Function of fly-wheels in connection with electrically operated rolling mills

For all kinds of motor drives and particularly for rolling-mill service, where the load conditions are very unstable, the use of a suitable fly-wheel is of great importance. As is well known, the function of a fly-wheel is to take up the sudden shocks and equalize the unsteady loads as much as practicable in order to produce the cheapest installation and obtain the most satisfactory and economical operation. The smallest size of motor and the minimum capacity of the generating plant are obtained when the action of the fly-wheel is such that the load on the motor is constant and equal to the average of all the loads. To a certain extent this will be impossible in rolling mills, and it will be the problem for the engineer to determine the most suitable size of fly-wheel, motor, and generating plant with the auxiliary equipments.