Siemens supplies biggest gearless conveyor drive system
Siemens has supplied the world?s biggest gearless conveyor drive system to the Cuajone Mine in Peru which is operated by the Mexican mining company Southern Copper Corporation (SCC). The modernisation project will entail the installation of a new gyratory crushing and conveyor system by 2016. The belt conveyor will replace a railway system currently used to transport the ore out of the mine to the processing plant. The Integrated Drive System (IDS) used to power the world?s highest-powered gearless conveyor system with an output totaling 12,000 kW is being supplied by Siemens. Not only does the gearless drive enable efficiency to be increased by 3 per cent, it also cuts down the necessary maintenance work and associated costs, as wearing parts such as couplings, motor bearings and gearboxes are no longer required.

Gearless drives also enable the use of a continuous conveyor belt, eliminating the need for transfer stations and so reducing susceptibility to faults, cutting out the need for high-intensity maintenance and driving down costs.