Sabnis DV and Shaik MM Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass (2016) 89: 435-446

REFEREED PAPER

M19: A PREMIUM SUGAR MILL ROLLER SHELL MATERIAL FOR

BETTER PERFORMANCE OF CONVENTIONAL AND HIGH
PERFORMANCE INTERNAL BLEEDING ROLLERS

SABNIS D AND SHAIKH M

S.B. Reshellers Pvt. Ltd., Kolhapur, India.
dvsabnis@sbreshellers.com; mmshaikh@sbreshellers.com

Abstract
S. B. Reshellers Pvt. Ltd. in India has developed a revolutionary alloy specifically catering to
sugar millers worldwide. This paper explores the material, the SBR Alloy, a cast iron alloy
which has the benefits of open grain cast iron, but has higher strength, excellent weldability, and
higher wear and corrosion resistance than cast iron. This paper will compare the above-
mentioned properties with traditional cast iron, used for its rough surface which is conducive to
better traction. However, the cast iron material has many shortcomings, including low
elongation, and as a result the roller teeth tend to break under high concentrated loads. The
traditional cast iron suffers from low strength and low weldability.
Economically, the SBR Alloy is preferred by many sugar factories as the slight increase in cost is
immediately offset by longer life and better performance of the rollers.
SBR Alloy also enhances the performance of the Kamal internal bleeding rollers which, by
design, is itself much better than the Lotus design prevalent in most parts of the world. This
paper discusses the operation of internal bleeding Kamal rollers and their advantages.
Keywords: sugar mill roller, internal bleeding, cast iron, SBR Alloy, Kamal, wear resistance,
weldability

INTRODUCTION
A sugar milling unit typically consists of three rollers, each of which has been open grained cast
iron shell shrunk over a forged steel shaft. The roller shell surface is grooved circumferentially to
increase the contact surface area to get better traction on the shredded cane blanket that is passed
between the rollers. The grooved surface also provides additional traction force and mechanical
grinding of the fibre blanket due to inclined faces. During crushing, as the cane blanket moves
through the mill, extracted juice comes out and flows to collection chutes. The better the traction
of the shells over the cane blanket, the lesser the slip, the lesser the wear and hence the better the
extraction.
“Open grained cast iron” has historically been the preferred shell material because of its relative
low cost and because it provides a rough surface finish to aid the traction and hence the feeding
of the cane blanket into the nip of the rollers. Additionally, if a large tramp iron piece falls into

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the mill, the brittle nature of the cast iron often causes the grooved construction to break so that
further damage, such as bending of the roller, might be avoided. However, open grained un-
alloyed cast iron has low strength, very poor weldability and low abrasion resistance. As mill
sizes grew with the passage of time and more power was introduced for driving the mills, higher
strength shell material became a necessity. The wear due to corrosion as well as abrasion also
hampers the working of rollers and causes frequent regrooving and shell changes. As the arcing
(hardfacing by weld deposition) of the roller shells became standard practice for the roughening
of the shell surface, poor weldability of cast iron became a hindrance in surface engineering of
the shells. Thus shell material, having higher strength, higher wear resistance and better
weldability, was desirable.

SBR Alloy Properties

SBR Alloy was developed after intensive research and years of trials by the development team at
S.B. Reshellers Pvt. Ltd to address the shortcomings of the open grained cast iron. Although the
chemical composition of SBR Alloy does not vary much from the cast iron, it is the way it is
treated that makes all the difference. It is a semi-nodular cast iron, having almost all the benefits
of cast iron but with higher strength, better wear resistance and far superior weldability. Table 1
compares the properties of SBR Alloy to conventional cast iron.
Note that since sugar mill roller shells have thicknesses ranging from 150 mm to 300 mm,
comparison also includes thick sections that are not commonly assessed.

Table 1. Comparison of properties between cast iron and SBR Alloy based on analysis by SBR
Sr. Property Cast Iron SBR Alloy
No.
1 Std. tensile strength of test 200 to 280 MPa 450 to 600 MPa
bar of dia. 30 mm
2 Tensile strength of dia. 30 100 to 150 MPa 300 to 400 MPa
mm test bar made from
section cut from sugar mill
roller shell.
3 Std. yield point strength of 200 to 280 MPa 350 to 450 MPa
dia. 30 mm bar

4 Elongation Nil 1.5 to 4% approximately

5 Modulus of elasticity 125 X 103 MPa 175 X 103 MPa
6 Brinell hardness 150 to 220 BHN 180 to 240 BHN
7 Weldability Poor Excellent
8 Wear resistance Good Better
9 Corrosion resistance Good Good

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Table 1 highlights the advantages of SBR Alloy over cast iron. The increase in the modulus of
elasticity and the increase in the BHN are particularly noteworthy.
Wear resistance
Tables 2, 3 and 4 provide information on the wear resistance of SBR Alloy compared to
conventional cast iron as reported by factories using SBR Alloy shells.
Table 2. Wear resistance at Appasaheb Nalwade Gadhinglaj Taluka SSK[3] (1 September 2006)
Sr. Description Crushing Diameter at Diameter at Remark
No. the start of the end of
season season
1 SBR Alloy 5th mill 325 000 825 mm 822 mm No
top roller No. A- tons with appreciable
5468/05 13% fibre wear of hard
@ 5.5 pH facing after
season
2 Conventional 6th mill 825 mm 807 mm -
top roller

Table 3. Wear resistance at Nandi SSK[3] ( 22 January 2009)

Description Crushing Diameter at Diameter at Remark
Sr. the start of the end of
No. season season
1 SBR Alloy top roller 400 000 1 095 mm 1 095 mm Regrooving
no. A-8024/07 tons not done after
season
2 Conventional bottom 1190 mm 1180 mm -
roller no. A-7888/07

Table 4. Wear resistance at the Ugar Sugar Works (2 December 2008)

Description Crushing Diameter at Diameter at Remark
Sr. the start of the end of
No. season season
1 SBR Alloy top roller 958 009 1 140 mm 1 138 mm Regrooving
during season 2005-06 tons done after
season to
1 120 mm
2 Above roller during 1 114 542 1 120 mm 1 117 mm -
season 2006-07 tons

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The following conclusions can be drawn from Tables 2, 3 and 4:

1. Wear of the SBR Alloy rollers is far less than conventional cast iron rollers. Sometimes
no wear is observed;
2. Hard facing remains intact even after crushing for complete season, indicating better
adhesion of the arcing due to better weldability; and
3. Regrooving can be completely avoided after first season.

Weldability
Figures 1 and 2 are photographs of arcing (hardfacing) using KST TUB A 1001 M OA ‘open
arc’ hardfacing continuous wire dia. 2.4 mm diameter. The Figure 1 photograph was taken after
usage on conventional cast iron and the Figure 2 photograph was taken after usage on SBR Alloy
material with identical settings. Considerably more deposit can be seen on the SBR Alloy roller.

Figure 1. Arcing of conventional cast iron roller [Source – SBR Datafiles]

Figure 2. Arcing of SBR Alloy roller [Source – SBR Datafiles]

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Benefits of using SBR Alloy:

1. The wear of the shell is as a result of many factors other than wear resistance of the shell
material. However, it can be seen from the above tables that wear of the conventional cast iron
shells in identical conditions is more than double the wear of the shell in SBR Alloy; Hence, as a
result of lower wear, SBR Alloy shell has approximately double the life expectancy of a
conventional cast iron roller because of:
2. The reduced wear, annual regrooving can be avoided. Only the roots of the grooves need
to be corrected for scraper adjustment if required;
3. The better adhesion of the arcing, subsequent weld deposition can be minimised;
4. The better adhesion, initial weld deposition (hardfacing/arcing) of the roller, requires
lesser electrodes than usage on conventional cast iron, reducing waste of material;
5. Increased life of arcing implies less frequency of arcing, and less downtime resulting
from arcing;
6. The ability to withstand weakening of shell due to multiple drilling for high performance
internal bleeding rollers against cane crushing stresses; and
7. Better wear resistance which is seen as another major advantage. It is widely accepted
that worn shells have a negative effect on pol extraction. At Manuelita mill in Colombia,
extensive research was carried out on shell wear and extraction performance using historical
milling data and an extraction model based on reabsorption coefficient (Gomez et al., 2005). It
was concluded that wear of the grooving is the main factor that affects the performance of the
milling units. Estimation of loss of brix extraction was between 4% and 12% for first mill. The
study also indicated that there may be additional effects of roller wear such as imbibition
efficiency impairment.
Figure 3 shows wear patterns of conventional as well as SBR Alloy shells, based on the reports
received. For similar conditions, at least three times the wear is observed in cast iron roller shells
as compared to SBR Alloy roller shells. This reduced the low pressure area to get better
performance all over, including pol extraction over time as per research carried out in Colombia.

Figure 3. Wear Patterns[5] on cast iron and SBR Alloy

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Figure 4. Wear Pattern[5] on Grooves

Figure 4 shows typical wear of the cast iron roller shell. Unevenness of the wear contributes to
considerable efficiency of the crushing.
Considering the benefits of SBR Alloy, which has been explained in detail, it is better to opt for
SBR Alloy in conventional and Kamal rollers.

Internal bleeding rollers: Background

The internal draining roller is a recent innovation in the long history of sugar cane milling. When
higher and higher crushing rates were sought in cane milling and problems such as flooding,
reabsorption of juice in bagasse and high final bagasse moisture had to be dealt with, Jean
Bouvet, (Bouvet, 1978) brought this concept of internal bleeding/drainage to the attention of the
sugar industry.
This original design had some inherent defects like clogging of drilled holes by bagasse,
simultaneous fouling of scraper tips in drainage holes, etc. and required certain modifications
and improvements in the geometry and shell material which were accomplished to make a
suitable product for commercial use. This Kamal design substantially improved on Bouvet’s
basic concept and is widely used in Indian industry.

Internal bleeding Kamal rollers

One major problem with the Lotus design was that the slippage would affect proper gripping of
the cane blanket. When cane is compressed between the rollers the pressure in the zone becomes
very high in the case of internal bleeding rollers, resulting in expressed juice being forced
through the nozzles and into the horizontal drainage system which ultimately exits in the juice
tray. This removal of the additional shifts the semi-liquid zone, increasing the gripping strength
of the rollers. Following are the details of shifting of semi-liquid zone.
Figure 5 shows the bagasse entering the nip of the two rolls. The cane touching the roll at A.A.,
is gripped by the rolls and starts being compressed. This progressive compression removes the

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air space between the cane fibres. At the same time, the available “free juice” is expressed and
the ratio of expressed juice/fibre increases gradually.

Figure 5. Bagasse entering the nip of the two rolls of conventional rollers[5]

Eventually, at some region delineated by the dotted line B1 B1 there is nothing but juice and
fibre. This is the start of the semi-liquid zone. From that point on, the roller surfaces cannot grip
the cane fibres any more as the material is in a semi-fluid state. All frictional force required to
offset the high pressure zone is developed by the roll surfaces in the region A A to B1 B1.
Figure 6 shows a mill with a top internal bleeding roller. Here the juice is removed through radial
nozzles connected to axial horizontal passages. As more of the juice is removed from this high
pressure area, less juice will be in semi-liquid zone hence the object of the internal bleeding
roller is to remove as much of this juice as possible and to advance the semi-liquid zone from B1
B1 to BB. This advance increases the roll surface area that grips the bagasse and makes it
available to increase the frictional force capable of forcing more cane between the rollers.
This not only reduces the power required, due to reduction in juice pressure and reduction of the
quantity of reabsorbed juice moving bagasse further, or increases the milling capacity, but as the
slippage of cane blanket on the roller surface is reduced, wear of the roller is also reduced
considerably.
Flooding and reabsorption
Figure 7 shows crushing in a conventional mill. As the expressed juice does not have a route to
progress to the juice basin there is flooding on the feed side of the top roller. This flooding
initiates reabsorption of the juice on the bagasse blanket.

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Figure 6. Bagasse entering the nip of the two rolls of Kamal rollers[5

Figure 7. Crushing in a conventional mill[5]

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In the case of the Kamal internal bleeding roller, the expressed juice gets way through nozzles
and juice passages to juice rings/juice guard and, consequently, to the juice basin, as shown in
Figure 8. This reduces flooding considerably and hence reabsorption.

Figure 8. Crushing in Kamal Mill[5]

Consequently, the following are the benefits that may be derived from using Kamal geometry:
1. Increased juice extraction;
2. Lower shell wear;
3. Increased mill capacity;
4. Lower power consumption;
5. Lower bagasse moisture; and
6. Lower pol in bagasse.

However, most of the above indicated benefits are interdependent. If mill capacity is to be
increased by using the Kamal roller, shell wear may not be reduced. Wear per ton of cane
crushing will be less in the case of the Kamal roller since slipping of the cane blanket over the
roller surface, which is wear, is reduced. If lower power consumption is desired, the benefit of
increased juice extraction may be lost.
Features of the Kamal design:
1) The juice passages in the Kamal design are cast in place in the shell itself. Since these are
of steel construction, they act as reinforcement and add to the strength of shell which is
otherwise compromised due to the holes;

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2) Juice passages are circular in design and do not have corners or angles for bagasse
particles to get lodged hence blockage due to accumulation of fibre is avoided. Circular passages
are also easy to clean by cylindrical brush or pressurised steam;
3) Juice nozzles are taper force fitted. The holes for the nozzles are drilled with special taper
drill, tapered at 1.25 degrees. Tapered nozzles are press fitted in the holes. For additional sealing
ANR adhesive is applied to both nozzles and holes; and
4) The geometry of the nozzle is such that it has a reverse taper, i.e. it has larger opening
inside the juice channel than on the outer surface making it virtually ‘clog free’.
The benefits of the Kamal roller depend on the amount of juice that is extracted through the
nozzles and the amount of juice extracted is a function of the number of nozzles per groove. The
Kamal roller traditionally has one nozzle per groove per juice channel.

Figure 9. Typical Kamal roller design with single nozzle. [5]

After some experiments, it was found possible to have double nozzle geometry without
compromising the strength of the roller. Double nozzles increased the juice extraction, which
proved to be beneficial, especially in first or last mill, for reducing moisture in bagasse. In the
double nozzle design (Figure 5), the distance between the nozzles is half that of the single nozzle
design. Referring to ‘X’ in Figure 9 ‘Y’ in Figure 10 Y=X/2

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Figure 10. Double nozzle design[5]

In most of the large rollers, the circumferential gap between the two radial nozzles is
considerable and it was thought desirable to accommodate one more nozzle midway so that the
evenness of circumferential distance is maintained (Figure 6). With success of double nozzled
geometry, experiments were conducted for triple nozzle construction. Because of additional
nozzles and the machining thereof, the price of the roller increased marginally. Referring to ‘X’
in Figure 4 and ‘Z’ in Figure 11 Z=X/3

Figure 11. The triple nozzle design

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Triple nozzle geometry’s additional drilling weakened the shell cross section. In the case of cast
iron shell, it was very difficult, if not impossible, to devise a geometry of juice channels to avoid
excessive weakening of the shell.
However, with the use of SBR Alloy, being of stronger shell material, it was found possible to
use the triple nozzled geometry.
Conclusion
1. SBR Alloy shell material, because of higher wear resistance, has higher life than
conventional cast iron, and requires less regrooving with less reshelling frequency.
2. SBR Alloy shell material, because of higher wear resistance, reduces loss of brix to the
extent of 4% to 12 %.
3. SBR Alloy, because of better weldability, has denser arcing, which remains firmer during
crushing and requires lesser frequent arcing.
4. SBR Alloy, because of higher strength, is easily adopted to double/triple nozzled internal
bleeding rollers, entailing higher extraction efficiency.
5. The Kamal internal bleeding roller reduces flooding and reabsorption of juice in bagasse.
6. The Kamal internal bleeding roller reduces juice pressure in the nip, consequently
reducing input power and increasing extraction.
7. The Kamal internal bleeding roller reduces shell wear and increases mill capacity by
increasing the gripping area.
8. The double and triple nozzle Kamal roller reduces bagasse moisture, increasing boiler
efficiency and power in the case of co-generating mills.

REFERENCES
Patented shell material of S. B. Reshellers Pvt. Ltd., Patent no. 1253/MUM/2004 dated 22nd Nov. 2004.
Jean Bouvet : Inventor of Internal Bleeding Lotus Rollers US Patent No. 4546698
Reports received from M/s Appasaheb Nalwade Gadhinglaj Taluka SSK, The Nandi SSK and The Ugar
Sugar Works through letters.
Gomez AL et al. (2005) Research Paper ISSCT – Vol. 25 2005 “An approach to a relationship between
roll shell wear and Pol extraction”

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