Design optimum belt drives online
March 23rd 2006

Optimising belt drive systems at the design stage can contribute significantly to the operating life, reliability and overall efficiency of a belt drive system. The new Fenner Select on-line drive design assistant has been launched to provide engineers with a structured and detailed approach to do exactly this and get the best from a belt drive from the design stage onwards.

The system is free and available live on-line at www.fptgroup.com. There are also added benefits to users who register with the site enabling the storage of previous calculations for later reference (registration is free and simple).

The design service will save a huge amount of time for engineers that frequently design belt-drive systems, allowing them to fine tune a design and check the theoretical performance before specifying components. Equally, designers and commissioning engineers with limited experience specifying belt drives can now do so with confidence, drawing on the acknowledged expertise without leaving their lap-top.

While savings from less frequent pulley and belt replacement are beneficial, arguably the most important issue is energy saving. With the advent of higher energy costs and Enhanced Capital Allowances, small percentage increases in efficiency can reduce long term energy usage and provide substantial financial savings on fans, pumps and machines powered by belt drives. These obvious targets tend to be run constantly and so provide the most substantial savings.

Belt drives are a prime example of an often-overlooked area where other gains in efficiency can either be wiped out or enhanced. For example, the right specification for a belt drive system can deliver a similar gain in efficiency as upgrading to an EFF1 electric motor from an EFF2. Site-wide, the difference can amount to many thousands of pounds each year in energy savings.

The speed ratio capability of a belt drive allows electric motors to drive machines, both operating at their near optimum (most efficient) speed. Belt drives have low lifetime costs, are versatile and easy to maintain, but also contribute significantly to energy savings if correctly designed and installed.

In this application, the Fenner Select - Drive Design Assistant functions allow users to ‘Design a drive’ from the start, make ‘Calculations’, experiment with ‘drive dimensions’ and enter ‘end loads’ among other power, distance and speed variables, to achieve and ideal result. Once an optimum belt drive has been selected, the complete drive specification can then be sent to the local Fenner Authorised Distributor for a quote via the same website.

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