Sew-Eurodrive reported July 9 that it’s helping power one of the most ambitious bulk material handling projects in North America by contributing to the Dune Express conveyor system, a 42-mile, single-flight conveyor for transporting fracking sand across the Permian Basin in West Texas.

Developed by Atlas Energy Solutions in collaboration with system integrator Voith Turbo, Dune Express is designed to move up to 13 million tons of fracking sand annually from Kermit, Texas, to the New Mexico border. This infrastructure-scale conveyor is expected to reduce truck traffic, roadway congestion, fuel consumption and associated emissions, while improving logistics efficiency for wellsite operations.

The project required advanced thermal validation, high torque capacity, precision mechanical integration, and long-term reliability across one of the most demanding conveyor applications ever constructed. To support the conveyor’s extreme requirements, Sew-Europdrive supplied 36 customised X.e Series helical-bevel, heavy-industrial gear units engineered for continuous-duty performance in desert conditions. The gear units range up to 900 horsepower, and deliver more than 1.46 million lbs-in. of nominal output torque.

“Engineering a 42-mile conveyor takes more than horsepower. It takes an understanding of application dynamics, thermal performance, and logistics at scale,” says Austin Burdette, heavy industrial gearing product manager at Sew-Eurodrive USA. “Our X.e gear units and engineering teams delivered the reliability and performance required for a project of this magnitude."

Sew-Eurodrive’s engineers also collaborated closely with Voith Turbo throughout the project to implement:

• Gearbox-sizing matched to application dynamics,
• Thermal performance modeling and bearing life analysis,
• Mechanical interface verification and fabrication support,
• Integrated condition monitoring and safety specifications, and
• Onsite commissioning and logistics support.