Roller shaft replacement project at Lafarge Cement

Staffordshire, UK - When enegineers at Lafarge Cement’s Cauldon Works in Staffordshire found that a kiln support roller shaft was badly worn, they decided to replace the unit at the next available plant shutdown, which was in February 2008. Due to the height and accessibility issue under the kiln, Lafarge opted to outsource the work of  removing the old roller and installing the complete new roller shaft assembly to Corus Northern Engineering Services (CNES), 

The removal and installation work took five days to complete. The roller shaft was one of six that supports the kiln and the rollers themselves weigh between 8 and 9 tonnes each. In order to remove the existing damaged roller shaft, CNES engineers had to jack up one end of the kiln that the roller was supporting. This was carried out using two, 150-tonne hydraulic jacks and the roller removed in a two-day time frame.

This process involved moving it out from its position on skates using lifting slings and lifting beams, connecting to chain hoists and lowering it 8m to a sunken floor. The roller was finally removed from site for scrapping and recycling the steel. Fitting the new roller was effectively a reversal of the removal procedure.

The new roller shaft was manufactured at Corus Process Engineering at Workington. The rotary kiln was then lowered back onto the new roller shaft ready for commissioning by Lafarge’s engineering team. In total, CNES engineers spent around eight days on site changing the rollers over. As well as the removal and installation work, CNES manufactured the replacement roller shaft assembly. CNES Scunthorpe manufactured the shaft and then machined it to suit the roller at the Workington plant.

Cauldron Works has a capacity to manufacture up to one million tonnes of cement each year and is increasing use of waste-derived fuels as part of its drive for increased sustainability in its operations. The facility uses a combination of traditional fossil fuels – coal and petroleum coke – with tyre chips and processed sewage pellets. It is also permitted to use Recovered Fuel Oil (RFO) and has recently been given a permit to evaluate Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF), which, it is estimated, could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by around 17,000 tonnes a year.