Hansen gear units speed up Corus line
Steelmaker Corus had been experiencing problems with the 42in edger drive system at its Port Talbot site. The existing gear units were only providing 41rpm when a drive speed of 59rpm was required.
Corus' area engineer Craig Dummer said: "They were experiencing heavy vibration and ultimately, damage to the gear units."
When the gears failed, it left Corus vulnerable to transfer bar loss, due to large section gaps in the rollers preventing delivery of the slabs to the down stream process.
Hansen was called in and provided a new split drive gear system running the rollers at 59rpm. Dummer said: "As the Hansen solution was to split the drive, utilising a matched pair of gearboxes, it is now far more economical than the original concept with a larger, single gearbox."
The operation now runs smoothly with higher efficiency units in place.
