Briefly from Around the World RTR 4/2010 49 REBS Zentralschmiertechnik GmbH Duisburger Straße 115 • D-40885 Ratingen Telephon +49 (0) 2102 9306-0 • Telefax +49 (0) 2102 9306-40 Internet www.rebs.de • E-Mail info@rebs.de Wear free throughout the curves! The proven REBS Wheel Flange Lubrication System has for over 25 years provided the optimum solution for all types of rail vehicles, combining economical operation with the elimination of wear and noise. Once installed, it dramatically increases the lifetime of wheels and rails, resulting in a significant reduction of maintanance and operating costs! MFS system on the KiwiRail railway line Largest-ever Freudenberg seal helps drive the world’s longest tunnel The final breakthrough was achieved on schedule on 15 October 2010 in the eastern tube of the 57-kilometre-long “NEAT” railway tunnel on the Gotthard axis. The Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that have been used for this important tunnel project are equipped with large seals from Merkel Freudenberg Fluidtechnic, a subsidiary of Freudenberg Dichtungs- & Schwingungstechnik. Once completed, the new Gotthard Base Tunnel is going to be the longest in the world. The TBMs started their regular tunnelling work in 2003. Such demanding tunnelling projects need machines with mature engineering. The most important requirement is reliability, given the tough completion schedule and the extremely high costs that would be incurred in the event of a standstill. The Herrenknecht TBMs have built up a reputation for themselves throughout the world precisely on account of their impressive reliability. A crucial role in this is played by the reliable seals from Merkel Freudenberg Fluidtechnic. The heart of large machines of this nature is, after all, their main bearing. The main bearing is a multi-row roller bearing with a diameter of up to six metres and a mass of up to twenty tonnes, which takes the force of the rotary cutting wheel and supports it against the enormous forward thrust and the extremely high torques. The main bearings have special rotary shaft seals that protect them from the penetration of tailings containing Merkel Freudenberg Fluidtechnic The versatility of the MFS system was very eloquently illustrated recently on the KiwiRail railway line through the Manawatu Gorge on the North Island of New Zealand. A landslide had buried the track over a length of 60 metres with approximately 10000 m3 of rubble. The only available means for transporting the rubble out of the gorge was a train comprised of six MFS 40-6 units with a total capacity of 240 m3. Very considerable quantities of tailings arise when work is performed on railway tracks, such as cleaning the ballast and improving the substructure. In the past, it used to be the custom simply to dump the debris beside the railway line, but today the excavated material has to be transported away and unloaded at a suitable location. There are various situations in which there is clearly no alternative to removing waste material by rail, such as in or near stations, or in tunnels or cuttings. That is, however, only half the story, since it is equally necessary to find means of bringing new materials, such as fresh ballast, into Tunnel boring machine at work construction sites quickly and flexibly. Plasser & Theurer’s programme includes wagons known as “MFS” for the transport and storage of material. The MFS units are based on standard railway wagons. They have been equipped with a continuous conveyor belt in the floor of their storage zones or silos. With this, it is possible either to fill up the silos continuously or to transport the material through to other units. At the front end of each MFS unit there is a transfer conveyor belt, which can be built to swivel laterally through up to 45° to either the left or right. Depending on its swivel position, this conveyor belt can then be used either to transfer the material to the next MFS unit (straight position) or to unload it on one side at a suitable location (fully swivelled position). All the conveyor belts are driven hydraulically with energy supplied from a diesel engine. The MFS units are suitable for all kinds of bulk material and can be coupled together to form material trains of any desired length. (uh) www.plassertheurer.at rock, sand and water. At the same time, the seals prevent the loss of transmission lubricant. Merkel Freudenberg Fluidtechnic has developed special seals for this purpose. The company has now accumulated many decades of experience in providing seals to protect these important parts of TBMs. Extremely high loads act on these seals. In addition to resisting the pressure of large quantities of dirt, they need to be designed in such a way as to withstand the constant rotation of machine operations, which may sometimes last several years, as well as the high pressure due to tailings and vibrations. The rotary shaft seals developed by Merkel Freudenberg Fluidtechnic for TBMs have been designed to withstand these tough continuous loads thanks to their profiles, the materials selected for them and the manufacturing methods. What makes them unique is the high reliability they have already demonstrated in hundreds of tunnelling projects. (uh) www.freudenberg-ds.com MFS material transport and silo wagons – an optimum solution for the transport of material Plasser & Theurer
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