Boulden B-1050 Vertical Pump Shaft Bearings

Last fall, a power plant needed to replace the vertical pump shaft bearings on their cooling water intake pump. They contacted Boulden to find a solution.

Service Conditions

The cooling water intake pumps at the plant pump brackish water from the local harbor. The salty water creates corrosion issues, the silt in the water creates abrasion issues. The line shaft bearings are exposed to potentially high loads from the pump at an operating speed of 1500 rpm.Boulden B-1050 cooling water intake bearings

Boulden B-1050 cooling water intake bearings

Bearing Design

Boulden selected B-1050 for the application due to its excellent dimensional stability, resistance to abrasive wear in dirty water conditions, and high load carrying capability. Unlike most plastic or composite materials used for this application, B-1050 has a coefficient of thermal expansion less than carbon steel. Boulden has found that a coefficient of thermal expansion less than carbon steel is probably the most important material property for the reliable performance and ease of design of a composite bearing or wear ring. For a complete data sheet, contact Boulden today.

Some key properties of B-1050 are shown in Table 1:

Boulden B-1050 key properties

Boulden B-1050 key properties

Tough, wear resistant shaft bearings from Boulden

Boulden supplied the B-1050 bearings mounted in Duplex Stainless shells. The old bearing spiders were corroded and needed to be re-machined; therefore, the shells were machined to fit after the modification to the spiders. The bearings ran against a 7″ (180 mm) diameter shaft. One line shaft bearing design was 9″ (225 mm) long; the other was 11″ (270 mm) long. The components were manufactured in a few weeks, delivered and installed without issues.

Conclusion

If you are looking for better materials for your vertical shaft bearings, contact Boulden. Consider B-1050 for your cooling water pumps, waste water pumps or other services where you need the ability for the bearings to run in potentially dirty service plus survive off design conditions such as running dry. We have a portfolio of materials with B-Series and Vespel® CR-6100, so whatever your vertical shaft bearing application, we can help.

For consultation on the best material for your application or design assistance, contact Boulden today. We have the material you need in stock and can supply raw material or machined parts with rapid delivery.