IN FIRST GEAR L. Faure, Technical Director, CMD, reports on the company’s new range of gearbox for vertical mills. Introduction This article discusses CMD's ROLLEREX® reducers (speed reducers for vertical mills) and more precisely the new range of planetary reducers. A range for the cylindrical reducers has been deduced from the plan- etary range.The cement and coal industries are using roller mills with more and more intensity, for the development of their different products. Several ranges of grinders, of varied performances and sizes exist in the world. One of the main aspects of a vertical grinder is the impetus reducer. In spite of difficult access, this uses all of the important forces of grinding, ensuring at the same time, the impetus in rotation of the grinder. It’s the reason why the reducer has to combine per- formance and reliability. Reducers CMD has already devised numerous reducers for mills Which are essentially planetary reducers, even if a reduc- er with cylindrical gears is possible. CMD has now pro- duced a new range of planetary reducers for the impetus of mills: ROLLEREX® RP (RP: ROLLEREX® Planetary). This range covers the following sector: © a wide range of power from 150 kW to 4200 kW. © arrange of torque from 35 000 mN to 1.3 milion mN. © vertical strains up to 830 t in static and 2100 dynamic. © ratios of reduction between 19 and 51, © sizes suited to the major part of the actual mills. fications can also be carried out on a standard reducer. The reducers have the following features: © an important transmittable power. © the capacity to handle the loads and vibrations caused by the mill without damages. © an effective and reliable hydraulic part. © recognised quality of conception and real tion. Planetary type reducer ‘The ROLLEREX® RP is a planetary type reducer which accounts for its compact design and the shape of its housing which is perfectly adapted to withstand the forces induced by the grinding process. The reducers main components are: © a bevel gear as first stage. © a planetary stage, © an output flange. © a thrust bearing located at the top of the unit. © and the housing In order to achieve maximum performance and total 05 ma ms na Sen Rass ms as se feliability, the internal and external constraints on core each component were calculated and taken into account for their design. >Fora transmitted power below 1800 kW CMD pro- pose a 2 stage reducer and above this power a 3 stage reducer to avoid the use of a bevel wheel with a too large diameter. (See Figures 1 and 2). All types of vertical mills The following description shows the technology used in the range of reducers designed to be used in all types of vertical mils. (See Figure 3) Housing The housing of the gearbox is designed to satisfy two functions. One is, as on other types of gearboxes, to enable lubrication and protection of gears, and the ‘other one, which is specific to this type of gearboxes, is to support high weights and loads of the vertical mmill. Due to rigid design of the housing, the gearbox ‘an, apart from axial and radial dynamic loads, with- stand vibration excitations coming from the mil The housing is steel plate fabricated and stress relieved, Subsequently, itis checked with dye pene- trant in order to detect and eliminate potential cracks. The main cylindrical wall structure of the housing is exactly below the thrust bearing base. It is made of one tick steel plate which is rolled then welded and rein- forced with internal and external radial ribs. The ribbing connects the gylindrical wall structure with the base plate form- ing a rigid housing highly resistant to bending stress and deformation. The minimised deforma- tions of the housing under load allow good contact of the gear mesh, and correct operation of the bearings and tilting pads of the thrust bearing in all circumstances. Input bevel gear The first gear train consists of the input spiral bevel pinion and wheel made on Klingelnberg machine Both shaft pinion and wheel are made of forged steel ‘1TCrNiMo6 which is case hardened to 58-60 HRC and finish machined using cyclo palloid HPG-S gearing after hardening, The achieved gear quality is SO 6 (or AGMA 10) which allows good contact between the pinion and the wheel and results in a low emission of noise. The bevel gear is calculated as per AGMA 2003A86 with a service factor above 2.5 or ISO 6336 with a selected service factor above 3.5. ‘The wheel diameter is limited to a maximum1200 mm due to the fact that with higher diameters the achieved gear precision will not be sufficient in rela- tion to CMD’s design criteria, and operating experi- ence. The spiral bevel gear is sensitive to imperfection, of the gear contact, therefore maximum care is taken to increase its lifetime. WORLD CEMENT December 1999, ‘The shaft pinion is assembled with its bearing in a separate casing which facilitates its inspection and potential replacement without having to dismantle the whole gearbox. Intermediate cylindrical helical gear for a reducer with 3 stages For ROLLEREX® size RP20 and above, the intermedi ate cylindrical helical gear set is used better distribute the torque between the gear trains and, as previous- ly explained, to reduce the bevel wheel diameter and consequently increase the gear mesh precision. Both pinion and wheel are made of forged stee! 17CrMoé with case hardened gears to 58-60 HRC, which are then ground to quality ISO 6 (AGMA 10). ‘The gears are tip relieved to minimise sliding effect in the meshing, and are longitudinally corrected to increase the contact pattern under load Intermediate and planetary gear connection The connection between the intermediate gear set and the sun gear of the planetary train is carried out by means of a double gear coupling which enables even centring of the sun gear with the three plan- ft gears. The gear cou- pling is of the proven CCMD's FLEXIDENT® design with crowned teeth which can withstand mis alignments at high loads. Planetary gear The sun gear and planet gears are made of forged steel grade 17CriMo6 which are case hardened to 58-60 HRC and ground to quality ISO 6 (AGMA 10). The sun gear and planets are tip relieved to minimise sliding effect in the mesh, and are longitudinally corrected to increase the contact pattern under load. The annulus (internal gear) is made of forged steel grade 30CrNiMo8 which is trough hardened to 330 HB before gear cutting in quality ISO 7 (AGMA §). The gears are calculated Using AGMA 2001B88 standards for a service factor of more than 2.5. The calculation as per ISO 6336 is car- ‘ied out for service factor which is better than 3. Each planet gear is supported by only one self- aligning double rollers spherical bearing to guaran- tee the alignment and the gear contact of the planet gears with the inner ring gear. The planet carrier is in steel construction, stress relieved and carefully inspected by dye penetrant check. The planet carrier body has opening which enable splash lubrication of the planetary gears and bearings. Planet carrier guiding The planet carrier is radially guided by a bearing with 4 lobes, lubricated by a separate injection. This bear- ing permits a free positioning of the planet carrier to 2have a good meshing of the planetary gears and to compensate the radial efforts of the mil A four lobe bearing is considered the best solution for this type of effort. As the direction of the radial efforts is a priori unknown, it is necessary to lubricate in several points to guarantee a minimum oil film on its periphery. Thrust bearing The high vertical forces from the mill are absorbed by the trust bearing consisting of tilting pads which are arranged in segments below the connecting output flange in a way to have the largest surface for the given diameter of the table On the other hand, the gap between pads is optimised with the aim of assuring efficient evacuation of the hot oil from one pad and Preventing entering to the next one, in the case of hydrostatic lubrication, the fresh oils abundantly sprayed between the pads Each pad is made up of hardened steel block with a white metal layer on the upper working surface and a spherical foot on the lower side which enables the pad to oscillate and to self -adjust in each direction. This design enables 100% of the bearing area to bee engaged, which results ina uniform thick- ness of the ol film between the white metal of the pad and the ground surface of the flange. The thickness of the ol film is assured to be uniform and sufficient to always exceed the surface roughness of the raceway of the flange, and to absorb the shocks resulting from the grinding process of the mil. in the case of the hydrostatic lubricating system shut-down the thrust bearing pads will remain submerged in oil and. hydrody- namic lubrication will be sufficient for emer- gency running. The white metal layer is efficient for emergency running, and for high pressures resulting from static and dynamic loads. The oil level will remain inall circumstances above the sliding area of the pads, due to high position of oll overflow pipes. The start-up and the shut-down of the loaded mill is possible when the hydrostatic lubricating system is applied. The high il pressure (120 bars) is fed in to the middle of the sliding area of each pad which hydrostatically elevates the grinding assembly. Depending of the size of the gearbox and loads applied, only half of the pads could be arranged with hydrostatic lubrication. Each hydrostatically lubricated pad has its own pump unit. This is applied to increase the safety of the system now being able to operate with some of lubr cating lines out of function. in all circumstances the monitoring system of the ROLLEREX® RP gearbox will detect potential malfunctions Connection between planetary gear and output flange The connection between the planet carrier and the ‘output flange is done with elastic dowels which are shrink-fit inserted using liquid nitrogen. This solution WORLD CEMENT Decen 3 2 5. ROLLEREX® RP has got a high safety factor of torque transmissibility, and at the same time allows easy dismantling of the flange, and easy access into the gearbox. Bearings and oil sealing The theoretical calculated lifetime of all roller bearings isa minimum of: Lye = 60.000 h, which i La = 150 000 has per ISO 281 Depending of the level of monitoring, the gearbox can be equipped with a temperature sensor for bear ings of the input shafted pinion, as well as vibration gauges if requested The input shaft and the output flange are sealed with labyrinth seals which are wear free and are eff cient for abrasive atmospheres such as with limestone, cement or coal Lubricating and monitoring system ‘The lubrication of the gearbox has two functions: © to evacuate and dissipate the heat generated in the gearbox and by transmission from the rotat ing table of the mill to the gearbox via water or air cooler © toassure the oil film between rotating elements lke babbit bearings, gears, and thrust bearing pads.bearings and gears are lubricated by spray injection while thrust bearing pads are always sub- rmersed in oil (hydrodynamic lubrication) and addition- ally in the case of hydrostatic lubrication they are force-lubricated by feeding the oil between the pad and the output flange. The lubricating system of the gearbox is mounted on the module which is delivered separately. The oll sump isnormally integrated with the lubricating module. ‘There are three levels of lubrication and monitoring offered: Basic lubrication and monitoring (MOA) The thrust bearing is hydrodynamically lubricated, therefore no forced lubrication for bearing pads is fore- seen. The system is simplified, having one lubrication diving screw pump (without stand-by pump). The monitoring system using for the ROLLEREX® RP 2 to RPB / RP9 consists of: © 3 analogue sensors connected to the control cabi- ‘et with local indications displayed on the front panel (2 for oil temperature and 1 for oil pressure indications © 5 on-off switches (2 for flow controllers, 2 for oil level gauges, 1 for oil filter clogging indicator); © 2 analogue sensors (for 2 flow controllers); © 1 local indicator (for oil filter clogging). Intermediate lubrication and monitoring (mMoB) Half of the thrust bearing pads (generally 6) are ‘equipped with forced high pressure hydrostatic lubrica- tion. The system is equipped with one screw el. motor driven lubricating pump (without stand-by pump), a duplex oil filter, one oll cooler, and one oil tank. All are mounted on the skid and arranged with standard pi fittings, non return and pressure regulating valves. The monitoring system using for the ROLLEREX® RPS {1 RP9 to RPIBIRP20 consists of: © 12 analogue sensors connected to the control cabi- net with local indications displayed on the front panel (5 for oll temperature and 7 for oil pressure indications) © 7 on-off switches (3 for flow controllers, 2 for oil level gauges, 1 for inlet valve lub.cil pump position indicator, 1 for oil fiter clogging indicator) © 4 analogue sensors (2 for flow controllers, 1 for oil pressure, 1 for oil temperature). © 1 local indicator (for oil fiter clogging). Maximal lubrication and monitoring (moc) All thrust bearing pads are equipped with forced high pressure hydrostatic lubrication. The system is equipped \with two screw el motor driven lubricating pumps (one is a stand-by pump), @ duplex oil filter, one oil cooler, and one oil tank. All are mounted on the skid and arranged with standard pipes, fittings, backstop and pressure regulating valves. The monitoring system using for the ROLLEREX® after RP20 consists of: ‘© 19 analogue sensors connected to the control cabi- net with local indications displayed on the front panel (6 for oil temperature and 13 for oil pressure indications); © 8 on-off switches (3 for flow controllers, 2 for oil level gauges, 2 for inlet valve lub. oil pump position indicators, 1 for filter clogging indicator); © 4 analogue sensors (2 for flow controllers, 1 for oil pressure, 1 for oll temperature) © 1 local indicator (ol filter clogging). ‘The lubricating system can be modified, taking into con- sideration CMD's requirements on functionality of the gearbox. ‘A complete arrangement of a ROLLEREX® reducer with auxiliary gearbox, hydraulic unit and motor is shown in Figure 7. © Palladian Publications 2000 WORLD CEMENT December 1999