The improved solution of rotary kiln open gear in cement plant On-site service provided by U.LUBE team
Open gears are common transmission components in the raw material processing industry and are widely used in large equipments in cement, electric power, mining, steel, chemical and paper industries, such as: rotary kilns, ball mills, tube mills, rod mills, dryers, granulators, drum pulpers, etc. To ensure the open gears to obtain good load-bearing capacity and smooth transmission, the proper processing and manufacturing of gears, accurate alignment (end jump, diameter jump, tooth top gap, tooth side gap, etc.) of the transmission devices, the correct implementation of the initial, grinding and operation of a series of lubrication system work procedures, choosing appropriate lubricants with high consistency and suitable lubrication methods, etc. are indispensable factors.
A few days ago,U.LUBE team provided the on-site service for a cement plant, and found that the rotary kiln had serious wear and abrasion, and there were also serious leakage problems on site. In view of these problems, according to the previous and current data on site, combined with the mature experience of similar equipment lubrication improvement solutions in the past, U.LUBE team provided improvement solutions after joint analysis and discussion.
Customer previously used an open gear lubricant of a brand on their rotary kiln open gears, and applied oil pool lubrication method, however, there was serious wear and abrasion on tooth surface, the site also existed serious oil leakage.
From the photos, contamination of the oil pool and inadequate performance of the original oil used caused severe scrapes and indentation of impurities on the tooth surfaces. A change in the lubrication method was required, and it was recommended to use spray lubrication method on pinion and applied the adhesive fluid grease whose performance met the lubrication specifications for large open gears.
Compared with the closed gear, open gear’s working conditions is low speed, heavy loading, and poor sealing, which easy to be affected by external pollutants and easy to cause leakage problems. If choosing a wrong lubrication method or lubricant, the matching surfaces between gear and pinion is affected by high temperature, heavy load and impact load, and the oil film is easy to rupture. The tooth surface is easy to produce pitting and even craters, and the service life of the gear will be greatly reduced.
Therefore, the selection of the correct lubrication and reasonable lubrication method of open gears can not only improve the load capacity of gears, reduce the running noise generated by gear, extend the service life of equipment, but also improve production efficiency, energy saving and reduce production costs.
According to the operating characteristics of rotary kiln and the current condition of tooth surface, U.LUBEteam recommended to choose a special running-in lubricant for open gears such as U.LUBE ET G-OG series. Through running-in operation, it can effectively reduce the roughness of tooth surface, improve the quality of tooth surface, increase the tooth surface meshing/contact area, evenly distribute the load on the tooth surface, and improve its bearing capacity; secondly, it can effectively remove the sharp edges formed by the previous damage, remove the surface fatigue cracks, and prevent the expansion of fatigue cracks. A healthy tooth surface condition and contact condition are key factors to obtain good lubrication effect.
At the same time, in order to reduce the consumption of lubricant, ensure the safe and stable operation of the equipment, and reduce leakage, it is recommended to choose an automatic spraying centralized lubrication system such as VMAXX open gear automatic lubrication system for open gears. Using this spraying method has many benefits such as tidy workplace, easy control of consumption, avoiding damage to tooth surface caused by contaminated impurity particles, and stable oil film on tooth surface, etc.
▲Comparison of common lubrication methods for open gears
▲Nozzle assembly of Vmaxx open gear automatic spraying centralized lubrication system U.LUBE team use thermal imager to detect equipment’s temperature
