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PROCESSING
FDA-approved alternative to
stainless steel in geared motors An anti-corrosion system for geared motors that goes far beyond the effectiveness of surface coatings to deliver a true alternative to stainless steel at a much lower cost has been released in Australia.
A
ccording to research by Curtin University of Technology, corrosion is costing the Australian economy around $30 billion each year. Within industrial environments, exposure to things like water, acid or salt causes corrosion of geared motors. This, in turn, reduces the strength of the corroded parts and inevitably means they have to be replaced. In corrosive environments the need for replacement is more than just occasional. Gearboxes need to be replaced as often as every six months. Apart from costs and downtime, such a maintenance regime presents businesses with all too frequent gearbox mounting challenges. For obvious reasons, businesses in the food and beverage sector are required to maintain high hygiene standards. To do this, they need to follow strict washdown procedures, which have the unfortunate side effect of increasing the rate of corrosion. Similarly, corrosion is a problem for operations dealing with chemicals, those located offshore or near the coast, and others (such as car washes) which just can’t avoid water.
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January/February 2017
Historically, businesses looking to deal with this problem have had two options: to use stainless products or products with a protective coating. The attraction of stainless steel for this purpose is obvious. It eliminates the need for harsh cleaning chemicals and decreases the instances of leaks, rust and corrosion. To date, stainless steel has rightly been regarded as a better anti-corrosion solution than the alternatives, namely paints and surface treatments. The problem with such coatings is that when used on an original painted aluminium surface, they simply lie on top of the aluminium substrate and may even bridge across pores in the metal. In other words, they do not form a permanent bond to the substrate. They can easily be removed if bumped or scratched, and therefore offer only limited corrosion resistance.
A smart alternative to stainless steel NORD, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of drive technology, recently released the nsd tupH Sealed Surface
www.foodprocessing.com.au