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#Industry News

Diagnosing Bearing Failure During Re-Lubrication Tasks w/LUBExpert (Part 1)

Bearing Failure 1 – Failure Discovered w/LUBExpert Confirmed w/Vibration Analysis

Reported by Torki Ibrahim MSc, PMP®,MLA I,MLT II,Ultrasound level I & Khaled Almarwany

Torki, a lubrication engineer at a cement manufacturer recently completed his Live Online Level One Ultrasound Certification with SDT Ultrasound Solutions. He’s since been applying his newfound knowledge for his organization.

Torki’s work orders used to read something like this “Lubricate the drive-end and non-drive-end of X Cooling Fan, Bi-Weekly.”

But now, with the LUBExpert, their lubrication work orders have shifted from being calendar based, to condition based.

Previously, the lubrication team greased their bearings on a time-based schedule. The calendar schedule called for 50 grams of grease every two weeks, regardless of the needs of the bearing.

Since switching to the ultrasonic condition-based method for greasing their bearings based, Torki and his fellow lubrication technicians noticed a steep decline in grease consumed. It used to be 50 grams every two weeks for both the drive-end & non-drive-end bearings, it dropped to 16 grams for the drive-end and 14.4 grams for the non-drive-end during the most recent successful lubrication task, which can be seen in the following two figures.

Details

  • Boulevard de l'Humanité, 1070 Vorst, Belgium
  • SDT Ultrasound Solutions