Australian distributor, Statewide Bearings worked closely with WPT Power and a large sawmilling firm to look for a solution to increase the plants uptime.
The end user has in operation a 66” chipper as part of their automated production process and in the course of normal performance it requires the knife heads be changed daily. During the knife change process they have a 15 minute window to conduct this service. The chipper drum has a run down time of approximately 8 minutes leaving only a few minutes to exchange the set of knives. Site Engineers worked closely with WPT Power to work out a suitable solution to reduce the run down time as much as possible without generating high temperatures due to the flammable nature of the wood chip and dust. The WPT Power Low Inertia Spring Set brake allowed for short decelerating times and greater heat dissipation, helping the mill to meet its goals. With some fine tuning the sawmill is able to have the chipper drum stop safely in 15 seconds, enabling the fitters to conduct the knife change with time to spare. The plant’s chipper operation was quickly back up and running on schedule increasing it’s uptime.
The Low Inertia Spring Set Brake also provides some safety benefits as it functions as a fail-safe brake that stops the drum turning while the routine drum maintenance is carried out.
If you have a similar circumstance or applications in your business, please don’t hesitate in contacting your local WPT Power distributor or factory representative.