Zero Failure

Bearing Services Bethal, supported by SKF, has been supplying a key customer in Mpumalanga’s coal mining industry with over 400 bearings which have delivered zero failure whilst operating in a highly aggressive application.

The coal mining industry is a notoriously highly corrosive environment. Continuous water and coal dust contamination as a result of the coal mining and conveying processes play havoc with machine reliability giving rise to frequent downtime and subsequent costly production losses. “Our customer was facing Mean Time between Failures (MTBF) on their tail end pulley bearings every two weeks and on their sizer crusher bearings every three months,” explains Marchant Taylor, SKF Regional Sales Manager - North East Region. Lubrication difficulties further compound the situation affecting equipment and component reliability.

Triple the protection

Working in close cooperation with SKF, the team from Bearing Services Bethal stepped in and presented the SKF triple-barrier solution for the conveyor tail end pulleys and the two scroll sizer crushers, which were replaced with Sealed Spherical Roller Bearings (SSRBs). Marchant explains that the triple-barrier solution which comprises a SSRB and labyrinth seal combination is the ultimate sealing arrangement to protect bearings from contamination in highly contaminated areas. The SSRB and the Labyrinth seal offer three barriers through which contamination must penetrate before it will reach and subsequently affect the bearing.

The solution presents inner seal protection from the sealed spherical roller bearing itself which is installed in a housing with a 70 to 90% grease fill that completely isolates it from the sealed bearing, forming the second barrier. The third barrier is formed by the Labyrinth multi-stage labyrinth cartridge seal that is used to seal the housing from outside contamination which has its own greasefilled sealing configuration. A sealed-for-life bearing is also included.

The triple-barrier solution comprises a SSRB and labyrinth seal combination which is the ultimate sealing arrangement to protect bearings from contamination in harsh areas

Increased uptime and production

“Our supply of a total of 254 tail end pulley bearings and 156 crusher bearings to date has delivered seamless bearing performance with our customer reporting zero failures. This solution has reduced costs for our customer in terms of replacement components and maintenance, subsequently resulting in increased uptime, productivity and production, and ultimately a more profitable mine,” notes Marchant.

From an after-sales service perspective, Bearing Services Bethal, continues to deliver ongoing service and support to ensure reliability of critical machinery and subsequently constant uptime for the customer through technical knowledge, drive and dedication. SKF samantha.joubert@skf.com Tel: (011) 821-3602 www.skf.com

Our supply of a total of 254 tail end pulley bearings and 156 crusher bearings to date has delivered seamless bearing performance with our customer reporting zero failures

WORLD-CLASS performance requires speed, agility and endurance

STRATEGY

Planning strategic direction benchmarked to world-class standards Development of world-class infrastructure from concept to realisation Development of operations to best practice and world-class standards

INFRASTRUCTURE OPERATIONS

Supply Chain Strategy

• Supply Chain network analysis & design • National & Regional DC strategy development • Facility Sizing and OPEX estimates • • On-lineOn-line fullllmentfullllment • Slow vs. Fast movers network set-up • A Supply Chain that supports business strategy • Site development strategies • Technology, IOT and digitilisation strategy

Facility Design & Development

• Greenlelds site development planning • Brownlelds site development planning • • FunctionalFunctional buildingbuilding requirementsrequirements specilcation • Technical liaison to professional / development team • Facility sizing requirements (short to long term) • Design to execution • • Procurement,Procurement, programprogram andand vendorvendor management

Process & Operations Design

• Operations assessment and benchmarking • WMS / WCS review • WMS / WCS functional requirements • Process and operations optimisation • • LongLong termterm operationaloperational developmentdevelopment strategies • Process audit • Labour standards and incentive programs

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