BREAKDOWN AVOIDED AT RAW MILL DUE TO SIEMENS CONDITION MONITORING SERVICE
A raw mill at a major cement manufacturer’s UK site has maintained vital production throughput, thanks to the swift response of a diagnostic monitoring and back-up service from Siemens Mechanical Drives.
The company had a programme of pro-active maintenance in place, and had opted for a condition monitoring service from Siemens about 12 months earlier, for the plant critical drive unit running the raw mill. This particular unit was a Siemens Combiflex DMGH, measuring around 2.5 metres tall by approximately one metre wide. At the heart of the unit was a Flender girth gear, and the monitoring service Siemens operated ensured regular checks were made on bearings, vibration analysis and wear characteristics.
Siemens service engineer Steve Stratton identified the early stages of potential bearing failure during one of these routine checks, and plans were quickly put in place for a scheduled shutdown.
So important was this gear unit to the smooth operation of the raw mill, which produces a significant amount of the UK’s cement requirements, that the cement producer kept a complete spare gear unit on site. During the planned shutdown this was quickly installed and the other gear unit returned to Siemens Mechanical Drives at Leeds for checks.
Sure enough, the early stages of bearing failure were found, so the original unit was serviced and given a bearing and seal change before being swiftly returned to site on standby as a spare.
The costs of servicing the unit were about £40,000, but because the changeover was forward planned, it caused minimal disruption or plant downtime. Had condition monitoring not been in place and the bearing failed, the resulting damage and costs in lost production to the company would have been huge.
As Siemens service manager Gary Husband confirmed, an increasing number of companies are choosing condition monitoring, especially where plant critical units operate: “Without monitoring wear on units that are often operating 24 hours a day, breakdowns can and do occur. The resulting lost production and associated costs can be significant. Predictive maintenance is certainly the key to successful plant operation in conditions like these.”
More information on the Siemens condition monitoring service for drive units can be obtained from Gary Husband at Siemens on 0113 385 2500 or by email at gary.husband@siemens.com.
ENDS
PHOTO-CAPTION: Siemens Combiflex girth gear units are found in many raw mills
For further media information and photographs please contact Bridget Summers on 0113 251 5697. Email: bridget@fim.org.uk
Notes to editors:
About Siemens Industry
Siemens Industry UK is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of innovative and environmentally friendly products and solutions for industrial customers. With end-to-end automation technology and industrial software, solid vertical-market expertise, and technology-based services, the Sector enhances its customers’ productivity, efficiency and flexibility. Part of Siemens UK’s workforce of nearly 13,000 employees, the Industry Sector comprises the Divisions Industry Automation, Drive Technologies, Metal Technologies and Industry Services. For more information visit www.siemens.co.uk/industry
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 169 years ago and now employs 12,972 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £4.4 billion*. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry, infrastructure & cities and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
* Data includes intercompany revenue. Data may not be comparable with revenue reported in annual or interim reports.
