A customer was experiencing regular catastrophic failures on a bearing fitted to a rotary coal valve in an Ore Preparation Plant. This occurred up to three times in one year resulting in significant lost production costs and damage to associated
components. NSK Engineers carried out an application review identifying the current bearing design was inadequate for the high temperatures involved.
NSK recommended a customised RHP HLT bearing insert within a Self-Lube® cast iron FC housing together with a special heat isolating spacer. A trial was conducted with NSK Applications Engineering overseeing the correct fitting of the bearing units within the application. The NSK bearings fitted ran for over 12 months with no bearing failure. In addition the need for compressed air cooling was removed. This resulted in a large overall cost saving for the customer.
Before | Cost p.a. | NSK Solution | Cost p.a. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
€8.400/hour x 8 hours shift x 3 times per year | € 201.600 | No downtime | € 0 | |
€42/hr x 8 hours shift x 2 engineers x 3 times per year | € 2.016 | €42/hr x 8 hours shift x 2 engineers | € 672 | |
Cost of bearings x 3 times per year | € 357 | Cost of bearings once per year | € 119 | |
Cost of compressed air per year | € 88.954 | No compressed air used | € 0 | |
Total Costs | € 292 927 | € 791 |
Reference:SS-E-2050