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THE SUGAR MILL ROLLER

Bv R. I,. GEOKGE .mu _I. M. REXI)


Introduction.
When one takes a visitor through a sugar mill for the first lime,
that visitor always seerns rnost iinpressed by the sugar mill rollers themselves and their artion in squeezing t11e juice from the cane. The object
of this paper is to bring together a few notes ancl observations on sugzar
Inill rollers ; it does not profess to be a treatise on inill design and. only
touches lightly on the various coilteritiol~s points in connection with
crushing generally.

Fig. I--- T h e drawings for a small tap roller.

lllc largest rollers used in the xvorld appear to be 84 jn. long and
92 to 44 in. in diameter. Messrs. hlirrlecs 1Ya.tsun many Fears ago
manufactured a mill with rollers BB in. l o ~ g Ixlt
, i t seerns to be generally
agreed tlrat the cconorr~iclimit is 81 in. I n the Ql~eensk~ud
indus4.r~the
srnallcst rollers are fount1 a t Rocky Point, and are 24 in. in diarneter
ancl 38 in. l o i ~ gwith jourllals 9 in. in diameter and 12 in. long. The
largest rollers found here are in t l ~ eX4 in. nlills, and their diameter is
approsirnately 38 in., while tlie journals are I9 in. in diarneter ancl.
26 in. long. 'Fhe weight of a top roller. \wit11 pinion for Rocky Point
is a.ppl-oxixnately 44 tons, and the weight of a.n W4 in. roller with Ranges
and pinion is ayproxir~~alely
20 tons. Figure I shows a. Rocky h i n t

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EIGHTEENTH CONFERENCE

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77

roller, F i p r c 2 an 84 in. roller, whilst Figure 3 shows a photograph


of an 84 in. X 3H in. top roller complete lvlth pinion and flange.
I n T a l h l are gil-en typical sizes of what arc regarded as standard
rollers.
TABLE 1.
Length in.

Diameter In.

48
54
60
66
72
78
84

24--26
26-28

30-32
32-34

34-36

34-37
3842

jaurnal dla. in.


9

10-12
12-15
15-16
17-IB
17-18
18-19

13-15

I8-22
20-24

20-24
2628

The grooving in the rollers varies widelv, hut the commonest pitch
is 3 grooves in 2 in., the finest being 3 grooves to 1 in, and the coarsest
pitch wit h which we have Iiad expcriencc i s 14 in. Longitudinal grooves
are used to assist in fwding and deep juice pooc-es are common to mist
in ett tin^ the juice a w v . A skctch of typical grooving is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 3-Illustrating

on 84 in. x 38 in. top roller.

I n Fic. 5 a crimplrte three roller tnill with


is il!iwtratetl.

M in.

38 in. rollers

In the original designs the roller and Ranges were cast solid of cxst
iron. Sugar mill engineers will be vent glad that this type of construction died 011t manv years ago, and one mould hate to think of having
to crush at modern rates w i t h such equipment.

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EIGHTEENTH CONFERENCE

1951

The Shaft.
The general construction of sugar mill rollers is well-known to all
mill engineers and standa.rd practice is to fit a cast iron shell to a steel
shaft. In the earlier days all shafts were imported, but for a long while
now almost the wllole of the shafts have been of ilustr;llian manufacture
and conform to specification R.S.S. 29/1941, 28,32 tons tensile, 2w25
per cent. elongation. Consideration has frequently been given to the
use ol a steel of higlrer tensile strength, but it has alvraj~sbeen decided
that as well as getting increased strength there were bad disaclvarltages
in other directions and the above specification has come to be accepted
as the best all round one for roller shafts. Roller shafts are forgecl from
cast steel ingots and are among the biggest forgin~sturned out in quantity
by the Australian forge mqsters. I t is usual for the forge to supply a
plain forging of rough cylinclrica.1 shape and this is machined by the

Fig. 4-Showing

typicol grooving.

manufacturer of the roller to the finished size. Top roller shafts have a
square at the pinion end for driving, and all shafts have a pinion seating
outside the driving end journal. In a number of cases a pirltle is
providecl at the other end of the shaft for driving the carrier or other
seconclary machinery. The sizes of typical journals are given in Table I
and it is n~clstimportant to have a generous radius at the fillet of the
journal. This radius must depend to some extent on the relation between
the diameters of the journal and the body of the shaft, but a good size
fillet for a 7 2 in. roller would be 2 in. and for an .84 in. roller 4 in.
This will be referred to later in connection with shaft failures. The finish
on the journals is turned only and ground surfacxs have not been founcl
necessary. The body of the shaft contains the sllell seatings and these
consist of either two or thrcc seatings in the smaller size rollers and of
three seatings in the 7 8 and 84 in. rollers. Up till recently it was
sta.ndard practice to key the roller to the shaft, but the number of keys

1951
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ZiGHTEENTH CONFERENCE

79

II:E stcatlily ~lecrcased~tntilthe latest practice is to shrink the shcll to


the shaft ancl to rlisprnsc with keysaltnyrthcr. In these kcyl~ssrnllers
tlir shell IS dcsi~nerl t r l it on thrcc continuous steppd scatings ant!
tlir mannfacturers aim at ;l lit the ft1I1 length of the n)llrr shell. Prov i r l i n ~tlre workmanship is first class, keylrss rollcn s l ~ o ~ ~ lIre
c l quite
wtiqfartory, l ~ t ti t 1s cssctitial for tlie fit Iwtivren shell and shaft to he
really good. I t is \,cry rlifficnlt to seal t h ke!~val;s
~
r)rolwrly ant1 thew
Ii;11-c alwn!.s lwcn W P ; ! ~ p n i i ~ t si l ~re~arrlstE~c entry of jzrice hrtwrvn
t h c shaft and shcll.

Fig. 5-lllustmting

a comp'lete three roller mill with 84 in. x 38 in. rollers

In all the older d e s i q s the shaft was Stteil at thr end of the shell
with a pair of split retitfninr: rings ccn*ered
a full ring, and these
were desimed t o prevent rntl\ris~movement OF thc ~ i ~ eon
l l the slraft.
For many !-cars this Company has rccornmendetl the abolition of retaining
r i t i p anti has turner1 out a large urnhe her of shells \vitho~ltrings ; a largr?
number of rollerr; have also h e m rnnvertcd to the ringless t!'pc. Again
providing the workmanship is g~lodthere shoulrl l-lc n o tso~rhle. and
w i t h tkc very large number in service i t can safely he claimed that
r~tainingrinqs arc ahsol~~tely
unnecessary ~nstria~
as cntlwi.rr location
In one dcsign a solid ring is shnink on to thr shaft, hut:
i q concrrned.
tl-liq is rised for attxrhtng thr j~rice ring and has nntlling to do with
c~ldrvise locat inn.
The Shell.

Thc she11 is of cast iron and metaIlurgicaEly must he of an open


testztre giving the masimum mip on the canc and the minimum of
surface polish in^ in servirc. X11 roller rnanufacttircrs have tthrtr otvn
prt formulae, but in practire it lvonld be safe to state that all reputable

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EIGHTEENTH CONFERENCE

80

rnakem turn out shells of good quality in this regard. Tt is deqirahle


tn strike a haIance hcttve~nthe oppn testurc for ~ o o dfecdiny and at
t11~si~n~c!
timr to retain saficirnt st rengtti to prrvrnt rr~~nlhlirrq
r ~ ft hr
iron. Th? method of casting shells varies in different foundries a n d
s i n r ~the shell IS a largc hravy-section casting, it i 4 most irnpnrtant t r l
ensum good fcctiing in order to prcvcnt undtlc porosity ancl the inrmatinn
of s l i r i ~ ~ k acavities.
~e
lf the shell i 5 t o l* keyed it is g~ncr;?llycr~rell
out ovcrsire Ixtwccn seating5 and thi5 facilitates borinr. The shell is
shrunk to thc sh;tft anrl somp makers usp a pure shnllk nlethml ant1
other makers a cornl~inntion nf shrink and h y d r a ~ ~ l ipressinq.
c
Thi.:
Cnll>any prefers the pure shrink method since it g i v ~ sa ccrtain amount
of ii~trrlorklnghetwem t h e m;irhinc marks on 4ir-lI and shaft and gives
sec~irce n d 1 r . i ~Incation.
~
Thc I\l;lchines~.Hantll>ook st atrs : " T e s t s
to drterrninc the diffcrmcr in quality nf shrrnkagr mid l o r r ~hts showc(l
t h a t the rtsi4t;tnrc of :L chrinkagr t i t to ~Iippi1y~
was, for an axial pu)l
:<.tit; times ~rcatrrtIian tF~;.t of :I lnrrc lit, ;lnd in mtatinn nr t o r ~ i i ~ ~ i
3.2 times grratcr. I n car11 cnlnparatirc test thc dirncnsions anrl aIln\vancrs tverc. t h e samc." It r;lru~rltk+crlainred, ho\r.cvrr, that tl~erch;i<
l~ccn arry ~~otii.cxl)lrtmul,le wl~irh co~ilrl 1w trarecl tn t11r tYSrt!i~tf trf
fitting the shcll. T l ~ cshcll i< mac-liinetl all o\+crand. as statrrl in tllc
preccdinq p:~rngrapl~.
1s hclcl t n tlw <!]aft cithrr l>\. thc sIirink nlunr or
witlr key.;. I t sho~ild;$Earn \:P rmplra<ise:l t h a t the fit Ixt~vren.;haft
xnrl ~Erll;tt the mds of tlir 4 1 ~ l l14 vrrI+ 1rnport:~nt and it rlio~tltlnnl lw
pnssillle tl* i11vrf the t f ~ i ~ i ~feeler
i e ~ t anvwhrrr i~rolinrlthe pn(l<
tlw
.;hrll.
Service Conditions.
cjf

In ~ r r i . i r r ,;I roller

1s

zlil>j~stto ver\* 1.11nsi~l~i-al11~


s t r ~ s sa1111 ln

;tt~

X4 iri. mill thc total hvtlra~tliclnntl on t l ~ ctwo journals is 500-700 ton.;.


l'llis Io:itl i s oc-r-;~sionrllh!, ;I rini lormly tfistril>r~tet\
prrsl;urc dltr t n t hc
I ) ; I K ; L ~ ~ I:rt\ren tlw t h r r c rollrrs anrl thc rolrrr ran Ilr: rccartlcd a< :L
r r ~ mr~~nrl
~ ~ rI.r:~r~i
rr\lnllt.lslilc t lie .;hell ant1 <hilit conihtnccl. That 1;. ~ r h y
i t I < so 1nlpclrl:Lnt t < ) II;L~-r
t
lit ;tt t t ~ ccnrl.; n l t lip ~ l ~ eL: l lp;~rtirul:~rl\.
goor! orw, .:incr 1f therr. is ;rnv mrn+rmpnt lcttvwn shaft 1t1111 sI~t!l,t l i ~
slrnlt rlrfl~rtion wilI inr-react ant1 \<?hen tI~crrdlcr turn4 tills ~lctlcct~nn

t * ~ n t i t i t ~ nTCVC~L:II
~ls
fraf.tur? o l t11p sh:~lt.

rntlkcq R

of <tre<sc< wllirll tTliLi+ casil~.(';111-r

tl11-

7'11~I I I S ~ ~ SofS -{uirt-.-Fr(vn~ ol)rcr\+;itions of a very large n i ~ n ~ l . cofr


rclllers sent in for re-sl~ellirly it i s sur-prisinq In how man\- rasc; thcrc
art= rlistlnrt c i e n ~of ingrrw of juice fnr snmf distance Ix-twwn t l ~ erhiift
and tFie C I I ( ~ of the shrll. I f tIlr shcI1 is r ~ g h tdown on thc 4h;lft t t ir
hard to see hnrv t h i s jr~ir-cr:in g ~ tin and t h r fat-t that juir-r rorrosit~n
wrnir SO pvidmt wor~ltlintlirate that there h;t4 l~ccn;l harl fit from tlnw
of mani~f;t~*turr.
111 those diafts tr~hichhat1 Iwcn forcer1 into t h r sl~rll
the juice may tend t n u*nrlr xFnng thc scorcs cnt in ttir shaft. I<cv< ;Lrta
also a '~veakness in this direction as thc rai~lkinyis strir*tly local :inrl
is rlnt rficctivc for any len,@h or tirnc-. R y ;E c*oincitIcnrc it lias l r r n
OFIT obsrr~atinnthat the 1r-or5t sign5 of juice ingress arc on ro1lcr.q frttrcl
\r,itli cnd retaining rinys. Tliis ~ ) r o l ~ a h lIlar
y 11otZ1ing to rlo with t l ~ r
ring as such, I ~ u t~t is fclt that the rnanufartr~rcrsmay haire rclicd too
mud1 on thc rlng ancl keys and Ilnl-e not hccn carelr~lenough i v ~ t htIlc
tit at the end of the shaft. I t has also bcen m o ~ nnt~ceahle
t
that n largc
number of Incipient cracks in rnller shafts take plare at the retainir~tr

1951

81

EIGHTEENTH CONFERENCE

ring grooves and as t h i s is thc weakest p i n t of the shaft, nne could


cracks to start them. Providing the shell fits properlv on thc
cntl scatings there does not seem to be any need for a centre sc,~tfng.on
other than thc largest rollers and prol>nlllv not even on them, since
although thc! ccntrc of the rollrr is certainly the point of grcatcst strcqs
tllr combined roller ant1 shaft seem to have ample strenyth a d casec
nf rollcrs breakin4 in the tntticlle are very infrequent.
espct

Tht. RrefiLiny oJ Shnfts.-The top roller shaft is subject to the


crcatcst strms, since it has to transmit the full torsional load from t l ~ r
rrrgine ant1 also take the full bentlinz Ioad from the crushin: action.
Thcrc dors not, hotvevrr, scem to lx any cuirlcnce of a grratcr numlxs
of fractures in top shafts than side rollers sliaftr;; this may be clue tn
thc f.rpt that in most mills the qhnfts R-e chanqed arolrnd and when a
shaft cracks it i.;\.cry diflicult t o say just Flow long it ha5 lwen in any
pzrticular psition. Sometimes mills hnvc broken l r a n d IICW shafts aar l
11 I + very I~arclto account for the failure.
T h e sz~bjectnf brnkcn rollcr shafts has tc:eivcd arcat discussion a t
~ r r v i o u sconiercnccs without an!; d e f i n i t ~rcason fnund for their fRI'I ures.
I t is felt that with a shaft of good drsiqn under normal work in^ conrlitions, failure takes p1;lc.e only aftcr a rr:aionalsle life, and faiIurc must
hc cxpctcd in rlne rourse from such ,;L h i ~ h l ystre.;?erl component.
I'i-~~bahlyno sugar company has suficientEv acruratc records of its shafts
t o IIC ahlc to indicate what thc life of a shnft should hr: and it is expected
that this life coulcl l ~ erelated tu ton-hours if sufficient information were
;ti.ailaI~lc. I t would posqil~ly\,c found then that after a ccrtain nurnbcr
nf ton-llnt~ss~t wo~iltlTCI dcsiral,lc to scrap the shaft.

Speakers a t prcvious Confcrenccs h a w stresscd thc dcsirahili ty of x


grncnlus fillet between the journal ancl the h c l v of the shaft and have
fclt that hrcakaye of shafts would be encnurayed a t the fillet if this hc
lnade too small. T t would sccrn, hnwcvrr, that most I3rcnka:cs take
plarr at the end of the shell ; this indicates that the 't>reakaaeis due to
rhvcrloading of the rolkr and shaft assemhly and that the 1r:icttire then
takes placr: at t h \vcakcst
~
point, which is at the end of1 the shell. I t
II;IS ;ll.io k e n sug~estedthat when a mill jam4 and the c u ~ i n eis reversed
the energy af thc flvwheel is dissipated rreq+rapidly into the choked
mill and that tb.c CICCSS~I~P torsinn causes the rollcr shaft to twist off.
Again ~t iq hard t o collect snflicicnt evidence to indicate that the
cr~mrnonest point of failure is thc rltivin~end of the top roller shaft.
as wnultl be thc cnsc ~f this theory were to Iw lxlrnc out in practice.
I t is nnt, however, the pnqwqc of this paper to discuss the matter of
9ll;tlt failnres in any dctail.
RC-sltcllin~.-:It one time it was consiclcrcrl untlrsimble to re-shell
rollers anti the complete roller was scrapped as soon as the shell hacl
r v r m down. LJndcr pwsent condit~ons.however, shafts are P-shelled a
number of times and no information is available as tn the n~rrnhcrof
tlmec the shaft wirl stand re-shelling. In the re-shelling process ccrtain
repalm are usual and badly worn ~ournalscan be Guilt up by electric
ivclding tn thrir original d~arneter. This Companv has treated a large
number of journals in this way and there has tmcn no single iwtancc
of failure which ran he tracecl to it. .as much as in. has h e n b u ~ l t
111) fin cach side, making a, total increasc in diameter of 1 in. \Ye also

82

EIGHTEENTH CONFERENCE

1951

frequently fill keyways so that the finished re-shell has only two keys in
hne instead of four keys a t right angles as it may have had originally

Observations on Mill Practice.


Under operating co~~ditions
it is usual for mills tn " spot " the
surfaces of their rollers to increase their gripping powers, hut the practice
in this regard varies very widely; some rnills do not spot a t all while
others spot more than once a week.
The object of sugar mill rollers is of course to extract the ~ n a s i r n u n ~
of juice from the fibre and the whole of ~niilingpractice depends on this ;
sugar lost in the crushing process cannot be recovered anywhere else in
the factory. I t is of course necessary for mills to co~nprolnisebetween
crushing rate and extraction unless the- are fortunate enough to have
crushing plant sufficiently large to be able to aim a t the maximilnl of
c s t r a c t i o ~and
~ also maintain thcir desired rate. There ~ n u s talso be a
point beyond which it is not economical tcl carry the extraction and
it is also claimed that bj. taking extraction too far, some undesirable
ingredients arc forced into the juice from the fibre. I t is not the purpose
of this paper to deal with milling practice and brief mention is nlacle
of only n few points in connection with it.
The crushing action derives its power from thc engine through the
gearing. I t is obvious that the rnore po\\-er cscrted between the rollers
tl~ernsel~.es
the better and inore coniplete the cruslii~~g
action will he.
I t is not suificiently stressed howex-er that it is the ~nillwhich initiates
the loading for the engine ancl thc nt~ject of ~rlilli~ig
practice slloulrl
therefore be to get sufficient load a t tlic rr?ill to ;~lxo~-i>
the full available
horsc po\vrr at the engine end. Tn verj. man!- mills the engi~iesare ~ i o t
working up to anything like their m a ~ i n i u i nI.H.P., and it ivould seen1
to serve 110 object to cnnsidcr reylaci~ig-the engines 1 ~ 1 t hlarger tnles
ilntil the existing engines are working a:, hard as: they can.
Two general methods of milling arc in use. The first is to rut1 the
rollers a t a high surface speed with a thin nlat of c.anc, ii~itithe second
is to run the rollers at a slow surface speerl nitil a tliii,k Inat trf cane.
I n between these extremes are numerous combinatio~ls. I t i usual to
think in terms of sl~rfacespeed, kilt in practice U\-erseasa11ti here, surface
speeds vary from 10 t o 40 feet per m ~ n n t e .

I t is also usual t o generalise on gearing ratios anil the t e ~ l d e n ~has


y
keen for g c a ~ ~ i ~
ratios
i g to be reduced ; in the older mills ratios bvcrc a.;
high as 2li t o 1 , while in solne of thc newer nlills ratioi are as low as
17 to 1 . The writers feel that gearir~gratio is a sccondar\* niattcr and
that it should be made to suit the optimu~nengine speecl and the crptinlii~n
~nillingspeed. 1YitI1 an engine speed of, .;a!-, 55 r.p.ln.. and a gearing
ratio of PO to 1 , the s~lrfacespeed of a 38 in. roller is 2 i . 3 ieet per minute
ancl that of a 32 in. roller is 23 feet per minute. This shows that as a
roller w a r s the engine speed must he increased if it is desirecl to ~naintain
the same surface speed throughout the life of the rollers. I n the case
stated above it \vould be necessary to increase the engine speed to about
66 r.p.m. in order to maintain a surface speetl of 27 feet per ~ n i n u t c
after the 38 in. roller had worn down to :E!in. The hgures stated are
not reconirnendations and are merely quoted as an example. JIills of

1951

EIGHTEENTH CONFERENCE

83

course wish t o use their rollers do~vr-nto as small a dialneter as possible


and the ~llinirnunlsize depe~ldso n the design of tlie roller and o n the
wtting rcquiwd for good c.~pcratiull. If there is some surface sl,ecd which
\riIl give i l ~ ebest results the ubjec:tive of the origi~laldcsign should be
t o lis the surface speed and the engine speed and then provide a. gearing
ratio to link those spceds togctller. The modern tendency seer115 to be
t o incrcasc gearing ratios again and therefore reduce roller s~wcdsand
to \vork on the slow speed thick mat methotl. It seems that this should
,:i\.c greatly decreased slip and strould thercforc allow a ~ l n ~ rgreater
h
j>rol>ostion of the engine pourer ttr be used bct\vee~lthe I-ollcrs, whereas
a large p~-oportionmay otherwise be wasted in slip. It should also
~.e.;ult in reduced roller wear and should remo~-esome of the riei-cssity
for sl~ottirlg

Conclusion.
Kollers X4 in. in lengtll seeln to 1,e tlic tnasi~llu~il
ill worltl practicr,
b11t they Itlay l ~ e12 to 44 in. in tlin~neterand no do111,t before lung there
u.111 11e c\.cn larger nlills in Xustralix than there arc a t present. The
o\-t~r-sexstendency also seems to he tc~wardsa large ilulrlher of rollers
i n the train ;lnd where the majonty of Queensland mills ha\-c o~ll!. twelve
~rollers,cornbinatio~isof up t o 22 rollers are quite usual overseas. There
alrcadj- secrns t o be a tendenc!; htre towards a combination of rollers
~rlaliing15 in the train and the 111i11s 11sing this 1net110d;ill sccnl to be
X-cr\.l)lea.;cd it-it11 the s e s ~ ~ l the!ts
are getting.
111 r-o~~clusion
it is clcsiretl to repeat the fact tlrat this is not a
tcchl~iral treatise on roller design or milling, but has just t ~ e c ~written
l
10 clra\v attention to that most useful cornponetlt- the s ~ ~ g njnill
r rollcv.

T11r 1 3 1 f i ~ d ( z t 1 F
r ~og ~ ~ u Co.
d r ~1-td ,
I:IIII~N~EY,O.

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