The Timken Company has supplied bearings for one of China?s largest vertical slag mills, featuring a 5.7 m (18.7 ft) grinding table. The mill, one of several now utilising Timken bearings, was developed by CITIC Heavy Industries Co, one of China?s top manufacturers of cement-producing equipment. Vertical slag mills are critical to China?s massive infrastructure-building efforts. Slag is a by-product of steel-making that, when processed by a vertical mill, becomes a key component in high-quality concrete used in roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects. According to CITIC, the new vertical slag mill produced by CITIC is expected to produce up to 1.2 million tons of ground slag annually.

Timken supplies both tapered and cylindrical roller bearings used in the LGMS5725 vertical slag mills that CITIC manufactures. Randy Ruan, General Manager of process industries for Timken China, said Timken won the business based on a combination of innovation and its understanding of CITIC?s installation needs. Timken provides a full range of solutions in friction management and mechanical power transmission to its cement industry customers. Timken tapered, spherical and cylindrical roller bearings are widely applied to vertical mills and other key cement industry equipment worldwide.