Problematic with the AOD process is that it considerably agitates the liquid steel. These vibrations result in high dynamic loads which can exceed those from the tilting operation itself. To take the strain, the tooth segment of the locking arm engages with the bull gear and fixes it in the blowing position. That distributes the forces over several tooth faces and transmits it into the foundations without any backlash. This significantly relieves both the bull gear and the downstream gear units.

Hydraulic rotation retainer

Our new hydraulic rotation retainer (HRR) for AOD converter tilt drives substantially reduces the vibrations of the vessel, gear box, and foundations. That means no more maintenance of torque supports and bearings. You also benefit from the much longer service life of your gears and bearings.

Decoupling of the converter from the foundations during blowing results in significantly longer equipment lifetimes:

• Active damping of vibrations.
• Elimination of damage to spherical plain bearings.
• Reduced loads on foundations and mechanical equipment (old: up to 1,000 kN; new: about 200 kN).