Engineered torque transmission solutions from Bi
Hilton Woest, Product leader for Torque Transfer and Field Services at Bi, highlights the importance of managing torque in a drive train system and the value of adopting an engineered approach to optimise power transmission systems, ensuring maximum reliability, efficiency, safety, and plant uptime.
Endura Hi-Tech belt drives from Bi. Belt drives can be tailored for diverse
industrial applications, including mining and manufacturing plants, offering both individual products and comprehensive system solutions.
material, their ability to slip on the pulley wheel during torque spikes, and the damping effect from tension changes. “Then there are chain-and-sprocket sys- tems, which are positive drives that cannot slip and are well-suited for higher torque applications. However, they require precise sprocket alignment and proper lubrication, and they do not tolerate misalignment or shock loads as well as belt drives, ” Woest notes. Directly coupled gearboxes offer compact, high-efficiency torque multiplication, but the choice of gearbox-to-coupling is critical to enable the system to handle misalignment and vibration. There are many external factors to con- sider when selecting a torque coupling, Woest says. A coupling for a crane, for example, may be 50 m above the ground. If using a grid coupling, for example, it will require
an electric motor, then a coupling, and then some form of speed reduction, which can be a belt-and-pulley drive, a chain drive or a gearbox. These are then connected to the shaft that powers equipment such as con- veyors, pumps, crushers or mills. “Along that whole drivetrain, torque is not just transmit- ted, it’s managed. Engineers have to consider shock loads, misalignment, start-up torque, overload conditions and more to ensure the torque delivered to the machine is always within the safe working range,” Woest says, adding “managing torque is about protecting assets, reducing downtime and maximising lifecycle value.” Transmission solutions and couplings Belt-and-pulley systems, says Woest, are simple, flexible and cost-effective. They absorb torque changes and shock loads well because of the inherent elasticity of the belt
“T orque transmission is about how we transfer energy from an electric motor to a machine in a controlled and reliable way. Torque is the turning force (Nm) that makes a shaft rotate at speed (RPM), and torque and speed are directly related through power. If speed is reduced while delivering the same power, torque increases. That’s why most industrial systems use some form of speed reduction, so that the motor shaft speed can be reduced and the torque increased to the output levels needed by the machine,” explains Hilton Woest, Bi’s product leader for torque transfer. A typical drive train, he says, starts with
Bi recently installed a high-performance Kobo dual/double-chain pan conveyor in the cement industry, a first-of-its-kind installation in South Africa. Kobo heavy-duty chains can enhance reliability, efficiency and longevity.
16 ¦ MechChem Africa • March-April 2026
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