Case story
“With the old 1-piece screw, we were constantly replacing bearings, which was time consuming and expensive. We installed our first 3-piece screw in 2002, and it’s been running ever since.”
Peter Schmoeger, Engineering Manager
Lafarge Cement, Northfleet Works, UK
Lafarge Cement, in the United Kingdom, has already realised a significant return on their investment in the M-pump 3-piece screw. Because of the expense and inconvenience of constant repairs to the old 1-piece screw, they decided to make the replacement. “It was quite easy to install.” says Peter Schmoeger. “In fact, the old pump had seized up completely, and we were able to replace it with 3-piece screw over a Saturday, in about a third of the time we’d have expected. There’s no question that it reduces our operating costs.”
Lafarge also installed another 3-piece screw in 2004, on a pump that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As Peter Schmoeger points out, when the time comes that repairs do have to be made, they’ll be much faster than with the old 1-piece screw: “If we do have bearing problems, it’s only necessary to replace the section in the middle, not the entire shaft, which makes it a much easier and less expensive job.”