Digital Re-print May | June 2013

Managing mill maintenance - Roller mill maintenance

Grain & Feed Milling Technology is published six times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom. All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies, the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis of information published. Copyright 2013 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1466-3872

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Innovative extrusion processes without limits. Bhler is the global technology partner for companies producing breakfast cereals, snack foods, or food ingredients on a commercial scale. With its extensive extrusion know-how and its passion for customized solutions, Bhler is always in a position to generate added value and success for any product idea. Bhler offers an integral range of products and services for all process stages from correct raw material handling, cooking and shaping through extrusion to drying of the extruded products. And this for all market segments from breakfast cereals and snack foods to modified flours and starches, texturized proteins, or vitaminized rice. In short: extrusion processes without limits.
extrusion@buhlergroup.com, www.buhlergroup.com/extrusion

Innovations for a better world.

FEATURE

Managing mill maintenance

by Alice Neal, associate editor, Grain and Feed Milling Technology, United Kingdom
key concern for all millers is getting maximum life and efficiency out of equipment while maintaining a high standard of product. Roller mills play a key part in the milling process and have a direct influence on subsequent processes and eventually on the yield and quality of the end product. Roller mills are a very flexible piece of equipment as they can perform a variety of tasks, be it crumbling pellets, cracking, flaking grain or grinding. They can also handle many different products including corn, wheat, soybean, pellets, and canola. However, despite the diverse range of applications, the operation and maintenance of roller mills generally follows a standard procedure.

Roller mill maintenance

outer layer. These rolls are typically made by centrifugal casting. In this process, a hard-metal alloy is fed into a die that spins at high speed. Then the softer gray iron is added. This technique produces rolls with a high density and homogeneity which are crucial for high wear and resistance. The centrifugal process forces impurities up to the surface of the roll during manufacturing. Any impurities can be easily removed before the roll is finished. These features mean that centrifugal cast rolls last longer than static cast rolls. Another option is titanium, these rolls are harder and more resistant to abrasions than other materials. Titanium rolls are usually made of cast iron with steel added as an

Longer rolls will last longer than a shorter roll handling the same volume of material. Similarly, rolls with a bigger diameter will have a longer working life. The flutes or corrugations will also affect roll expectancy. Coarse flutes will last longer but will produce a chunkier end product whereas fine flutes, which produce a finer end product, will need refurbishment sooner.

Effective operating
The life expectancy of a roll depends on several variables. First, the products put through the machine will have an impact on the wear. Large and hard products such as canola or rapeseed will pose more of a challenge to the roller

Image courtesy of Ugur Makina

The manufacturing process

The main wear parts in roller mills are the rolls. They are set up in pairs and one machine can contain different numbers of rolls depending on the application. A high-quality roll represents real value for a miller. A good roll will produce a consistent product and help minimise costly plant downtime and maintenance efforts. Getting the maximum life and efficiency out of a roller starts with the choice of metal. A popular option is a two-component chilled iron compound roll with a cast iron inner core with a harder, chilled iron
44 | may - June 2013

alloying element to increase strength and wear resistance.

Flexibility in design
Most manufacturers offer different rolls of different hardnesses depending on the application. The hardness is important: too hard and the roll will lose its grip on the product; too soft and the rolls will wear out more easily. Just as there are material choices to consider, there are other areas of roller design which can be altered depending on the application. All of these will have an effect on wear and lifetime.

mill than smaller, softer materials such as corn or wheat. Cleanliness of the raw materials is also a key consideration. Stones or tramp metal can get stuck in the flutes, causing uneven wear. In addition, higher volumes of product will make a roller mill work harder and rolls will therefore wear out faster. No matter how much product a roller mill has to handle, it is important to ensure an even flow of material through the machine as inconsistent feeding will lead to one part of the roll wearing at a disproportionate rate.
Grain

&feed millinG technoloGy

FEATURE Installing a hopper between the conveyor or elevator will stop surges in material entering the roller mill. Taking time over roller setup will pay dividends in terms of roller life. The key considerations are making sure the rolls are parallel and level in relation to each other. Top rolls will wear quicker than bottom rolls so switching top and bottom rolls will ensure that the set wears evenly. This is a good move, as it is more convenient to replace a full set of rolls than pairs and will result in less downtime. flutes are ground smooth before refluting while rolls with coarse corrugations can be refluted using the exisiting flutes as a guide. However, deeper corrugations will limit the number of times a roll can be refurbished.

Recorrugation/refluting
Rolls can be refluted (or recorrugated) when they are worn out. Manufacturers will be able to provide the best advice but once again there are roll-specific factors to take into consideration. Rolls with larger diameters can also be refurbished a greater number of times than a roll with a smaller diameter. Rolls with fine

Other factors to consider

Bearings need regular greasing and this task should be built into a maintenance schedule. Drives, especially belt drives need to be aligned, properly tensioned, and the load limitations need to be adhered to.

Maintenance case study

Satisfying highest demands with TITAN rolls Bhlers FERAN rolls have proven their worth in the milling industry worldwide over the last decades. They build the basis of the milling roll portfolio. Within the past years a need for even longer living rolls has been emerging. To satisfy this need Bhlers casting experts have conducted extensive research efforts based on their long lasting experience. They came up with a further developed mixing ratio between the hard and the soft iron components in the chilled iron alloy based on a new metallurgical recipe. Especially for corrugated rolls that are subjected to particularly high stressing TITAN rolls offer great value: they considerably minimize the maintenance costs and the undesired downtime in the grinding process. This is due to an increase of 30 percent and more in service life compared to Bhlers standard FERAN roll. It is obvious that this leads to a higher availability of the milling plant since less roll changes are required. Therefore maintenance costs are significantly reduced. Apart from that the cost of working capital decreases since less rolls need to be stocked. Additionally and nowadays more and more important in the milling industry energy costs are reduced thanks to the lasting sharpness of the corrugation. Summing up, TITAN rolls stand for lowest total cost of ownership for the miller. The value that was added by TITAN rolls has been proven in numerous milling companies all over the world. We are very satisfied with the TITAN rolls. Their service life is 60 percent longer compared to local rolls, confirms a Japanese flour milling company who stands representatively for the large number of TITAN roll users. Because of their high durability the TITAN rolls are also very much appreciated by the oilseed processing and ethanol industry. More
inforMation:

www.Bhlergroup.com

Grain

&feed millinG technoloGy

may - June 2013 | 45

Images courtsey of Bhler AG

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