TPT September 2011

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S eptember 2011 69 ›
Technology Update
4-WAY HANDLING
Combilift Co. Monaghan Ireland Tel: +353 47 80500 UKTel: 07870 976758
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SLABS, billets and other steel products
are manufactured in steel mills with
continuous casting facilities and ladle
turrets. In continuous casting, molten steel
is continuously poured from the foundry
ladle over a tundish into the ingot mould. If a
foundry ladle is empty except for the residual
slag, the ladle valve shuts off the steel flow
into the tundish. The ladle turret moves the
next ladle over the tundish, the ladle valve is
opened and the steel continues to flow.
The ladle valve situated under the
foundry ladle is operated by a hydraulic
cylinder. After a crane has hooked the
full foundry ladle into the ladle turret, and
shortly before the empty ladle is to be
removed, the hydraulic cylinder is generally
removed from and attached to the ladle
valve by hand.
In the event of an operating error or in
an emergency it is often no longer possible
to release the hydraulic cylinder under the
foundry ladle manually. If, in such a case,
the crane removes the foundry ladle from the
ladle turret and the cylinder is still attached to
the ladle, the hose lines or pipes leading to
the cylinder control are destroyed or severely
damaged. There is also a risk of fire due to
leaking hydraulic oil.
To avoid such dangers, coupling
manufacturer Walther-Präzision has
developed a special emergency separation
system, consisting of two identical couplings
with a 45° angled connection. Additionally,
the two couplings HP-010-Y26 and 12-010-
Y10 are mechanically coded in a way that
they may not be connected with one another.
A confusion of flow and return line is thus
prevented. Manufactured from high quality
steel, the couplings easily resist temperatures
up to 150°C and working pressures up to 200
bar in this harsh environment.
The company states that using this
system pays off even after one failure. The
costs brought about by destroyed hoses or
pipes, labour costs for repair and start up, as
well as loss of production due to downtimes
are considerably higher than the costs
for installing a set of Walther emergency
separation couplings on the ladle valve of the
foundry ladles.
Walther-Präzision – Germany
Email:
Website:
Emergency couplings on ladle valves
The HP-010-Y26
and the 12-010-Y10