A new ultra-large-diameter earth pressure balance tunnel boring machine (TBM) rolled off the production line on July 1, in North China's Tianjin Municipality, and will be used in the Fortezza railway project in Italy.
A new ultra-large-diameter earth pressure balance TBM rolls off the production line on July 1, in North China's Tianjin Municipality. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Manufactured by China Railway Hi-Tech Industry Co., Ltd. (CRHIC), a subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited, the TBM is China's first remanufactured TBM to be exported to a European country.
Remanufacturing of a TBM refers to an overall upgrading of an original machine based on specific engineering needs.
Statistics show that the remanufactured products often have 60 and 70 percent reduction in energy and material consumption and can reduce costs by a half while having the same or even better quality and performance than the original ones.
The R303 TBM was remanufactured based on the China-made large-diameter earth pressure balance TBM exported to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The renovated machine has an excavation diameter of 11.05 meters and the machine's cutter head had been optimized to enhance its rock-breaking capacity and increase the drilling efficiency.at the Fortezza railway project.
A view of the cutter head of the new ultra-large-diameter earth pressure balance TBM that rolled off the production line on July 1, in Tianjin Municipality [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
CRHIC has highly valued technological innovation and promoted remanufacturing of TBMs. The company has cultivated a group of talents in the field who are now contributing to several projects under construction.
The company also launched a branch in Tianjin and has built North China's largest TBM manufacturing and remanufacturing base as well as supporting facilities like spare parts storage and trading centers.
Research and development of key technologies has always been a highlight of the company. It has developed maintenance and adjustment of laser cladding for pumps and valves, main drives and sealing systems.
At present, the TBM testing center of CRHIC's Tianjin branch has been nationally accredited in China as having the capacity to carry out testing services in accordance with relevant domestic and international accreditation guidelines.
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
