NORD's Heavy-Duty, Reliable Drive Systems Tackle Tough Industrial Applications

NORD complete drive solution used for a barge winch application

Industrial gear units from NORD DRIVESYSTEMS are used for a variety of heavy-duty applications such as bucket elevators, mixers, agitators, cranes, conveyor belt drives, bulk material handling, steel production, manufacturing, and more. These units provide high output torques, long service life with minimal maintenance, and offer extensive input, output, and mounting designs to ensure versatility over a wide range of applications. When combined with high efficiency motors and dynamic variable frequency drives, high performance and smooth operation is achieved.

Grain Industry Solutions
In the grain industry, it is important that drive systems increase productivity, improve reliability, and reduce downtimes. Drive solutions in this sector often include functional safety and hazardous environment protection due to dust and fibers that are generated during processing. For high capacity applications like bucket elevators that are used for vertical transport of bulk materials, NORD offers MAXXDRIVE XC parallel industrial gear units and MAXXDRIVE XC right-angle industrial gear units. These industrial gear units deliver immense output torques up to 2,495,900 lb-in and feature a wide range of additional options ideal for bucket elevator applications. These include a backstop to prevent material flow back, an auxiliary drive with an overrunning clutch, a base frame for reinforced alignment between components and easy installation, taconite seals to prevent shaft damage from the dusty atmosphere, and axial fans for high cooling power.



NORD MAXXDRIVE IGU, UNICASE Bevel Gear Unit, and electric motor used for a feed mill

Crane/Hoist Industry Solutions
In order for cranes and hoists to pick up loads and set them down gently at precise locations, they require special drives with integrated brakes and variable frequency drive technology for soft starts and braking via defined adjustable ramps. MAXXDRIVE XD industrial gear units are engineered with hoist applications in mind and feature an extended housing center distance to accommodate a U-shaped drive design, allowing the cable drum and the motor to be arranged on the same side of the gear unit. The UNICASE housing is also FEA-optimized for overhung load, especially downwards forces, and offers additional options such as brake attachment via input flange or brake console and various output shaft designs. Together with intelligent NORD VFDs like the decentralized NORDAC FLEX and cabinet mounted NORDAC PRO SK 500P, high positioning accuracy, efficient automation, and smooth operation are achieved. These variable frequency drives can also be synchronized for gear units to work in tandem to hoist and move loads for trolley or travel drive applications.

Wastewater Industry Solutions
The wastewater industry is known for its harsh operating environments. That’s why drives in this setting must be built for durability, corrosion protection, and have an optimized sealing system to keep debris out. NORD’s industrial offerings for this highly-specialized industry include UNICASE parallel shaft gear units, UNICASE helical bevel gear units, MAXXDRIVE industrial gear units, and NORDAC FLEX variable frequency drives. UNICASE parallel shaft gear units are commonly used for surface and brush aerator applications because of their high radial and axial load capacity, advanced sealing system, heavy-duty (VL) bearing options, and their flexible horizontal or vertical mounting options. These units also feature a spread bearing design with DRYWELL option for additional oil leak protective measures.



NORD MAXXDRIVE Industrial Gear Unit utilized for aeration in a wastewater treatment facility

Food & Beverage Industry Solutions
The food and beverage industry utilizes drive systems for heavy-duty applications requiring various torques, speeds, and protection measures. Variable frequency drives such as the NORDAC FLEX and NORDAC PRO SK 500P allow drives to be controlled individually, with speeds adjustable as needed to prevent jams and sticking of material along the sides of mixing, agitating, or dough kneading machines. NORD’s industrial stack mixer design features twin UNICASE helical bevel gear motors with shafts turning in opposite directions to optimally mix ingredients in mixers and agitators. Additional options ideal for industrial applications in the food and beverage industry include extra-strong output shaft bearings for heavy loads, temperature sensors for overheating protection, smooth surface motors for easy wash down ability, and food-grade lubricants are also available.

Bulk Material Handling Industry Solutions
For many systems in the bulk material handling industry, the NORD complete drive solution includes either a MAXXDRIVE industrial gear unit or large UNICASE helical bevel gear unit, an IE3 asynchronous motor with hazardous protection, and a NORDAC FLEX or NORDAC PRO SK 500P variable frequency drive. UNICASE helical bevel gear units are commonly used for conveyor applications due to their compact design and load capacity whereas MAXXDRIVE industrial gear units are used for applications with greater torque requirements to efficiently handle the mass flow rate and reliably transport bulk goods. VFDs are an important part of the solution as well due to their functional safety features, integrated brake rectifiers for motor brake control, and POSICON integrated positioning mode for precise control. The drives can additionally be controlled individually to intelligently meter, weigh, and adjust the bulk goods flow rate to reduce backups and breakdowns as well as be implemented with customer-specific process functions such as automatic blockage detection/elimination and automatic mass flow regulation.

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