Click on the advert above to visit the company web site

Product category: Gears, brakes, couplings and engines
News Release from: Eriks UK | Subject: Fenner Series K
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 25 September 2006

High-efficiency gearboxes offer energy
savings

New Fenner Series K right angle bevel helical gearboxes have efficiency levels of up to 97% and are designed to replace worm and wheel gearboxes in a wide range of applications.

New Fenner Series K right angle bevel helical gearboxes have efficiency levels of up to 97% and are designed to replace worm and wheel gearboxes in a wide range of applications Typically employed to drive conveyors, cranes, crushers, screens and mixers they are proven to deliver up to a 20% energy saving per annum over older style boxes

Power inputs are available from 0.18 to 90kW; all units in the range are dimensionally interchangeable with European mounting dimensions and available with or without motors.

Fenner Series K gearboxes employ a highly efficient helical reduction input stage in front of the main bevel helical gear, which in combination with high quality low-friction bearings and precision manufacture delivers efficiency levels as high as 97% across the range.

The resultant energy savings can be substantial when compared with traditional worm and wheel driven gearboxes that are usually only around 70% efficient and can be as low as 65%.

Fenner gearbox product specialist John Woodcock explains the difference: "In traditional right angle worm gear reducers, a hard steel worm gear is used to drive a softer wheel, usually Phosphor Bronze, the softer material is slightly sacrificial, and the sliding action of the gears as they mesh generates friction and heat, to overcome this up to 30% of the power input into the gearbox is consumed, and the unit will tend to wear faster".

Bevel helical units such as the new Series K on the other hand use a more complex bevel gear profile and matched gear materials, the result is a smoother drive with less friction and greatly reduced wear characteristics.

They are also quieter in operation and offer significantly higher torque capacity based size for size.

Bevel helical units are more expensive to produce and require more advanced machining techniques, the price difference used to be significant when compared with worm and wheel units, but the cost of producing good quality bevel helical units in the UK has been reduced due to improved production efficiency and resulted in far more competitive pricing.

The other contributing factor to the increased take-up of bevel helical units in the UK is the increased cost of energy and downtime; running costs have increased to the point where the initial purchase cost is dissipated within a few months by the energy savings and a bevel helical unit will outlast a worm unit, reducing maintenance costs and disruption as well as maintaining low backlash characteristics and high precision throughout its operating life.

A Wyko customer was supplied with a trial Series K unit as a replacement for a 12in worm box with 50:1 ratio, running for 3500 hours per year (about 10 hours per day).

The original unit absorbed an average of 30kW of power, consuming 140,000kWh during the year, at GBP 0.06 per kilowatt-hour the total running cost was GBP 8400 per annum.

The bevel helical Series K used only 108,250kWh in the same application, costing just GBP 6495 a year to run, delivering a saving of GBP 1905 and a short ROI period.

Woodcock adds: "There has been some resistance towards fitting replacement bevel helical units from Plant Managers in the UK, but recent increases in energy costs have resulted in Plant Engineers and Managers alike being more responsible for reducing costs and increasing efficiency, this has changed attitudes towards bevel helical units and we have found they are far more acceptable".

"They represent better technology and we have lagged behind Europe to some extent in introducing them, but it is the right time for us to launch the Series K and initial demand is strong".

Series K gearboxes are available in foot, face or flange mounted configurations across the range, and are also designed to be used as a shaft mounted unit with output shafts as options.

Smaller sizes up to 11kw are expected to be shaft mounted, while larger units are more likely to be foot mounted and so will often require an output shaft and coupling, both of which can be supplied with the gearbox.

Fenner Series K gearboxes are stocked and assembled in the UK hence lead times are short.

Fenner products are available from both at Independent stockists and at any one of the 170 Wyko branches located throughout the UK. Request a free brochure from Eriks UK ...

• Eriks UK: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Engineeringtalk email newsletter
• Engineeringtalk Home Page

Search the Pro-Talk network of sites

Put your news on Engineeringtalk  |   Advertise  |   Get the free Engineeringtalk newsletter  |   Engineeringtalk Home
About Engineeringtalk  |   Copyright © 2000-2008 Pro-Talk Ltd, UK