SUCCESS STORY: STEEL MILL SAVES TIME, MONEY, WEAR AND TEAR
The Babbitt bearings in a steel mill’s four baghouse fans needed constant lubrication, which made reservoir refills and proper cleanup part of the mill’s daily routine. Overtime, this cost time and money for the facility.
Since the eight bearings in place lasted just three to four years each, one needed to be changed out about every six months; additionally, bearing failures often caused shaft damage.
A change to grease-lubricated SKF Cooper Split-to-the-Shaft Bearings eliminated the housekeeping challenges, and corresponding shaft damage, with a projected annual savings of $12,000 in oil and routine maintenance alone. It is expected that not only will the mill save in oil and maintenance, but according to SKF, the life of their Cooper bearings is at least 180,000 hours, or 2-to-4 times longer, than that of previous bearings.