SealView technology captures the development of wear on every single seal strip and can be used with conventional and Voith HydroSeal seal strip designs. Its functional principle is based on a non-electric solution, which ensures maximum reliability in the adverse suction roll environment.
Digital wear detection for seal strips
Seal strips in suction rolls delimit the individual vacuum zones and are subjected to constant wear as they are pressed against the rotating suction roll shell. At the moment, it is not possible to determine the current state of wear after its final assembly or while the roll is in operation. The right time for a roll change has therefore generally been determined based on empirical values. When operating parameters change, for example due to a failure of individual lubrication nozzles, an unexpected vacuum failure might occur which negatively influences the planned runtime of the roll.
With SealView, this risk is now a thing of the past. The new technology can be built into the suction roll – independently of roll design and brand – during a roll service at one of Voith’s service centers. After changing the rolls, Voith personnel will do the initial commissioning and training at the paper machine.
No unscheduled machine downtimes and sufficient time to plan replacement part procurement
The system alerts the operator when the seal strip has reached half of its service life. When it gets to a safety margin before the maximum wear level, an alarm is triggered. Via a visual representation on a monitor, the system informs the operator about the actual wear condition and the probable remaining service life of the seal strip, alerting the operator in good time to the necessity for a roll change. Moreover, the associated notifications are sent by email and are therefore available to personnel on their smartphones.
After receiving this information, the operator has sufficient time to systematically plan the disassembly of the roll and coordinate further action for a roll service and the procurement of replacement parts with the Voith service department. “A further advantage of the new SealView technology is that it is no longer necessary to keep an expensive set of seal strips inventory in the warehouse for emergencies. This helps customers to reduce working capital, a topic which plays a more and more important role in our industry,” explains Jochen Honold, Global Product Manager Mechanical Roll Service, Voith Paper.
Longer suction roll service life and maximum reliability
The system reveals its full potential, particularly in the case of runtime extensions over and beyond the usual lifetime. Because the seal strip wear is displayed, the operator can rely on the system over extended periods of use without worrying about an unscheduled downtime.
Voith has decades of experience in the maintenance of rolls in general and suction rolls in particular. Based on the information currently available, particularly important components need to actively communicate with the operating and maintenance system to achieve maximum reliability. Through its SealView technology, Voith has reached another milestone in implementing this approach in respect to Industry 4.0.
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