Mood, Industries, 1600x230

Introduction

A large producer of fish products was experiencing repeated failures on their Scraped Surface Heat Exchangers. They were changing bearings every 8 weeks which involved high maintenance costs and a lengthy machine down time. NSK investigated this problem and found that and hard contaminants were entering the bearing causing failure. They proposed a trial with NSK Molded-Oil bearings which resulted in immediate improvement and significant lifetime extension.

Food - Beverage, heat exchanger unit
  • Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger Unit
Molded-Oil, Spacea, Comp
  • Molded-Oil Bearings

Key Facts

  • Frequent bearing failure occuring every 8 weeks across 5 machines
  • Approximately 60 man hours needed to replace failed bearings annually
  • Substantial machine down time, 5 hours per bearing change
  • NSK solution, Molded-Oil Deep Groove Ball Bearings
  • Significant lifetime improvement resulting in no failures over a 3 year period
  • Productivity improvement
  • Large annual cost saving achieved

Value Proposals

  • Following repeated and costly failures the customer requested a solution to their problem on the Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger Units
  • A failed bearing analysis determined that the failures were due to water and hard particle ingress resulting in lubrication breakdown
  • A trial was proposed using NSK Molded-Oil Deep Groove Ball Bearings which proved to be successful with life being extended to over 3 years
  • Molded-Oil bearings were fitted to all machines resulting in a reduction in machine down time and maintenance cost and a significant annual cost saving

Product Features

  • Available for high speed applications
  • Available in ball bearing, spherical roller bearing and tapered roller bearings types
  • Rust-proof - 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
Cost Saving Breakdown
Before Cost p.a. NSK Solution Cost p.a.
Bearing Costs: Previously used Ball Bearings € 300 Bearing Costs: NSK Molded-Oil Deep Groove Ball Bearings € 225
Costs of lost production: 12 failures à 5 hours downtime: 60hrs à 1.250€/hour € 75.000 Costs of lost production: No downtime € 0
Engineering Costs: 12 failures à 5 hours maintenance: 60hrs à 62,5 €/hour
€ 3.750 Engineering Costs: No labour costs € 0
Engineering Costs: Mechanical Seals x 12 € 18.750 Engineering Costs: Mechanical Seals x 1 € 1.562
Total Costs € 97 800 € 1 787

Reference:SS-E-2053