ENGINEERING KNOW-HOW PUTS WEBA UP FRONT
In-house engineering capability as well as capacity is a cornerstone of the global success of leading chute designer and manufacturer Weba Chute Systems.

“What has always set us apart, especially in the local market, is that transfer points are our dedicated focus,” says Alwin Nienaber, technical director at Weba Chute Systems.

Mines expect to see performance improvement from their newly installed Weba Chute Systems, but this needs to be measured. Fortunately Weba Chute Systems provides a scientific approach to measuring this which leaves no doubt in the customer’s mind, and provides assurance that their newly installed Weba Chute System will reduce total cost of ownership.

Momentum is picking up in demand levels from the commodities sector for companies like Weba Chute Systems, who has been able to quickly adapt to Covid-19 conditions.

According to Mark Baller, managing director of Weba Chute Systems, the past financial year certainly had its challenges, but performance was better than expected and, more importantly, the outlook for the future looks robust.

While there are many ‘look-alike’ transfer chutes on the market, it is the demanding original equipment manufacturer (OEM) standards of Weba Chute Systems that keep mined material as well as industrial materials moving smoothly.

“Through our focused dedication for many years, we have developed the design, engineering and manufacture of transfer chutes into a science,” says Weba Chute Systems technical manager and designer Dewald Tintinger.

The recent installation of custom-engineered transfer chutes at a sinter plant in Turkey has highlighted the value of Weba Chute Systems’ decades of experience in design engineering and manufacture.

According to Dewald Tintinger, technical manager and designer at South Africa-based Weba Chute Systems, the application had to deal with sinter material with temperatures up to 700⁰ C, while also reducing the level of material degradation which could undermine the furnace performance.

A new 390 panel solar plant at Weba Chute Systems’ Germiston facility is now making an active contribution to the South African economy’s environmental protection and energy efficiency efforts.

As part of its green-future strategy, the transfer point specialist commissioned a roof-top solar energy system in December 2020 as part of its integrated response, says Izak Potgieter, ISO systems manager at Weba Chute Systems.

With the cumulative technical experience from 5 000 custom-designed chutes installed around the world, Weba Chute Systems delivers long-term value and quick payback times.

According to Mark Baller, managing director of Weba Chute Systems, most of his company’s chutes can deliver a full return on investment within 18 months.

Conveyor belts are high cost items in any bulk materials handling application, so it is vital that damage and undue wear is avoided through the correct design of transfer points.

“Where chute systems are not properly designed and manufactured, mines will invariably face sky-rocketing conveyor belt costs,” says Mark Baller, managing director of transfer chute expert Weba Chute Systems.

Mill feed transfer points and scrubber feed chutes are traditionally considered high wear and high maintenance installations. However, according to Alwin Nienaber, technical director at Weba Chute Systems, says by engineering the transfer point to ensure the correct control of material feed into the mill or scrubber it is possible to significantly reduce wear and tear, and consequently maintenance.

Often there is more than one challenge that faces a plant in moving materials, and this is one of the advantages of the Weba Chute System: it addresses multiple bulk materials handling issues at once.

Among the key challenges that plants face, for instance, are spillages and blockages at the transfer point.