SEW-EURODRIVE MACC gear units keep power station cool

<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20230307/1678175812335088.png" title="1678175812335088.png" alt="4.png"/></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Recently installed in a&nbsp;power&nbsp;station, 24 of&nbsp;SEW-EURODRIVE’s MACC-Series two-stage gear units for air cooled condensers are ensuring adequate air movement to cool circulating&nbsp;water&nbsp;so that&nbsp;power&nbsp;generation can continue.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This cooling function had become a challenge for the&nbsp;power&nbsp;station when the previously installed competitor&nbsp;products&nbsp;had repeatedly failed unexpectedly.&nbsp;SEW-EURODRIVE&nbsp;had installed these MACC units over the past few years, and their reliable operation has led to a request to supply several additional units. According to&nbsp;SEW-EURODRIVE&nbsp;Business&nbsp;Development Representative Quintin Bianchina, the&nbsp;design&nbsp;is specific to this demanding application.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br/></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“Comprising a gearbox and long output shaft that attaches to a fan via a hub, these MACC units also boast a thicker, more rigid cast iron&nbsp;housing&nbsp;than a standard gearbox,” explains Bianchina. “The radial and axial loads transmitted by the fan are substantial, requiring a suitable&nbsp;design&nbsp;that will withstand these forces.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br/></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">With the fan in operation, there is both upward and downward thrust as well as forces to the left and right. The flat topography and climatic conditions around the&nbsp;power&nbsp;station also exacerbate the situation, especially on hot days when air moves rapidly up the cooling towers. The gearbox,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bearing-asia.com/products/catalogue.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 112, 192); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 112, 192);"><strong>bearings</strong></span></a>&nbsp;and shaft must be designed and manufactured to accommodate these forces while continuing to operate reliably.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br/></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“This application is, in fact, so challenging that the customers’ existing&nbsp;equipment&nbsp;was not coping with the demands,” he says. “We were able to offer our world class&nbsp;engineering&nbsp;solutions&nbsp;to develop the MACC09 model – the largest version in this range – which has proved fit for purpose under these arduous conditions.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The noise levels are an additional factor in this application, and the quiet MACC units ensure that they do not exceed maximum limits; the customer monitors the noise to check compliance. Heat build-up in the gearbox must also be dissipated, so the&nbsp;design&nbsp;includes cooling ribs to increase the&nbsp;surface&nbsp;area. This&nbsp;design&nbsp;enhances the cooling significantly on the gear units.&nbsp;SEW-EURODRIVE&nbsp;also offers a low noise axial cooling fan as an option, for enhanced thermal improvements.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br/></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Another vital aspect of the&nbsp;SEW-EURODRIVE’s MACC’s features is the&nbsp;maintenance&nbsp;safety&nbsp;brake on the high speed input section of the gearbox. This can be applied to bring the fan safely and easily to a standstill under wind milling conditions when&nbsp;maintenance&nbsp;is required.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“Due to their size, these fans do not otherwise stop turning once they start – due to the natural upward airflow into the cooling tower,” he says.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Since&nbsp;SEW-EURODRIVE&nbsp;has recently built a new and expanded facility at Aeroton in Gauteng, the assembly of these MACC units can be done locally. Enlarged stockholdings of&nbsp;components&nbsp;means that the turnaround time will be drastically reduced.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“Rather than the usual 30+ weeks to import this&nbsp;equipment, we expect to assemble and deliver these in batches within 8 to 12 weeks,” says Bianchina. The MACC series is designed and tested by&nbsp;SEW-EURODRIVE’s centre of excellence for these&nbsp;products&nbsp;in Finland.</span></p><p><br/></p>