Improved Bearing Isolators Increase Safety, Productivity and Reliability in Oil Mist Applications
In a typical oil mist application, atomized lubricant is injected into the bearing housing. Without a proper sealing method, it will escape through the shaft ends and exit into the environment, causing housekeeping, safety and other issues. - With OM 32 oil mist bearing isolator, the lubricant is coalesced to a liquid and drains back into a system sump or reservoir instead of into the environment. Bearings are protected, shafts are sealed and environmental housekeeping problems are solved. - The Inpro/Seal OM 32 oil mist seal contains no ferrous materials that could generate sparking conditions by sealing faces or magnets upon wear and eventual component degradation. The OM 32 is made entirely of non-sparking bronze material and has no contacting surfaces that could heat up and initiate combustion of volatile materials in the area. - Even if the rolling element, primary bearing should fail, the Inpro/Seal bearing isolator will act as an emergency sleeve bearing and prevent shaft-to-housing contact and possible dangerous and catastrophic spark generation.
Rock Island, IL (PRWEB) December 12, 2004 -- Inpro/Seal Company, the Rock
Island, IL, based manufacturer of bearing isolators has updated their OM series
of oil mist bearing isolator and renamed it the OM 32
Series.
Background:
First introduced 15 years ago, the original OM
series was designed exclusively for oil mist applications. Over the years it has
proven to be highly successful in containing stray mist and keeping it from
entering the environment.
When oil mist was first put into use, venting
into the environment was completely acceptable and stray mist was not a problem.
Since then, equipment, environmental, maintenance, operations and repair needs
have changed.
That Was Then, This Is Now:
Today, the Meantime Between
Failure (MTBF) runs between 5-7 years and plants have to deal with housekeeping
issues (environment, safety, stray emissions) and must optimize their resources
to remain competitive.
With these factors in mind, Inpro/Seal has made
significant enhancements and improvements to their existing oil mist bearing
isolator and renamed it the OM 32 Oil Mist Bearing Isolator Series. Other
aspects include: direct customer feedback, ongoing R &D, extensive field
testing, as well as exhaustive trials in their dedicated testing facility.
Oil Mist Misconception:
According to David C. Orlowski, CEO of
Inpro/Seal, the holder of some 40 patents and considered by many as the “father”
of bearing isolation technology, “There is a misconception that contact seals
are the only option end users have to contain oil mist. The fact is, our bearing
isolator with its upgraded design features and improvements provide levels of
protection previously unavailable in any kind of bearing protection device. An
end user can get the benefits of a non-wearing bearing isolator and totally
contain oil mist at the same time.”
Orlowski continued, “Simply put,
contact seals wear out and have an unknown and unpredictable service life. And
when they wear out, end users have to contend with catastrophic failure and
shutdown, let alone oil mist leakage. Bearing isolators, on the other hand are
non-contacting and do not wear out. Their simple construction consists of a
rotor and stator, unitized so that they don’t separate from one another while in
use. These components interact to keep contamination out of the bearing
enclosure and the oil mist under control.”
Orlowski concluded, “In a
typical oil mist application, atomized lubricant is injected into the bearing
housing. Without a proper sealing method, it will escape through the shaft ends
and exit into the environment, causing housekeeping, safety and other issues.
With our oil mist bearing isolator, the lubricant is coalesced to a liquid and
drains back into a system sump or reservoir instead of into the environment.
Bearings are protected, shafts are sealed and environmental housekeeping
problems are solved.”
Non-Sparking Operation:
Since oil mist is the
preferred method of bearing lubrication in most refineries and petrochemical
plants, it is important to absolutely avoid the possibility of spark generation
by the sealing mechanism. The Inpro/Seal OM 32 oil mist seal contains no ferrous
materials that could generate sparking conditions by sealing faces or magnets
upon wear and eventual component degradation. The OM 32 is made entirely of
non-sparking bronze material and has no contacting surfaces that could heat up
and initiate combustion of volatile materials in the area.
Even if the
rolling element, primary bearing should fail, the Inpro/Seal bearing isolator
will act as an emergency sleeve bearing and prevent shaft-to-housing contact and
possible dangerous and catastrophic spark generation.
More On The
Product:
Other enhancements and improvements include the ability to work with
the low base lubricant viscosities – to ISO 32 and the addition of VBXX™
proprietary technology that eliminates the ingress of lubricant by combining the
best technology in non-contacting labyrinth seals with the best possible
interface for contamination exclusion.
The OM 32 Oil Mist Bearing
Isolator uses BAT (Best Available Technology) to increase reliability and
productivity in industries that use oil mist lubrication systems, including:
refining, petrochemical, hydrocarbon, chemical, metalworking, pulp/paper,
textile, cement, mining, power generation and other continuous process
applications. It will fit any OEM brand bearing housing, vertical or horizontal
configurations, closed loop or open loop, purge or pure mist.
About
Inpro/Seal:
Inpro/Seal Company is the originator and the world’s number one
manufacturer of bearing isolators, used to protect motor and pump bearings,
machine tool spindles, turbines, fans, gear boxes, paper machine rolls and many
other types of rotating equipment. Additional applications include the sealing,
handling, processing, packing and storage of dry particulates, powders and bulk
solids.
Over one million of Inpro/Seal’s original bearing isolator
designs are in operation in process plants worldwide, where end users continue
to report significantly reduced operating costs with increased productivity and
reliability. Protected bearings have proven to run 150,000 hours (17 years) or
more, eliminating the need for costly maintenance and repair. Documented cases
show that a plant can more than double the mean-time-between failure (MTBF) and
reduce maintenance costs by at least half, with users reporting an extremely
high Return On Investment (ROI).
As the recognized global leader in
bearing isolator technology, Inpro products are marketed to the aerospace,
automotive, petroleum, refining, nuclear, power generation, metalworking, food
processing, grain processing, chemical, water, wastewater treatment,
metalworking, hydrocarbon processing, HVAC, pulp and paper, mining, mineral, ore
processing and general industrial markets.
Spreadsheets:
Interactive
spreadsheets that calculate ROI, Contact Seal Energy Consumption and other costs
are available at www.bearingisolators.com
Signoff:
For more
information on the Model OM 32 Oil Mist Bearing Isolator, contact: Inpro/Seal
Company, P.O. Box 3940, Rock Island, Illinois 61204. Phone numbers are: (800)
447-0524 or (309) 787-4971. Fax number is: (309) 787-6114. Website: www.inpro-seal.com or www.bearingisolators.com
Contact
Information:
Inpro/Seal Company
P.O. Box 3940
Rock Island, IL
61204
David C. Orlowski (800) 447-0524
The Mark Baker
Company
4124 Quebec Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55427
Mark Baker (763)
537-7540
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prweb187963.htm