Mechanical Technology

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38 Mechanical Technology — August 2015
⎪ Products and services ⎪
Becker Mining South Africa’s recently
launched IGBT mine traction battery
chargers have been designed to charge
underground traction batteries in the
shortest possible time, at the lowest
The ultra-compact Tusker low headroom,
steel wire rope hoist, one of the newest
additions to the Elephant Lifting Equip-
ment range, is suitable for lifting in areas
where height restrictions or confined
spaces are an issue.
This lightweight hoist’s design allows
it to be run on a smaller beam, without
compromising lifting capacity. The new
hoist has its crawl motor and hoist mo-
tor balanced on either side of the beam,
an innovative engineering design that
sees the reeving system mounted in the
centre of the unit. “This has resulted in
a gain of 600 mm, further reducing the
space requirement,” Elephant Lifting
Equipment managing director, Grant
Walton says.
Another unique feature is that the
hook can be retracted into the body of
the hoist, further eliminating wasted
headroom. The unit is extremely com-
petitively priced and is driven by an
energy efficient motor, resulting in
reduced energy consumption. It is sup-
plied standard with a soft starter, which
reduces swaying, and it is equipped with
overload protection to meet OHS Act
legislative requirements.
Simple to install and maintain, the
Tusker Low Headroom hoist is designed
to accommodate a wireless remote sys-
Biometric control system attracts widespread interest
Booyco Electronics’ biometric control sys-
tem was developed specifically for the local
operating environment and uses fingerprints
to authenticate licensed machine operators.
Personalised smart cards, which store
individual operator’s fingerprints and other
relevant data such as licensed capabilities
and expiry dates, provide the ideal solution
for allowing controlled access to moveable
items such as earthmoving and mining
equipment, blasting boxes and carts, as well
as conveyor starter panels.
An operator gains access to and can oper-
ate a given machine or piece of equipment
by validating his fingerprint on the scanning
device on the machine. This same level
of control can be applied underground in
other control environments, such as access
to explosive magazines and underground
substations.
Booyco Electronics has an established
reputation in the mining sector for engineer-
ing fit-for-purpose monitoring and controls
systems that assist companies to maintain
optimum safety under all operating condi-
tions.
IGBT mine traction battery chargers
possible temperature, to ensure optimum
battery performance.
“The most common causes of battery
failure and reduced service life are associ-
ated with incorrect charging techniques,”
says Andrew Trentelman, senior general
manager: electronics, Becker Mining
South Africa. “Becker Mining’s new IGBT
mine traction battery chargers, which
utilise insulated-gate bipolar transistor
(IGBT) technology for quick on and off
switching, are more efficient and cost
effective than conventional transductor
controlled, oil-cooled traction battery
chargers.
“These IGBT battery chargers are
lightweight air cooled units, which are
controlled by an intelligent microproces-
sor circuit that acts as the main control
computer, responsible for the logging,
charge functions and controls.
“Becker Mining’s new chargers utilise
Delta Volts/Delta Time (DV/DT) for the
precise detection of a battery’s gassing
stage so the charger can terminate the
second rate charge more rapidly. This
technology, which prevents over-charging
often associated with conventional bat-
tery chargers, ensures reduced charging
times and lower power consumption. By
reducing the charge current once DV/DT
is reached, batteries are also charged at
a significantly lower temperature.”
With an improved power factor of
0,8 and maximum input current reduced
from 42 A to 32 A, these energy efficient
battery chargers offer power savings of up
to 10 kVA at maximum output current.
For the efficient management of mine
traction batteries, Becker Mining’s robust
chargers have an integrated power line
communication (PLC) identification
system, which automatically logs the
serial number, as well as the charge
history related to that specific battery.
The chargers are also equipped with
Wi-Fi to facilitate future downloading
of data, errors and the charge history of
each battery, for viewing or analysis on
the surface.
Becker Mining South Africa’s recently launched IGBT
mine traction battery chargers have been designed to
charge underground traction batteries in the shortest pos-
sible time, at the lowest possible temperature, to ensure
optimum battery.
Low headroom hoist for confined spaces tem with digital readout capability that
indicates the hoist’s load range limiting
features. In addition, an advanced elec-
tro-mechanical braking system ensures
minimum impact on the gearing when
the motor stops and acts as an additional
safety mechanism, stopping automati-
cally if the power fails and preventing
the load from running.
The Tusker low headroom hoist is
available in working load limits from 3.2 t
up to 12.5 t and uses standard steel wire
rope, which is available ex-stock from the
distribution network of parent company,
Torre Lifting Solutions.
The ultra-
compact Tusker
low headroom
hoist is reputed
to be the lowest
headroom hoist
available on the
market.