THE NUMBER one mill drive at Bingera Mill is a conventional, Australian six roll
mill fitted with a heavy duty pressure feeder. The mill drive comprises a single
stage steam turbine, a high speed gearbox and a low speed gearbox driving the
top roll and bottom pressure feed roll through tail bars. The number one mill
drive suffered three broken turbine rotor shafts, a failed coupling between the
turbine and high speed gearbox and broken teeth on the input shaft of the high
speed gearbox during the 2005 crushing season. The paper describes work done
to investigate and correct the problem with the mill drive while making best
efforts to continue operation of the factory.