Oregon Steel Mills: A Systems Approach to Mill Drive Modernization - Engineered Reliability

摘要

Oregon Steel Mills -Portland Steelworks located at Portland, Oregon employed Voith Turbo Inc. in November 1998 to conduct a systems analysis of the mill drive for the purpose of achieving improved mill reliability, minimized mill drive maintenance costs, and reduced mill downtime. Through the use of a mill drive systems approach, the drive was modernized by utilizing the best in engineered reliability technology including the application of a permanent computerized mill monitoring system, and the installation of high performance universal joint drive shafts, hydraulic torque limiting couplings and spindle support system. The critical requirements for the mill drive components and systems for achieving the mill drive modernization included: high torque capacity, compactness of design, minimal maintenance requirements, backlash free operation, maximum service life, and efficient power transmission. The results of the mill drive improvements applied from December 2002 to January 2003, have been greatly improved mill up time, with reduced mill drive service requirements, and by utilizing on-line mill monitoring, the optimization of mill performance through condition based maintenance prediction.