Water & Wastewater Treatment

20 | MAY 2014 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk One of the main problems was the sludge pump running misaligned O perating problems on a large sludge pump at United Utilities waste water treatment plant in Oldham caused damage to its original bearings and cranksha. United Utilities commissioned Ericks Electro Mechanical Services to refurbish and repair the sludge pump. The work included straightening the cranksha, replacing the bearings, re-aligning the drive unit, on-site assembly and commissioning. The total value of the contract was over £200,000. One of the major problems faced by Ericks was that the sludge pump cranksha had been running mis- aligned, resulting in serious damage to the cranksha itself, as well as the split roller bearings and housings that locate the pump connecting rods and support the cranksha. Ericks undertook the straightening and refurbishment of the cranksha, and called in Revolvo SRB to advise on the bearing replacement and supply split roller bearings, housings and ped- estals for the cranksha support, and also refurbished the pump connecting rod end housings. Revolvo has been involved in previ- ous successful projects with United Utilities, including a recent project to replace rotary aerator support bearings at UU's Widnes Waste Water Treatment Plant. Revolvo's sealed SRB split roller bearings particularly suit water treat- ment plant operations as they are Sludge pump bearing replacement Split roller bearing replacement cuts cost for United Utilities designed to operate fully submerged in sludge, needing only routine re-greasing to operate reliably for many years. For these applications with very long shas, the SRB split-to-the sha bearing design saves thousands of pounds in instal- lation and maintenance costs as they can be easily removed and replaced at any point along the sha without any dismantling of ancillary equipment. A total of seven heavy duty 150 mm SRB split roller bearings and housings were supplied for the application to the Ericks EMS site. Ericks undertook the reassembly and installation of the cranksha assembly. This was achieved within time and on budget, and the pump is now back in continuous service at the Oldham site. For further reading please go to wwtonline.co.uk Project focus ● Refurbish and repair the sludge pump ● Straighten the cranksha and bearing replacement ● Contract in excess of £200,000 AdriAn Menzies SAleS And MARkeTing diReCTOR RevOlvO Why use split bearings? ● The split-to-the-sha bearing enables the bearing to be fitted without requir- ing access to the sha ends ● split bearings can be built around the sha , sav- ing unnecessary downtime – as much as 90% in fitting time – as there is no need to remove other drive components • Drivers • Perspectives The supplier "Revolvo has a very suc- cessful history of install- ing bearings in applica- tions where they will be submerged in sludge or effluent. Thanks to a very effective sealing system our bearings are capable of surviving far longer than traditional bearings with only the basic maintenance of standard regreasing re- quired. Another advantage of srB split roller bearings is that when they do reach the end of their life, they are very easy to replace." Adrian Menzies, Sales and Marketing Director, Revolvo The client "United Utilities reports that the split roller bear- ings provide heavy-duty support for the crank- sha of a large sludge pump at its Oldham waste water treatment plant, following op- erational problems that damaged the bearing."

• Cover