Mood, Industries, 1600x230

Introduction

An Quarrying & Mining Company were having reliability issues with a conveyor application. Bearing inserts were operating in a very harsh environment, exposed to water and abrasives particles. Located just 5 meters above the ground, inspection and maintenance tasks were severely problematic creating difficulty predicting premature failures. NSK assessed the situation and proposed the use of Molded-Oil inserts. The solution increased bearing life by 9 times.

Quarry, Mining , Construction, conveyor
  • Conveyor Application
Molded-Oil, Spacea, Comp
  • Molded-Oil Bearings

Key Facts

  • Conveyor application with remote access (5m above ground) and difficult maintenance
  • Harsh environment, exposed to water and abrasive particles
  • Regular failures with difficult replacement procedure and large downtime costs
  • NSK Molded-Oil bearings proposed which are excellent for remote applications
  • Additional benefits of improved sealing with flinger, lip seal and molded oil providing a barrier to contamination ingress
  • Bearing lifetime significantly increased from every 2 months to 19 months

Value Proposals

  • NSK engineers reviewed the application and discovered that the main problems were contamination, water and maintenance difficulties due to the remote location
  • NSK Molded-Oil bearing inserts were proposed which do not need to be re-lubricated and have better sealing due to the barrier created by the molded oil polymer
  • The bearings were trial fitted to the conveyor and lifetime was increased from 2 months to 19 months
  • Customer benefited from increased productivity and reduced maintenance costs

Product Features

  • Molded-Oil inserts (with solid lubricant)
  • Ideal for remote applications
  • Martensitic stainless steel
  • Integral Flinger seal and Nitrile rubber seals
  • Bore size 20mm – 40mm
  • Corrosion resistance
  • Resistant to contamination increasing operating life
  • No need for re-lubrication
Cost Saving Breakdown
Before Cost p.a. NSK Solution Cost p.a.
Bearing Costs: Replacements per year × employees time × $32/h $579 Bearing Costs: Less than 1 replacement per year × employees time ×$32/h $67
Engineering Costs: Downtime costs: 250ton/h × $7.5/ton × time × replacements per year $16,875 Engineering Costs: Downtime costs: 250ton/h × $7.5/ton × time × replacements per year $1,969
Costs of lost production: Life: 2 months approximately (440h) Costs of lost production: Life: 19 months approximately (4140h)
Total Costs $17,454 $2,036

Reference:SS-E-7022