good solution. We put it in and it’s been very reliable. And that really impressed me. They would send people in from all over the world to come check this. Anyway, they have no issues.," recounts the satisfied plant manager.
As the project progressed, engineers and service technicians from SEW‑EURODRIVE were always there to help our customer with disassembly, site preparation, installing the new drive system, and alignment phase.
"The replacement costs were roughly th same as the costs for the overhaul for one of our other drives – with the installation costs of exchange drives already included. But so far we’ve only been in there 2 months, but I guess time will tell," Nittler adds.
SEW was here and gave us quite a bit of assistance with the install, engineering-wise. They came in and inspected what we did and verified that it would – in their opinion – would hold up.Mark Nittler, the plant manager at Rio Grande