Graphite-metal Alloy Bearings Excel in Potato Chip Fryer

The maintenance manager at a potato chip maker went to check on the bearings in the fryer paddle wheels and realized that the graphite-metal alloy bushings, in stainless steel pillow block housings, had been running strong for 6 years!  This is a notoriously tough application with close proximity to food and high temperatures, where grease is not a good option.  So instead of using rolling element bearings, they installed these graphite-metal alloy bearings back in 2014.   The application is running non-stop, so these maintenance-free bearings really made the grade and begged the question- where else could these be used?  Read more here.  

Graphite-Metal Alloy Bearings as an Alternative to Plain Carbon Bearings

Graphite-metal alloy bearings and bushings often replace plain carbon bearings and bushings.  The graphite-metal alloy material combines the self-lubricating abilities of graphite and the strength and wear resistance of the metal.  This means more success than plain carbon, plastics, metals, and traditionally lubricated bearings in various scenarios.  

Learn more about the material, applications, and advantages here

Spanish Pages for Graphite-Metal Alloy Bearing Information

Graphalloy now offers Spanish language pages for Spanish-speakers around the world with tough applications.  The page "Bujes Para Bombas" can help Spanish-speakers with pump applications, and the page "Bujes Autolubricados" can help Spanish-speakers with more general applications where plastics and traditional lubricants can't go.  

If one would like a pump brochure in Spanish or a technical guide in Spanish, these are available as well in digital or physical form (see images).  Please contact catalogs@graphalloy.com for a copy.  

Graphite/Metal Bearings Solve Flashing Problem in a Pump

A natural gas plant in the Middle East had been using a multi-stage, heavy duty vertical turbine pump, type 60-WUJ-2M, in organic lean amine production.  Lean amine is an organic compound that can absorb hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from sour natural gas. The pump was continuously failing due to flashing and dry run episodes, which severely scored the shaft.  

Read how Graphite/metal bearings saved the day in this article from Fluid Handling Magazine

Bearings for Dampers

Dampers control air flow between different locations.  In industrial settings, they are essential to many operations and often come into contact with high temperatures.  Dampers are also often located in difficult to access areas.  These factors mean a maintenance-free, self-lubricating, high temperature bearing material is preferable to a traditional rolling element bearing.  

Self-lubricating graphite/metal alloy bearings offer this solution.  

Since there is no need to lubricate and re-lubricate, or replace due to bearing seizure as a result of high temperatures, these are bearings with true "install and forget" features.

Read more about a graphite-metal bearing material that works in Damper Applications here.

Wastewater Bearings

Wastewater treatment plants are essential to municipal operations, yet bearings for such equipment as flocculators and clarifiers are hard to reach.  They need bearings that can operate for years without maintenance.

Graphite/metal alloy bearings offer self-lubricating, maintenance-free service and have had success in these applications.  Read more and download an informational flyer here: https://www.graphalloy.com/html/wastewater_bearings_bushings.html

Glass Comeback Possible, According to WSJ

The Wall Street Journal recently said that there was a possibility for a glass comeback due to glass product's sustainability versus single-use plastic.  If the glass industry can improve recycling rates, glass offers a greener solution.  Read more here.

With more production demand, less downtime is the goal.  The nature of glass manufacturing requires bearings that can handle high temperatures.  Self-lubricating graphite/metal bearings offer a maintenance-free solution to glass plants experiencing lubrication problems in their bearings.

Submerged Bearing Solutions

Underwater or submerged machinery present a bearing problem:  How does one maintain lubrication that will inevitably be washed away?

The answer is in self-lubricating bearings that maintain their shape while submerged.  Metallized graphite bearings achieve this due to their unique properties.  They are highly self-lubricating due to the graphite structure- no other lubricants are required.  They do not swell.  They are uniform and non-galling, which allows for tighter running clearances. They maintain their integrity even when submerged in hostile liquids such as acids, alkalies, hydrocarbons, black liquor, and liquid gases.

Graphalloy has over 100 grades of graphite/metal bearings engineered to best meet the application's requirements and provide maintenance-free submerged service.  Learn more here.