Timken
Assembly Line
Award-Winning Innovation Advances Renewable Energy
Perched atop a wind turbine’s tower is a nacelle that contains components that help the blades turn continuously in the wind and generate clean electrical power. One of the most important is the mainshaft bearing, which bears the tremendous thrust and load of the turning blades and rotor. As turbines have grown larger, bearings have, too. This presents significant challenges for designing efficient and long-wearing bearings that, at up to four meters (13 feet) in diameter, are among the largest ever made.
Timken engineers developed a solution that employs two ultra-large bearings, separated by some distance along the mainshaft, to effectively share the load. In addition to improving a turbine’s operational efficiency, the solution is designed to support that turbine for its entire service life. Reducing the need for replacement bearings also reduces the need for materials and energy to manufacture them.
Timken also developed a custom steel alloy – called TMS-25 – to ensure the components can withstand the demands of both bearing production and wind-turbine operation. The alloy is sourced from recycled steel where possible for additional sustainability gains.
Timken subsidiary Cone Drive innovates high-precision drives that equip many of the world’s largest utility-scale solar power plants in the U.S., United Arab Emirates, South Africa and China. The company’s drives experts most recently customized solutions for the second-largest photovoltaic (PV) solar tracking system project in Australia. Cone Drive engineers worked with the project’s solar tracker manufacturer to develop multi-point slewing drives that can stand up to excessive vibration caused by high winds.
Timken to Expand Motion-Control Platform, Capabilities with Acquisition of CGI Inc.
The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR), a global technology leader in engineered bearings and industrial motion, has agreed to acquire CGI Inc., a Nevada-based manufacturer of precision drive systems serving a broad range of automation markets with a concentration in medical robotics. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the third quarter.
“CGI’s precision motion-control offerings closely complement our Cone Drive harmonic and Spinea cycloidal products. With an attractive product portfolio, strong presence in high-growth medical applications, state-of-the-art manufacturing and consistently strong operating margins, the CGI acquisition is a good strategic fit for Timken that will help us continue to build on our 125-year legacy of innovation.”
Timken entered the precision drives space in 2018 by acquiring Cone Drive and expanded its capabilities in 2022 by adding Spinea. These acquisitions were a direct result of Timken’s strategy to diversify and expand its capabilities in industrial motion. Cone Drive and Spinea solutions enable a wide range of applications and are helping to drive Timken’s growth in automation, which ranked as the company’s second-largest individual end-market sector in 2023. The addition of CGI will further bolster Timken’s position as a global leader in automation and robotic solutions.
Timken to Acquire Spinea, Expanding Its Robotics and Automation Offering in Attractive and Growing End Market Sectors
The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR), a global industrial leader in engineered bearings and power transmission products, has reached an agreement to acquire Spinea, s.r.o. (Spinea), a European technology leader and manufacturer of highly engineered cycloidal reduction gears and actuators. Spinea’s solutions primarily serve high-precision automation and robotics applications in the factory automation sector. Spinea sales are expected to be around $40 million for the full year 2022.
In recent years, Timken has diversified its portfolio by expanding its power transmission products and services. This includes the acquisitions of both Rollon and Cone Drive, which deliver next-generation technologies for robotics and automation applications. Spinea complements Cone Drive’s precision gearing business and further advances the company’s product offering and commitment to customer-centric innovation. Spinea will further scale Timken’s position in automation, which was the company’s second-largest market after renewable energy in 2021.
A Novel Flash Ironmaking Process
The novel, high-intensity flash ironmaking process is a viable alternative that uses iron ore concentrates that are plentiful in the United States. The process would use inexpensive, abundant natural gas (or hydrogen) to both heat the ore in the furnace and to remove oxygen, converting the ore to iron metal. Although similar to Direct Reduced Iron, this advance would process fine powder ore, eliminating the briquetting process. The product could be added to Electric Arc Furnaces or Basic Oxygen Furnaces for cleaner steelmaking.
A major advantage of flash ironmaking over powder-based processes that use shaft or fluidized-bed furnaces is the elimination of sticking and particle fusion at high temperatures. The ability to use ore fines provides a cost advantage over processes that require ore to be agglomerated into pellets for ironmaking. The fine particles also cut the furnace’s processing time to seconds. This translates to a smaller system for the same output, reducing both capital costs and operating costs. Other potential benefits include improved refractory life, and ease of feeding raw materials into the vessel.