Two SKF solutions have been developed to deliver benefits to continuous casting mills.

SKF Conro Low is a relubrication-free roll unit for the horizontal stage of continuous casting machines The greased and sealed unit reduces the main cause of continuous casting lines stoppages - rollers that become jammed from the scale and hardened grease build up in the hot, wet conditions of the caster.

SKF Conro Low has been designed as a drop-in replacement unit and is dimensionally interchangeable with existing roll segments.

This simplifies installation and virtually eliminates the chance of installation errors that would adversely affect the product quality and service life.

The sealed and unitised concept of SKF Conro Low also eliminates all the problems and costs around pumped grease installations that cycle several times every hour.

SKF Conro Low units include a self-aligning system that can accommodate the high degree of roll expansion fluctuation that occurs in concast mills.

This is achieved using a CARB toroidal roller bearing in the non-locating position and an SKF Spherical Roller Bearing in the locating position.

CARB features an inner ring that moves independently of the outer ring, enabling it to accommodate shaft deflections and move smoothly in the axial direction without inducing internal axial loads.

SKF Caster Analyst is an online monitoring system that analyses process loads and temperatures so that in-line adjustments can be made to increase throughput and product quality.

The system comprises rugged load and temperature sensors positioned on the roll lines, which send measured data to the SKF Caster Analyst programme located on a remote PC server.

The analysed data allows mill operators to adjust taper settings, modify process speeds or identify causes for production stops, such as bent rolls, misalignment and cooling problems.

The SKF Caster Analyst system has three layers of hardware BHE (Bearing Housing Electronics) for the sampling of sensor data.

The data is transmitted from the units via robust digital communication.

The PC server communicates with up to 63 RSE units via a modern fieldbus technology.

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