Mechanical Technology February 2015

Mechanical Technology — February 2015

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Materials handling and minerals processing

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ail solutions for short hauls

are not common on southern

African mines, but with the

technology available locally

and the significantly larger tonnages that

can be moved quickly, efficiently and

safely, there are good reasons to consider

rail as part of a mine’s internal hauling

infrastructure.

The GS7S3C diesel electric dc loco-

motive, known as the Genset Locomotive,

was developed by Grindrod Locomotives

to provide customers with a cost effective

solution for their shunting and short-haul

operations. The Genset Locomotive is

manufactured with a 525 kW (703 HP)

C18 Cat engine as standard, and an

in-house digital control system designed

for affordability, low running costs and

cleaner emissions.

Robert Spoon, CEO at Grindrod

Locomotives says the Genset Locomotive

is unparalleled in the market as it offers

fit-for-purpose tractive effort in shunting

Grindrod Locomotives has chosen the 525 kW C18 Cat engine, available in

South Africa through Barloworld Power, as its standard power unit for its new

range of GS7 diesel electric shunting locomotives for short haul materials

handling applications.

The GS7 range of Genset Locomotives was

developed by Grindrod Locomotives for

cost effective shunting and short-haul rail

operations. The locomotives use Cat C18

engines supplied by Barloworld Power to

drive three-phase ac generators. Depicted

above is the 40 t, two-axle GS7S2C that

can deliver 100 kN of continuous tractive

effort and 140 kN on start up through its dc

electric motors.

The 60 t, three-axle GS7S3C has a continuous tractive rating of 150 kN and can achieve 200 kN on start

up. Also powered by a CAT C18 engine through a generator and motor, it has a maximum speed of 90 km/h

and the prototype is shown here hauling 915 t during load testing.

CAT-powered shunting locomotive

for materials handling

and short haul rail operations.

Grindrod Locomotives, based in

Pretoria, provides rail engineering so-

lutions to clients across the African

continent. This includes the design,

engineering and manufacture of locomo-

tives and wagons to meet specific client

requirements, as well as locomotive

leasing, rolling stock refurbishment and

locomotive and wagon maintenance.

Bulk materials handling

Clients vary from mainline rail operators

requiring long haul locomotives to large

and medium-sized mining operations

with a need for short haul, branch line

or shunting locomotives. The Genset

Locomotive was specifically designed to

meet the need to move bulk commodities

within large mining and industrial opera-

tions. “These units can be used to move

thousands of tons simultaneously in the

mining, heavy industry and manufactur-

ing sectors – in short any business requir-

ing large materials handling facilities over

short distances,” says Spoon. “We are

convinced that this product will excel in

the niche for which it was developed.”

A two axle option, the GS7S2C, also

available for applications where load

tonnages are lower or for smaller more

frequent hauls.

“Several of these new locomotives

are already operating successfully for a

variety of end users, including Grindrod

Operations, which performs short-haul

and shunting services and transports ap-

proximately 2.0-million tons per month

of various bulk commodities from railway

sidings and branch lines on behalf of

major blue-chip mining companies and

other bulk customers requiring special-

ised rail-related services,” Spoon adds.

Grindrod’s footprint extends into

several African countries including

Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic

of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra