FREDERICIA, DENMARK — As part of the construction of new grain storage at Fredericia Bulk Terminal in Fredericia, Denmark, NORD Drivesystems supplied more than 40 geared motors of different designs and sizes.

The grain terminal, which was commissioned in 2019, has a capacity of 40,000 tonnes. It receives grain from the fields or from inland terminals in Denmark via truck. Grain is cleaned, dried and immediately stored. It is then conveyed and loaded onto ships. Some batches also are loaded onto trucks and brought to other depots.

The facility can receive 10 trucks per hour equal to 300 tph. All the conveying systems for loading the silos and cleaning facilities are designed accordingly. For loading ships, up to 600 tph, the grain must be taken from the silos. An important part of the system are more than 40 geared motors of different designs and sizes that have been delivered by NORD GEAR DANMARK A/S, a member of the NORD Drivesystems Group. They drive the conveyor belts and bucket elevators for grain transportation and make the high handling volume possible.

“The drive systems from Getriebebau NORD have so far proven to function well in our facility and we are quite pleased with the NORD drives,” said Klaus G. Andersen, owner and managing director of the Fredericia Shipping company and the Fredericia Bulk Terminal.

The NORD drives are installed all over the plant, chiefly driving main chain drive units for horizontal and vertical conveying. Many NORD drives also are used on aggregates like gates, valves and ventilators. The installed gear unit types depend on position and installation space at the installation site. In case of limited space the planners at Lachenmeier Monsun A/S, which designed and built the terminal, prefer parallel gear units.

In explosion hazard areas, NORD choaw suitable ATEX drives for those projects. Within a grain terminal flammable dust can be a concern in indoor areas. Here, the classification of the area and the dust amount developing are considered. All indoor geared motors typically belong to the two lower categories ATEX zone 22 or ATEX zone 21.

For outdoor drives, Lachenmeier Monsun chose corrosion-resistant offshore painting. Particularly at the bulk material terminal located at a seaport the ambient conditions are harsh. Humidity, rain, salt, dust and dirt damage the outdoor drives. Lachenmeier refrained from specifically manufactured and elaborate motor covers.

“These types of protective housings are very big and not very economical to produce,” said Christian Pedersen, one of the Lachenmeier Monsun A/S co-owners. “That is why we now use a special surface coating and I must admit that quality of the paint on the NORD is very high. We have installed many geared motors all over the world, outdoor and also in port areas. They are as good as if they were covered. Two weeks ago, I visited a plant in Estonia that we built six years ago. All the geared motors are like new, even if installed outdoor.”

Except for the ATEX versions, all installed NORD geared motors achieve energy efficiency class IE3.

To simplify maintenance or potential repairs, Lachenmeier uses geared motor versions with shrink disc. This way, it is easier to dismantle the gear unit from the shaft.

Pedersen said he is pleased with the NORD Drivesystems service portfolio.

“We have a good cooperation in selecting the right geared motor,” he said. “We receive a top and very customer-oriented support — very nearby — just like NORD is a department of our own company. Of course, the product quality is very good, too. We rarely demand any services for any of the geared motors. Basically, it is the whole package that works for us.”