At U.S. Steel’s Fairfield Works (Fairfield, AL) plant, unbalance and high vibration levels on a basic oxygen furnace were discovered on the fan rotor, which is responsible for pulling the air, gases and materials off the basic oxygen furnace. Excessive buildup of particulate matter caused the problem and resulted in chunks of the particulate matter falling off the rotor. U.S. Steel was forced to stop production and clean and manually balance the fans at least every three months.
According to Jim Mays, maintenance manager at Fairfield Works, it typically took between three and five balance attempts to perform a manual balance on the fan. This often resulted in a violation of the time recommended between starts on the motor, creating high potential for motor failure. Further, when a fan was stopped because of high vibration, it would shutdown the steel making process.