Success Story
Industry: Food and Beverage
Application: Biogas Plant
Cost Savings: $20,472
Introduction
A vegetable preparation manufacturer in the UK was experiencing frequent bearing failures within a rotary screen. Two Deep Groove Ball Bearings were mounted within each wheel, with two wheels per rotary screen. On average the bearings failed every 6 weeks, taking 1 hour each time to replace incurring a significant loss of production per day. The bearings were failing due to ingress of contamination behind the seals. NSK engineers performed an Application Review and recommended bearings be replaced with Stainless Steel Molded-Oil Deep Groove Ball Bearings with DDU seals.
Key Facts
- Biogas Plant - rotary screen
- Bearing replacement every 6 weeks (8 times per year)
- Contaminated environment
- NSK solution: Stainless Steel Molded-Oil Deep Groove Ball Bearings with DDU seals
- Bearing replacement reduced to 3 times per year
- Significant cost saving on downtime and maintenance.
- Biogas plant
- Deep Groove Ball Bearing with Molded-oil
Value Proposals
- The customer experienced many failures in a Biogas Plant rotary screen application.
- NSK engineers performed a Failed Bearing Analysis which showed ingress of contaminants from the production process as the cause
- An Application Review showed that the existing 2RS sealed Deep Groove Ball Bearings were inadequate
- NSK recommended Stainless Steel Molded-Oil Deep Groove Ball Bearings with DDU seals
- Since introduction the bearing life and machine performance improved significantly resulting in reduced maintenance and downtime
Product Features
- Molded-Oil provides continuous supply of lubrication oil
- Stainless steel for corrosive environments
- Grease-free property with no oil refilling keeps operating environments clean
- Operating life more than twice as long as grease lubrication, in water or dust-contaminated environments
- Contact-seal type available in standard inventory for ball bearings
- Achieves extended maintenance-free performance as Molded-Oil provides a continuous supply of lubricant
- Available for high speed applications
- Available in ball bearing, spherical roller bearing and tapered roller bearings types
Cost Saving Breakdown
| Before | Cost p.a. | NSK Solution | Cost p.a. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bearing Cost: 32 per year |
$143 | Bearing Cost: 12 per year | $1,057 | |
| Maintenance: 8 breakdowns per year @ $54 per breakdown | $435 | Maintenance: 3 breakdowns per year @ $54 per breakdown | $163 | |
| Lost production: 1.5 hours per breakdown $2,815 costs per hour |
$33,781 | Lost Produciton: 1.5 hours per breakdown @ $2,815 costs per hour | $12,667 | |
| Total Costs | $34,359 | $13,887 | ||
Reference:SS-E-2058
