A Report on Roller Arcing

Extracting juice from sugar cane to make sugar involves squeezing shredded cane between large rotating rollers. Grooving of the cast iron roller surfaces and subsequent arcing of the teeth profile with globules of hard and highly durable metal improves juice extraction and prevents slippage of the shredded cane during crushing. voestalpine Böhler Welding is the reliable supplier of the welding metal used for arcing.

"voestalpine Böhler Welding has been the preferred supplier of the specialized welding material used for roller arcing at SBR since December 2010."

S. B. Reshellers Pvt. Ltd. (SBR), located in Kolhapur in the Indian state of Maharashtra, are specialists for the manufacture, reshelling and hardfacing of rollers used in the sugar industry. The company, which is the largest of its type in India, caters to all major sugar factories and original equipment manufacturers of sugar mills in both the domestic and international markets. 

A special partner for specialized product applications 

Hardfacing of roller shells, otherwise known as roller arcing, is carried out using hardfacing welding rods that are applied to the tips and flanks of the roller grooves. Special metallic wire is used to generate extremely hard metal beads along the teeth profile. voestalpine Böhler Welding has been the preferred supplier of the specialized welding material used for arcing at SBR since December 2010.

Success of a new roller arcing process

In cooperation with Fronius India, a new automatic welding system was introduced at SBR’s Kolhapur workshop for the arcing of sugar mill rollers. This system features the generation of a twin arc on both sides of the groove and, with the use of FCAW wire, allows arcing to be performed at a much faster rate compared to the conventional process. In a series of trials conducted using UTP Vanadium 500 and UTP Vanadium SG welding wire from voestalpine Böhler Welding, the results showed that this material was highly suited for the new welding system and fully met the requirements for achieving excellent arcing results at accelerated rates.