Heat-proof and shock-resistant
switching technology
Transporting material safely
to the furnace
San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The American metal casting company Metal Technologies Inc. is planning to build a new iron foundry here some 440 kilometres north of Mexico City. The main bays are currently being fitted out and the technical systems will follow. This will include Jöst-made vibration equipment. With its corporate headquarters in Dülmen-Buldern, Germany, the globally active Jöst group is an international leader in 'vibration technology for bulk materials handling'. Jöst has been awarded the contract to supply customised vibro-handling equipment for the foundry in San Luis Potosí , this to include two OUL furnace charging cars.
Temperatures of up to 50 °C
These rail-mounted transport machines will soon be required to carry metal scrap and alloying agents from the holding boxes to the furnace plant and then to deliver them into the furnace. As they travel along this 30 metre- long path, the chargers are subjected to ambient temperatures of as much as 50 degrees Celsius. These are extreme conditions, especially for the sensitive control systems that are directly fitted on-board the cars.
"It was the client's express request that the chargers should be autonomously controlled by WLAN", says Jöst project manager Reinhard Pannenbäcker in setting out the nature of the task. He continues: "For this reason, a heat-resistant control solution had to be found that could also cope with the extreme oscillations generated by the vehicles' vibro- feeders."
Our customer says:
»Straightforward and flexible. With Blumenbecker we have a partner who can quickly find an appropriate solution even for complex tasks.«
Blumenbecker supplies an
end-to-end solution
In entrusting Blumenbecker Automatisierungstechnik with this work, Jöst has opted to enlist the services of a company that has been supplying the vibro-machine specialist with switchgear since 2005. As well as building the control panels, Blumenbecker will now also be responsible for engineering, electrical cabling, software development and equipment commissioning. "The timetable for the project was set at an ambitious twelve weeks. Most of the work therefore had to be done in parallel and this required the close coordination of everyone involved", explained Uwe Podlich, project manager at Blumenbecker Automatisierungstechnik.
The time frame was made even more challenging when at the start of the project the end customer decided to change the entire proposal that had been part of the bidding phase. "This meant we had to develop a fundamentally new technology concept", recalls René Findling, who is the key account manager for the project. With the Allen Bradley control system not widely used in Europe, the programming work was handed over to Blumenbecker KAT Automation Private Limited in India. The Indian subsidiary is also responsible for commissioning the charging cars in Germany and Mexico. All tests conducted to date have been handled to the complete satisfaction of the customer. It therefore comes as no surprise that Jöst already has a number of follow- up contracts in the pipeline for which Blumenbecker has been named the turnkey supplier.
