Coke goes better with hydraulic cylinders

Series 2H hydraulic cylinders have been specified for use on a new set of coke oven machinery supplied to Lucchini Impianti, an Italian steel making company, based in Piombino, Tuscany.

Parker Hannifin Series 2H hydraulic cylinders have been specified for use on a new set of coke oven machinery supplied to Lucchini Impianti, an Italian steel making company, based in Piombino, Tuscany.

The machinery was supplied by John M Henderson of Arbroath, the worlds leading supplier of this type of equipment.

Coke ovens and their associated machinery are part of the primary end of the steel making industry.

Their purpose is to convert metallurgical coal into coke which is in turn used in the blast furnace to make Iron.

Coke making is a batch process whereby ovens with approximate dimensions of 6 x 0.5 x 17m are filled with 35t of pulverised coal.

Typically, more than 100 ovens with these dimensions are built together to form a coke oven battery.

The coal is baked in the oven at 1200C for 18h, after which time it has been converted to coke.

It is then removed from the oven and quenched with cold water.

The John M Henderson machinery controls all of these mechanical-handling operations.

Coke oven machines are sophisticated, moving machines that travel on railway type rails, with a rail gauge of up to 15m.

They weigh up to 400t and consist of a variety of mechanical assemblies operated by complex hydraulic, electrical and pneumatic control systems.

Parker Hannifin Series 2H hydraulic cylinders are used throughout the machines for a multitude of differing applications.

Approximately 80 hydraulic cylinders are installed with bore diameters up to 178mm and stroke lengths up to 5200mm.

"We have used Parker Hannifin Series 2H hydraulic cylinders with confidence, almost exclusively, for over 20 years", says Gary McCombie, John M Henderson's Technical Director.

"In that time the cylinder specifications have been successfully customised to suit the arduous, corrosive environment of the coke oven plant".

John M Henderson is currently in the process of completing three new coke oven machines for Corus Port Talbot Steelworks in South Wales where Parker Hannifin Series 2H hydraulic cylinders have also been selected.

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