Donkin Fans for Aluminium Smelters

Port Elizabeth-based fan manufacturer, Donkin Fans, a division of the JSE-listed Howden Africa Holdings Ltd, has won the contract to supply centrifugal fans for the forced cooling network at the Mozal and Hillside Aluminium Smelters

Donkin Fans sales director Andy Crowe said the order, one of the most prestigious and hotly contested among South African standard fan companies this year, required the supply of 50 units to Mozal and 62 to Hillside.

“Delivery of the fans is scheduled for completion in October this year,” Mr Crowe said.

One of the unique design features of the fans is their ability to operate in close proximity to the strong magnetic fields generated at smelter pots.

"Strong magnetic fields usually cause fan bearings to fail prematurely, and we applied a unique Howden engineered solution, in conjunction with our suppliers, to overcome this problem.

“The design changes were completed soon after the placement of the order on April 14, and we delivered our first six units to Mozal in the middle of July.”

An additional complication was the procurement and installation of the fan motors, also to a tight schedule.

The special WEG motors necessary for the installation were supplied by Zest Motors and sourced from Brazil. Because of delays associated with importing, we had to complete the design, performance testing, fabrication, assembly and lagging in short order,” Mr Crowe said.