Gear damage on rotary kiln

This case study describes the detection of gear damage on an output shaft, detected during a capacity test involving a speed increase.


The Södra Cell Värö pulp mill in southern Sweden uses the Intellinova online system with HD measurement technology to monitor the drives of its rotary kiln. In conjunction with a capacity test where the rotary speed was slightly increased, rising shock pulse trends were observed. What was initially believed to be a problem with the internal gears or bearings turned out to be a crack on a gear on the output shaft.