Conversion of a bucket elevator for raw meal transport

8. January 2025

AUMUND GROUP

Cement plant in Colombia

The bucket elevator chain had already broken three times near the bush: The manufacturer’s laminated chain could not withstand the sum of many forces, such as the altitude of up to 2,500 m, a centre distance of 53 m and the rated capacity of 350 t/h.

The contact pressure of the chain links was too high. The chain links broke – the chain and buckets collapsed. The plant for raw meal production (grain size < 1 mm) had to be taken out of operation three times to repair the chain. The safety of the operating personnel was no longer guaranteed.

The Colombian customer therefore decided to replace the chain with one from AUMUND as early as 2022. The AUMUND companies from Brazil and Germany presented a rebuild solution that provided for an improvement in the quality, design and breaking strength of the chain strand. The entire drive shaft, the chain and all connecting elements were replaced. The new, almost 107 metre long, forged chain from AUMUND in a special design has a breaking force of 1,500 kN and holds the 300 buckets securely. Assembly and adjustments took place in just five days and the subsequent running test demonstrated the success of the conversion.

Two inspections in 2023 and 2024 confirmed the excellent result of the assembly two years earlier: less than 1% wear was recorded at the control measuring points.  The customer’s maintenance manager is very satisfied: “Two years have passed in which production has run uninterruptedly – without alarms or stops. We in maintenance can sleep peacefully again, especially at weekends.”