To monitor oil flow on a crusher, McCloskey International approached Titan Enterprises to design an appropriate flowmeter.
The requirements were for a much bigger thread than would normally be used for the specified flow range. The central drum of the crusher, which does the hard work, is basically a huge cylinder rotating on large bearings. These bearings had to withstand the side load induced during the rock crushing, so the oil flow and pressure are critical.
It was vital for the flowmeter to not impede this flow and had to have a low pressure drop even at full flow with cold, highly viscous oil.
Titan’s OG5 model fitted the flow requirements but the standard unit’s 2.5-cm BSP threads were considered too small, risking restricted oil flow.
Titan’s OG Series of flow meters are designed to provide reliable, high performance across a wide range of applications. The company claims the meters are nearly immune from the effects of varying liquid viscosity, density and temperature. The measurement performance of oval gear flowmeters improves as liquid viscosity increases.
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To accommodate the crusher, Titan set about redesigning the OG5 model in aluminum and with 32-mm connections to reduce the pressure drop at minimum temperature and maximum flow. As well, Titan installed an acrylic cap — a see-through cover so the operator could visually verify oil flow.
A cable loom was fitted so the flowmeter could be plugged directly into the customer’s wiring loom.
The final touch was to anodize the body of the meter to match the colour of the machines they were being fitted into, making these meters a very distinct OEM product. The resulting flow device has proved to be reliable and to date more than 600 of these specialized flowmeters have been installed in the McCloskey family of rock crushers.
As well as adapting designs to meet customers’ specific process needs, such as high-pressure requirements and to aid chemical compatibility,
Titan’s standard OG5 flowmeter has since been redesigned. These compact positive displacement flowmeters incorporate a new machined stainless-steel, high viscosity design for both the body and caps, which has also enabled an increase in the standard design pressure for these units.
