Couplings turn up the power at Welsh steel mill

Couplings are playing their part in a major upgrade of Corus's tandem cold rolling mill at Port Talbot in South Wales, a project that will more than double the mill's power handling capability.

Renold Gearflex couplings are playing their part in a major upgrade of Corus's tandem cold rolling mill at Port Talbot in South Wales, a project that will more than double the mill's power handling capability.

The five-stand cold rolling mill currently produces up to one million tons of strip steel a year, which is used in the fabrication of a wide range of items including car bodies and cases for domestic appliances.

The upgrade is scheduled to take place in two stages with stage one already completed.

This involved the replacement of three 2.9MW DC motors with three new 6.9MW AC motors and associated gearboxes.

A Renold GF12HDB Gearflex coupling connects the motor to the gearbox.

Additional Renold Gearflex couplings consisting of GF16HDB, GF18HDB and GF20HDB's complete the package, connecting the gearbox output to the pinion box which drives the rollers through which the steel passes.

Commenting on the contract, Martin Slade, Renold Clutches and Couplings' sales director said: "This was an important and prestige order for us to win.

Quality and reliability is obviously a key issue in this application and it demonstrates the confidence that world-class companies have in our products.

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