GRAPHALLOY® self-lubricating bearings have proven their value in some of the toughest food processing environments. In one potato chip fryer application, GRAPHALLOY pillow blocks on the paddle wheel drive shaft ran continuously for over six years at 375°F — without grease, without failure, and without downtime. By eliminating lubrication needs and resisting both heat and caustic washdowns, these bearings delivered reliability that standard greased bearings couldn’t match. Today, the snack producer considers GRAPHALLOY standard equipment across their facility.

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Oil Field Flares Operate Successfully with GRAPHALLOY® High Temperature Bearings

Graphite Metallizing Corporation announces GRAPHALLOY® high temperature bearings for use in gas burn-off flares. These bearings are uniquely suited to help control the volatility of flares at oil and natural gas production sites.

This innovative development resulted from a customer requirement to overcome design problems in a control linkage. The high heat of these flares was causing bushing lubrication failures and this, in turn, caused the flare control systems to fail. These repeated failures resulted in unacceptable maintenance and replacement costs.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations require that oil field flares destroy the volatile organic compounds emitted into the atmosphere in an environmentally friendly manner. To meet these requirements, oil field operators must use flares at their production sites that provide a "clean" burn. These flares must operate reliably at remote sites under all conditions.
Given the loss of lubrication within the faulty linkage, it became obvious that flare controls and gas burn-offs were not meeting EPA regulations nor providing clean burns
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The flare manufacturer tested other bearing materials. None met the challenge until GRAPHALLOY®, the high temperature self-lubricating graphite/metal alloy material was tested, approved and put to work.

Result? Custom produced GRAPHALLOY® Bearings were retrofitted to 1,000s of existing flares and are now standard on the new systems. Today, the bearings operate successfully - no stoppages!

Similar gas burn-off flares are also commonly found at refineries, chemical plants and natural gas processors.

GRAPHALLOY Bearings are FDA Accepted

GRAPHALLOY^® bearings are key ingredients for minimal maintenance and uninterrupted production in food contact equipment. The FDA has accepted GRAPHALLOY, a graphite/metal alloy, for use in ovens, conveyors, pumps and mixers.

• Self-lubricating; works without external lubrication
• Operate in extreme temperatures (-450° F to +750° F/-240° C to +400° C)
• Avoid loss of lubricant in steam/pressure washes
• Contain no oil or grease
• Can be immersed in liquids without contaminating food production
• Operate submerged in low viscosity and corrosive liquids

High heat applications challenge the life and durability of conventional bearings. In cold, wet environments, bearings often cannot hold lubrication. Use of GRAPHALLOY bearings can solve these problems and, as a result, reduce downtime and lost production.

For more information about the success of GRAPHALLOY in food applications, please read our Pizza Oven Case History and our Seafood Processing Plant Case History.

845 Inserts Solve Problem at Paper Mill

GRAPHALLOY 845 Inserts

GRAPHALLOY^® 845 inserts solved a major problem at a paper mill in South Carolina.  The mill was experiencing production loss due to problems in their forced air dryers.  The dryers were used on a tissue paper line; rapid drying of the delicate paper was essential to the manufacturing process. The 650° F operating temperature in the drying process was causing bearing failures in the roof top damper banks. The result was production down time.

The ball bearings were replaced by GRAPHALLOY inserts.  After only six months operation, the customer was so satisfied that they replaced the ball bearings with GRAPHALLOY inserts on their second production line.

GRAPHALLOY® Extends Bearing Life in Paint Drying Oven

A paint drying oven at a brake shoe manufacturer was experiencing two months life from their roller bearings after being exposed to temperatures of 390ºF (200ºC). In spite of the water cooling system in the rollers, the bearing lubrication was failing and causing roller seizure and extensive maintenance costs.  

Self lubricating GRAPHALLOY^® 845 Series Pillow Blocks were installed, eliminating the need for constant lubrication and the need for the water cooling systems. The 845 Pillow Blocks have run for more than a year with no apparent wear. GRAPHALLOY provided a significant improvement in the life of the bearings.

GRAPHALLOY® Bearings Cook Up Savings in Heat Treat Ovens

A spring manufacturer was experiencing problems in their heat treat oven. The bearings in an overhead conveyor required weekly lubrication as well as replacement three times a year.  Self lubricating GRAPHALLOY® bushings were installed eliminating the weekly lubrication and the expensive down time.

The spring manufacturer estimates cost savings of approximately $14,000 in lubrication alone. Additional savings were generated by the elimination of the shut down time.

Bearings That Can Handle The Heat

The bearings on the dampers controlling airflow to two 535-MW coal-fired units at a power plant couldn’t handle the heat. High-temperature bearings solved the problem.

The inlet-air section of a utility boiler is a harsh environment for the dampers that control the flow of preheated air into the combustors. Over time, the hot air dries out the lubricant in the metal bearings, or roller elements, that control the movement of the dampers, causing the dampers to seize.

This was a problem at the Sioux Power Plant of Ameren UE (Union Electric), near St. Louis. The plant has two 535-MW, coal-fired units, each of which has 10 cyclone burners. There are two dampers on each burner -- a control damper and a shut-off -- for a total of 40 secondary air dampers. “On average, we had a bearing problem about every two months,” says James Riegerix, general supervisor at the plant.

Ameren has solved the problem by replacing the lubricated steel bearings with self-lubricating bearings made from GRAPHALLOY®, a graphite/metal alloy by Graphite Metallizing Corp., Yonkers, N.Y. All of the bearings for one boiler were replaced in the spring of 2004, and those in the other unit were replaced a year later. Both installations were completed during planned plant outages, which normally are scheduled every two years. So far, there have been no problems with the new bearings, says Riegerix.

He adds that when the changeover was done, the installers found a single bearing from Graphite Metallizing that had been put in a few years earlier. It was still in such good condition it was not changed.

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