"Emotron is an important contributor keeping our factory operating safely and optimally’’ says Nyrstar zinc smelter engineer

Emotron has been performing maintenance work at the Nyrstar zinc melt factory in Budel ever since it was founded in the 1970s. Nyrstar is part of a global metal producer. Hans Timmermans, Reliability Engineer at Nyrstar; ‘’Knowledge and expertise are the core values at Emotron, and this is an important contribution to keep our factory operating safely and optimally’’ 

"Moreover, Emotron offers good service and the geographic distance between Bladel and Budel, both situated in the south of the Netherlands, is not great either."

Nyrstar is one of the largest zinc smelters in the world. The company processes zinc concentrates and converts them into pure zinc via electrolysis, with sulfuric acid as a by-product. One of the main uses of zinc is to protect steel against rusting. Zinc is also found in batteries, car tires, paint, sun creams, vitamin preparations and medicines.

Zinc Electrolysis

Emotron often supplies the drives and frequency converters required to run the processes at Nyrstar. This company supplies smart solutions worldwide for heavy applications such as water treatment, material transport and cranes, but also for smaller applications such as pumps, fans, conveyor belts and elevators. "Zinc electrolysis requires quite a few drives and frequency converters" says Hans Timmermans. "The largest applications are used in a fan of around 600 kilowatts, while the smallest application uses 250 watts."

Variable frequency drives (VFDs)

A number of important Nyrstar facilities in Budel are currently being upgraded. Emotron plays an important role in this process. One of the projects is to replace the washing tower in which the gas cleaning takes place. We strongly urged the engineering firm that made the design for this application that they should use Emotron variable frequency drives for the design. For Nyrstar this is important for several reasons. First because these parts have already proven their success and our technicians are used to working with them, but also because of the good existing relationship with Emotron and the fact that they are located close to our company. Usually, Emotron technicians come here mainly for periodic maintenance. However, should an immediate and unexpected failure ever occur, Emotron is also very quickly on site.

Short communication paths

Timmermans is also positive about the collaboration with Emotron on other fronts. "Emotron employees know their products very well. Moreover, they have an enormous amount of experience. In the event of a technical problem, they can often quickly indicate what the cause is and how it can be resolved. With this, Emotron makes a major contribution to keep this factory running safely and smoothly".

Source: Regio in Bedrijf