NSK Molded-Oil bearings extend service
life in food plant conveyor application
A vegetable processing plant in Germany For instance, the bearings are equipped
is enjoying significant benefits following with NSK's proprietary oil-impregnated
the adoption of Molded-Oil bearings from material, which comprises lubricating
NSK. Principally, the move has helped oil and an oil-related polyolefin resin.
the company extend the service life of This material releases the lubricant,
bearings on a critical conveyor from which cannot be washed out due to
two weeks, to 40, saving considerable its consistency, continuously over a
maintenance costs and downtime in the long period. At the same time, the
process. carrier material prevents water or solid
Keen to resolve the question of why its
impurities from penetrating the bearing.
previous bearings were failing at such By adopting the bearings, service life at
an unusually fast rate, and eliminate the plant has increased from two weeks
the associated cost and time issues, the to more than nine months. This highly
company asked NSK to investigate. successful outcome once again confirmed
During the inspection, NSK experts
soon determined the cause. Due to the
rigorous hygiene standards demanded by
food industry regulations, the system was
cleaned thoroughly on a regular basis.
However, it was found that the cleaning
NSK's ‘rule of thumb’ that Molded-Oil
effective contact seals (DDU) on both
sides for even higher levels of protection.
life of conventional grease-lubricated This option is available for the standard
bearings in water and dust-contaminated
environments. In this particular case,
service life increased by a factor of 40.
The plant is also experiencing many other
of water to penetrate the bearings and, benefits. For instance, the operating
as a result, wash away the lubricating environment remains clean because no
grease. grease escapes and no oil needs to be
refilled.
by the frequently required wash cycles, Molded-Oil bearings are therefore ideally
NSK recommended the use of its sealed suited to food industry applications,
Molded-Oil bearings. where thorough and frequent cleaning
A special tribology concept (tribology
vegetable processing plant with highly
bearings achieve at least twice the service process prompted considerable quantities
To help combat the challenges presented
NSK supplied the bearings for the
processes are essential.
is the science of wear, friction and The use of stainless steel for the bearing
lubrication) has been implemented for components also contributes to this
Molded-Oil bearings. suitability.
range of Molded-Oil ball bearings.
Molded-Oil is also available on spherical
roller bearings and tapered roller
bearings.
The special features of Molded-Oil
bearings and other bearing series
developed by NSK for applications in
food processing are described in a new
brochure, which is available as an e-book
on the website below.
NSK Literature
www.nsk-literature.com
FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk 13