Horsburgh & Scott Engineers Provide Innovative Repair to Severely Damaged Steel BOF Gear Drive

Horsburgh & Scott recently completed an innovative repair of a large Pennsylvania steel company BOF gearbox initially thought to need a complete replacement. The steel mill had gearbox failure on a large BOF drive that became frozen due to rust, corrosion, heat and 25 years of heavy use. Production at the mill was shut down four days while staff worked on the drive to remove the unit from the shaft. Finally, in the middle of the night, they took a burning torch to the side of the drive and cut into the housing to remove the shaft from the gearbox.
 
These BOF gear drives used in steel mills have one of the most severe duties that gearing is made for. The housing sits on a 30 inch diameter shaft suspended 100 feet in the air on the side of a large vessel. This vessel holds a half million pounds of molten steel and the drive tips the vessel to safely pour liquid metal, which requires the drive to be incredibly strong and heat tolerant.  Most BOF steel drives were made in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s and with a 25-year life cycle; many of those are now starting to fail and need repairs.
 
After freeing the BOF drive, the steel company called Horsburgh & Scott to come assess the gearbox, even though the housing looked unrepairable. Horsburgh & Scott engineers were able to come up with an initial repair plan after studying photos of the drive. The entire unit was shipped to the company’s Repair and Rebuild Facility in Euclid, Ohio, where it received a complete overhaul with new ground gears, shaft, and a seamless patch in the casting. The customer was so pleased with Horsburgh & Scott’s ability to repair the drive and the quality of the work, they are sending a second BOF drive for a similar complete rebuild.
 
“The business call from the Pittsburgh steel mill was due to a referral from another steel mill in Detroit,” explains Chris Horsburgh, 4th generation member of the founding Horsburgh family and lead on this project. “Horsburgh & Scott has expertly repaired gearing for them, including BOF drives, and word travels fast in the steel world. We have recently repaired or made new eight large BOF steel drives and completed their complicated service and installation. The precise job of fitting the large keys in the bore of these drives is a unique skill that Horsburgh & Scott has become very good at,” added Horsburgh.
 
About Horsburgh & Scott
Horsburgh & Scott is a worldwide leader in engineering, manufacturing and maintaining gears and gearboxes. The company offers custom mid and large size gearing and preventive maintenance solutions for mining, metals processing, sugar processing, oil and gas drilling, and a wide variety of other industries. It has been in business for nearly 130 years and has manufacturing operations in the US and sales and service worldwide.
 

Contact Information

Pradeep Saha

President and CEO

Horsburgh & Scott

(1) 216-431-3900

Contact via E-mail