The confines of underground mining mean that equipment must become more and more productive without increasing size. When downtime ranges between $30,000 and $50,000 an hour, increased uptime means more profit.
Longwall shearer cutters traverse back and forth, stripping layers of coal. Each pass is challenged by intense impact loads and extreme dirt and debris. Timken tapered roller bearings and debris-resistant bearings are suitable for helping to maintain continuous operations in this tough application.
Longwall shearer idler gears and planets also bene t from the high radial load capacity of Timken spherical and cylindrical roller bearings.
Jixi Coal Mine Machinery Company, Ltd., part of Joy Global and one of China’s largest manufacturers of underground mining machinery, engaged Timken because of problems they experienced with electric haulage shearers. Analyses done by Timken showed that a competitor’s original- equipment spherical bearings were not ideal for high-thrust loading and caused excessive bi-directional axial movement due to large endplay. This resulted in frequent bearing and seal failures and end-user complaints.
To provide a solution, Timken used its global technology resources and determined that Timken tapered roller bearings were better suited for the shearers and would help reduce costly downtime. Timken worked with Jixi to improve the shearers’ design for optimal performance with tapered bearings and provided training on the use and maintenance of the bearings.
Timken
www.timken.com
