The working conditions of a cement plant do not foster long service life for machinery due to dust, heat, moisture and vibration. Therefore, it is essential that every opportunity is taken to improve equipment efficiency and reliability. Bearings are common to most pieces of equipment and in this report, NSK Europe explains how improving the service life of this critical component can result in significant cost savings.
Poor lubrication and high contamination levels cause 80 per cent of premature bearing failure and are the two key factors that determine bearing life. The cement industry uses both wet- and dry-processes and dust and moisture can cause problems for the bearings. Cement dust is hygroscopic, meaning that it absorbs the lubricating oil from the bearing grease, resulting in a grinding paste inside the bearing.
