Polymer bearings for maintenance-free bottling system
A South African favourite beer which is to be found on many a beer connoisseurs tables is being brewed in Belgium with the assistance of lubricant-free polymer bearings that will not contaminate the beer and enables brewers to leave the process uninterrupted by maintenance that may otherwise spoil the chances of brewing the perfect beer.
The Chimay brewery is close to the heart of many beer drinkers and is known for its traditional Trappist beer. In recent times the brewer has come to rely on maintenance-free spherical bearings from igus in its bottling plant. By replacing rusty, seized ball bearings with lubrication-free igubal H3 bearing inserts, the brewery has been able to increase efficiency and reduce maintenance and plant downtime.
It is one of twelve breweries in the world that produces Trappist beer, made by monks. Interestingly, the majority of their profits are intended for social projects. Brewed at Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey in the Belgian province of Hainaut, Chimay produced around 18.5 megalitres of beer in 2018. The high production requirements posed special challenges for the bottling plants, especially due to frequent failures and the seizing of conventional metallic ball bearings to shafts. The replacement of a defective ball bearing could take up to one and a half days, which unfortunately led to production losses.
As part of a project to optimise the filling lines, Chimay turned to international polymer manufacturer igus to find a permanent solution to this problem. After an extensive series of tests and optimisations, the igubal H3 bearing proved to be the optimal choice and since the changeover in September 2022, these bearings have shown very little wear.
The igubal H3 bearings offer many advantages that significantly improve the brewery’s production process. They are made of tribologically optimised high-performance plastics. This makes them lubrication-free, maintenance-free and corrosion resistant. Even at speeds of 200 rpm, the bearing material is working well within design limits. The igubal bearing inserts are much easier to install and replace than metal ball bearings, which drastically reduces maintenance times.
An important point to note for local bottlers is that in addition, there is no longer any wear-related shaft damage, which extends the service life of the entire system. Another advantage is the high resistance of the igubal H3 bearing inserts to chemicals. Despite regular cleaning processes, they show no signs of damage. Due to these characteristics, the line achieves an impressive speed of 55,000 bottles per hour. Chimay has already ordered 150 additional bearing inserts to replace the remaining ball bearings. “With the igubal H3 bearings, we have been able to solve the most important problem on our conveyor systems and significantly extend the service life of our systems,” says Vivien De Schryver, maintenance technician at Chimay.
