Application:
An Xtek customer in Spain needed a dependable wheel for their coke catch cars, used during the coke making process. Xtek was able to deliver a reliable wheel solution that significantly improved operations.
Coke is a hard, porous, and high-carbon fuel used in the Iron making process. It is typically produced by heating coking coal in Coke Oven Batteries before the hot coke is pushed out in to Coke Catch Cars. Coke cars are used for moving red hot coke from the ovens and moving it to the quenching tower. The cars must withstand an extremely high stress, harsh environment.
Problem:
The standard wheels being used by the customer, 42CrMo (45 HRC), were not delivering the performance needed for the application. These wheels had to be replaced every six months, suffered from excessive tread and flange wear, causing operational and maintenance issues.
Solution:
Xtek wheels were installed to replace the problematic wheels. Strengthened through the Xtek Tool Steel Process (TSP), the new wheels were specifically engineered for optimal performance in the demanding conditions of the coke production process. Xtek’s engineering team worked closely with the customer to develop a coke cart wheel design that anticipated and solved potential problems to meet project needs.
Result:
After 12 months of monitoring, the Xtek wheel performance resulted in:
- No wheel changes in this period
- Cost of two wheel changes was saved
- No downtime for wheel changes in this period
- Wheel remained in service for over 36 months
The customer cost savings included:
- Cost of wheels
- Replacement components (bearings, seals)
- Labor costs (removing from carriage and reconditioning wheel assembly)
- Elimination of downtime for wheel changes
- Mobile plant hire charges (for removing wheels)
Customer calculated savings of €75,000 over 12 months. Additional savings the customer realized included a reduction in overall maintenance costs since the cart now ran smoothly with reduced system stress. The Xtek wheels ran for an additional 24 months, and the savings from the wheel upgrade far exceeded the Xtek wheel investment costs.
Do you have a challenging wheel application? Xtek is ready to assist! Contact us today.