High Expectations in High Temperatures

Modern Pumping Today
September 2013 

Many industrial applications have experienced success with GRAPHALLOY® in high temperatures. A mill reclaiming metals such as titanium feeds metal powders into a drum heated to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit (816 degrees Celsius). The drive shaft spinning the drum is supported by two Graphalloy Pillow Blocks. In addition, GRAPHALLOY Bushings are in the twelve wheels that support the drum as well as the worm gear. This application demonstrates the ability of the bushings to perform in extreme temperatures.

Also, a Midwestern steel mill was using these bushings for the horizontal rollers in their cooling beds. The bushings were thriving under severe heat and water spray conditions. Because of the success with the horizontal rollers, the mill wanted to consider GRAPHALLOY Flange Bearings for another application: the vertical guide rollers along the sides of the cooling beds used to keep the hot steel from running off the sides. Guide rollers remain static until a piece of hot steel slams up against them, at which time they are expected to turn instantly to guide the steel back onto the cooling bed. This mill had been using conventional greased rolling element bearings in the vertical guides that were lasting only a few months. Based on the success with the vertical rollers, the mill has since retro-fitted additional lines with GRAPHALLOY.

GRAPHALLOY can be the solution to the toughest bearing, bushing, thrust washer, cam follower, or pillow block bearing design problem. It is available in over one hundred grades with specific properties that meet a wide range of engineering solutions and specifications. FDA accepted grades of GRAPHALLOY are available for food contact equipment. NSF® International has certified two grades of material for use in municipal well pumps and water treatment plant applications.

In some applications, GRAPHALLOY bearings have operated for up to twenty years without maintenance. Standard designs are available but most products are custom designed to the unique requirements of the specific application. ISO 9001:2008 certified as well as NSF/ANSI 61 certified, the company serves a broad range of industries with standard and custom quality bearings, bushings, and related products.

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Pumping New Life into a Failed Pump

Modern Pumping Today
August 2013
Written by Drew Robb, a freelance writer specializing in engineering and technology

A Caribbean refinery had been using a Union Pump Company (now SPX Clyde Union) 4×6 (4-inch [101.6 millimeter] discharge, 6-inch [152.4 millimeter] suction) Multi-Phase Extraction (MPE), seven-stage centrifugal charge pump. Charge pumps are used to maintain the inlet pressure on main hydraulic pumps in order to prevent cavitation.

Normally such a pump in refinery operation would have been expected to last about five years between overhauls. This one had lasted perhaps a year before being taken off line due to reduced performance. When the charge pump arrived in a shipping crate at Chalmers and Kubeck’s (C&K) main service center in Aston, Pennsylvania, it had clearly seen better days.

“It came in partially disassembled and heavily rusted,” says Helen T. Eife, C&K’s manager for engineered pumps. “It looked like it had been sitting outside for a while.”

An inspection determined that the failure was caused by using the wrong type of material for inserts on the wear rings. A complete refurbishment, including installing GRAPHALLOY® inserts, returned to pump to operational status.

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