Extra protection against dust and other contaminants
A vertical roller mill manufacturer in China is helping the Chinese cement industry transition to the use of vertical roller mills for clinker grinding. What’s behind the switch? Energy efficiency, primarily. Statistics show that vertical roller mills can cut electricity consumption by more than 30% compared to traditional ball mills. Vertical roller mills also occupy less floor space than ball mills.
But despite these advantages, vertical roller mills are prone to premature bearing failures due to dust contamination. On average, cement mills have to change these bearings every 8 months to avoid failures, even though the calculated bearing life is much longer. Looking for ways to extend mill service life, the manufacturer looked to SKF.
Delivering bearing service life of up to 2 years
SKF consultants suggested that the manufacturer install a new SKF sealing solution featuring an auxiliary PTFE excluder lip. Providing extra protection against dust and other contaminants, this SKF sealing solution had been proven to extend bearing service life in the grinding wheels of vertical roller mills up to 24 months.
The manufacturer adopted this solution in one of its clinker grinding machines. 15 months later the company reported that the mill continued to operate trouble-free, with no unplanned stoppages since installation.