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Exporting motor-equipped automation - standards compliance counts

• automation users in Canada's sawmills verify the importance of adherence to regional electric motor standards

12th August--- Canada is the largest wood exporter in the world, its wood and paper enterprises working round the clock to turn out the vast range of raw and finished products vital to the country’s economic health. Here, electric motors can expect torture rather than cosseting. They’re really put to the test, not only in terms of their core function, but environmentally - it’s by no means unusual for tree trunks to fall on the motors, for example, and equipment is continuously stressed by strong vibrations and impacts.

Guy Manuel, maintenance manager at a paper factory in Crofton, British Columbia, describes the pressure on motors in such an environment: "Our process works with aggressive chemicals, and machines must operate around the clock. Once a year we shut down for two weeks, for repair and maintenance. Outside of that, processing has to continue, non-stop. We can’t tolerate longer downtimes - an unscheduled one-hour stop will cost us anything between 20 and 30 thousand dollars ".

European companies seeking to sell machinery and automation equipment into this thriving market, or the equally demanding quarrying, chemicals and offshore sectors, clearly need a product that can take the pressure. But that’s not the only key requirement: for the North American user, electric motor compliance is one of the most important criteria imported machinery and equipment must fulfil.

Staff at the huge Tolko sawmill in Merritt, British Columbia point to just one example of the importance of compliance with country standards. A 500 HP motor failed in the Tolko plant. Because a lifting eye did not fit correctly, it broke when an attempt was made to raise the motor for repair. A new eye was quickly sourced and screwed in. Again the eye ripped out of the thread - only this time the motor crashed to the ground, with costly and time consuming results. And the cause of this waste of time and money? The eye was machined with a national-standard imperial thread, and the IEC motor used metric threads.

This shows why component selection is critical for OEMs building for international markets. In Guy Manuel's plant, 3 600 of the 5 000 or so motors will be running at any one time, consuming around 140 MW of energy an hour. And every year, between 50 and 100 will fail, because of poor bearings, dirty grease or wrong shaft metallurgies - rates which are echoed at similar plants.

Enterprises like these depend on robust, reliable and the efficient machinery, and these are precisely the kind of environments and applications for which Baldor developed its Severe Duty motor series. For equipment designers in metric regions such as Europe these units are doubly valuable, because they meet all the necessary standards for export to North America: UL, NEMA, CSA and ANSI.

Baldor's motor line for these demanding requirements ranges from a half to 900 HP, with very high efficiencies, and problem-free operation at temperatures up to 200ÁC. Construction meets NEMA MG1 part 31.4.4.2. Thanks to double epoxy coating, Baldor even gives a warranty of three years. Guy Manuel confirms how important this is: “ We expect to have motors last at least 10 to 15 years - and that includes the paint!"