"World's largest" claim for cast iron frame motors

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 23, 2003

WEG has designed and manufactured the world's largest cast iron frame motors for use in the Collahuasi mine in northern Chile.

WEG has designed and manufactured the world's largest cast iron frame motors for use in the Collahuasi mine in northern Chile.

The eight 630 frame motors will be operating in arduous conditions at 4700m above sea level in the Andes, driving conveyor belts to remove minerals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Weighing in at 15t each, the HGF630 motors are 2300V (50Hz) units, rated at 2079kW and designed to achieve a performance efficiency of 97.5%.

They are from WEG's "H" Line medium-voltage range, which has recently been introduced into the UK.

The "H" Line motors are compact and extremely robust machines with cast-iron frames, corrosion resistant finishing and galvanized mounting components.

As a result, they are ideally suited to operating conditions encountered in the most arduous mineral extraction and industrial applications.

In these applications the combination of an internal cooling circuit, external cooling fins and high efficiency cooling fans guarantees a favourable temperature gradient within the motor, which both protects and extends the operating life of the motor windings.

WEG's ability to manufacture motors the size of the Collahuasi machines is the result of large scale investment not only in design and manufacturing, but also in facilities such as the Electric Rotating Machine Laboratory, one of the largest and most efficient in the world.

In operation since the beginning of 2003, the new laboratory has been designed to meet all of WEG's testing requirements.

Designed and implemented in mutual co-operation between WEG Maquina and WEG Automation, it is fitted with a 5MW dynamometer and a 10MW generator.

Operating in the frequency range from 30 to 60Hz, this equipment can undertake performance tests of 5MW machines at full load and 10MW machines with reduced voltage and output and full load current.

At the conclusion of these tests, automatic data reports are generated instantaneously.

Customers may also witness motor tests over the Internet in real time, or directly in WEG's own laboratory.

The order for the eight Collahuasi motors comes in the immediate wake of another for WEG "H" Line medium-voltage and "M" Line high-voltage machines, this time for the Sierra Barrosa and El Porton projects in Argentina.

The motors, including three MGF450 frame machines, are being used on a new oil pipeline constructed by Repsol-YBF in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Of the 10 motors supplied by WEG for this project, eight were installed on centrifugal pumps in the stations of Indio Rico, Chillar, Cachari and Las Flores, the last two motors being standby units.

Depending on the application requirements, some motors are required to operate at full load and are connected directly to the power supply, whereas others are VSD driven.

At the present time the last station on the pipeline, Las Flores, is in the process of commencing operations.