Molten Sulfur Pump Vibration is No Match for GRAPHALLOY® Iron-Grade Bearings

At a major refinery, vertical molten sulfur pumps were fitted with nickel-chromium (Ni-Cr) bearings to handle the high-temperature environment.  To avoid seizing and galling, the line shaft and volute bearings were fit with 0.020 – 0.025” running clearance. However, the pumps were experiencing high vibration, approaching 1.0 inches/second peak. When they disassembled the pump, the bearing clearances had opened up to 0.030 – 0.034”.

The customer contacted one of our engineers and asked: "How well do the

GRAPHALLOY sleeve bearings fare in liquid sulfur service? There are eight vertical column pumps in our sulfur pit..four of which are quite the trouble-makers when it comes to high vibration. Vibration data usually indicates some sort of imbalance. Any feedback is greatly appreciated as this definitely sounds like a product worth pursuing to "dampen" the current vibration in these pumps."

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