Rinsing Station

Case Study

Running submerged in acetone without any problems

This production line runs 24/7 producing filter membranes by the meter. The final step in the process is a cleaning section in which the membrane fabric is rinsed thoroughly to meet food-grade cleanliness.

Problem

Half of the bearings installed in this section are running submerged in a water-acetone solution, which can only be described as a directly hostile environment for any bearing installation. The bearing life of the standard steel bearings in this application was therefore very short - mostly under two hours. This had a huge effect on the maintenance costs along with loss of production.

Solution

CeramicSpeed SLT is a polymer matrix saturated with lubrication oil. The matrix retains oil on the functional surfaces of the bearing under even very harsh conditions, while at the same time preventing moist and foreign particles from entering the bearing.

Result

By replacing standard steel bearings with CeramicSpeed SLT bearings, our customer achieved a much longer bearing life and also a remarkable reduction of their maintenance costs. The CeramicSpeed SLT bearings have been running submerged in acetone for 8 months now without any problems.

Technical Highlights

  • Suitable for extremely harsh environment
  • Slow speed - moderate load 
  • Bearing temperature: 20ºC-80ºC
  • Running 24/7