Marthinusen & Coutts manages special logistics for PPC mill motor

June 2014 News

When PPC contacted Marthinusen & Coutts to investigate the cause of smoke emitting from a Hitachi mill motor at its Hercules cement factory in Pretoria, a site visit confirmed that the motor needed to be removed for a full evaluation. PPC agreed and asked Marthinusen & Coutts to supervise the removal, loading and transport of the unit.

“The motor was exceptionally large and difficult to manoeuvre, however we were ready to assist with this special request from our customer to remove the motor,” says Craig Megannon, Marthinusen & Coutts general manager. “The removal exercise involved hiring a 140 ton crane and an 80 ton low bed truck, to accommodate this massive motor, complete with a traffic escort from Pretoria to Cleveland.”

Once at the Cleveland facility, the Marthinusen & Coutts team found that the motor’s rotor had rubbed against the stator core, damaging the insulation of the windings and the interlamination insulation.

“Our assessment of the unit involved high-level testing of the cores and windings,” says Megannon. “These extensive tests found that, although the windings were still good electrically, both cores had been badly damaged. After we completed the re-insulating and restacking, we sent a team to site to assist with installation and commissioning.”

The project was managed on behalf of PPC by Albert Fivaz, PPC Hercules engineering manager, and his team with assistance from Kobus Odendal, PPC group senior electrical engineer.

For more information contact Richard Botton, Marthinusen & Coutts, +27 (0)11 607 1700, [email protected], www.mandc.co.za

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