German drive technology manufacturer SEW Eurodrive provided its services and gearboxes for a mixer replacement which was fabricated by family-owned feed milling original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) Dalein Agriplan. Dalein Agriplan fabricates feed milling installations for the animal feed industry and this project saw SEW supplying the gearboxes for the new mixer installed at agricultural company De Heus South Africa, at its Umlaas factory, in KwaZulu-Natal.

The design brief for the project entailed the replacement of the previously installed 3 t single-shaft paddle mixer, with a 3 t twin-shaft paddle mixer alternative. At this stage of the project discussions, the largest mixer that Dalein Agriplan had on offer was its MPT5000 mixer, with a capacity of 5 000 𝓵, which was not sufficient for the client’s needs.

Owing to a good client relationship and trust in Dalein Agriplan, De Heus commissioned the company with the development of a larger 6 000 𝓵 mixer – to accommodate a 3 t batch on a low-density product. Dalein Agriplan then developed the prototype MPT6000H, “heavy duty” Twin-Shaft paddle mixer, which has since been installed and is running successfully on the site.

With the new design, a new drive system had to be developed as well. “Dalein Agriplan worked closely with SEW Eurodrive to design a mixer that can produce the desired level of torque while running at optimum rotor speed for the effective product blending that was required by the client,” says Dalein Agriplan MD Lohan Heyl.

Heyl notes that the need for a decreased cycle time and a larger mixing homogeneity was met using the twin shaft paddle mixer. A 3 t batch of product can be mixed in 90 seconds, which would ordinarily take about three minutes to complete with a single shaft mixer.

“With the need for increased efficiency and an increased design size of the Dalein Agriplan mixer, SEW Eurodrive supplied two industrial gearboxes with XT configurations to meet the requirements,” SEW Eurodrive sales representative Philip Steyn tells Engineering News.

He explains that the XT gearbox is a coaxial bevel-helical industrial gearbox, making it a unique gearing system that allows it to have a twin-shaft mixer instead of a single-shaft mixer.

“The greatest challenge that SEW faced during the stricter levels of lockdown was ensuring sufficient stockpiling, as its XT gearboxes are assembled in Germany. Fortunately, shipments arrived timeously and there were no delays in the delivery of components. Despite Covid-19 and its consequent challenges, this did not affect the company’s operations,” Steyn remarks.

“With agriculture being an essential service and SEW Eurodrive a supplier of essential services, we could support Dalein Agriplan and De Heus even throughout the higher levels of lockdown,” notes Steyn.