Plain Bearings in Decanter Centrifuge

Initial designs used metal bearings and stainless-steel shafts. The metal bearings used to wear out and get jammed, which made a squeaking noise. This caused undesirable ambient conditions, particularly as they are used in a medical environment, where minimal noise is important. This noise also pointed to future mechanical problems. An immediate solution was to lubricate the bearings with oil. The company had to send pin-size little tubes to all its customers, with instructions how the lubricant needed to be applied to rectify the problem. This was costly and the lubricants could cause contamination.

The permanent, ideal solution was to replace the metal bearings with iglide® G300 plastic bearings. The costs were significantly reduced immediately. With iglide® bearings, only standard machining tolerances are required, whereas metal demanded precise machining and finishing. In addition to the revolved surface, iglide® also offers a lateral bearing surface.

As a result of switching to iglide® bearings, the company was able to reduce its costs by 93% and its assembly times by 10 minutes. Maintenance, such as lubrication, was eliminated entirely.