Energy Industry
Power Generation
The power generation industry relies heavily on bearings to ensure the smooth operation of turbines, generators, compressors, pumps, drives, and other critical equipment. Bearings such as roller, ball, blade, radial, pillow block, and yaw types are commonly utilized in this sector. These components are essential for generating, transmitting, distributing, and selling electric power, playing a crucial role in maintaining the efficiency and reliability of power generation systems.
Equipment in the power generation industry requires uninterrupted bearing service, making durability and reliability paramount. Commonly used bearings in power generation equipment include ball and roller bearings, pillow block bearings, blade bearings, yaw bearings, and radial bearings.
For compressors, drives, motors, and pumps, ball and roller bearings are typically used. These bearings are designed with tight internal clearances, specific cage designs, and high Abec precision classes to ensure optimal performance. Wind turbines use a variety of bearings depending on their specific application. Gearboxes generally employ roller bearings, deep groove ball bearings, or four-point contact bearings. Generators often feature deep groove ball bearings or cylindrical roller bearings, while blades integrate blade bearings (pitch bearings), yaw bearings, or sealed spherical bearings for control system efficiency.
Gas, steam, and water turbines commonly utilize hydrodynamic bearings, which are designed to support heavy loads and operate under high-speed conditions. These specialized bearings ensure the seamless functioning of critical power generation equipment, minimizing downtime and maximizing output.
Pump, Compressors, and Oil Fields
The oil sector relies heavily on various types of ball and roller bearings, known for their high load capacities, to operate pumps, compressors, and drives. These components are essential in enabling the compression, condensation, and transportation of liquids and gases across numerous industrial processes. Industries such as oil and gas processing, wastewater treatment, power generation, and mining depend on pump and compressor technologies to perform reliably under harsh conditions for extended periods.
As global energy demands continue to rise, the oil and gas industry faces mounting pressure to increase production while simultaneously reducing its carbon footprint. Pumps and compressors used in this field must evolve to become more energy-efficient, faster, and compact. Precise axial shaft positioning and robust backup bearing performance are critical to ensuring operational efficiency, as even minor inaccuracies can lead to reduced performance.
Higher performance expectations and smaller machinery place greater demands on individual components like ball and roller bearings. Manufacturers must address these challenges by incorporating the highest-quality bearings available. In oil and gas applications, rotor bearings capable of withstanding extreme stress over prolonged periods are essential. Most operations utilize ball bearings and cylindrical roller bearings, which ensure smooth operation under heavy loads with minimal maintenance and vibration. Four-point contact bearings, known for their ability to handle high axial loads, often replace dual angular contact bearings due to their split inner ring design, allowing axial motion in multiple directions.
Common bearings used in pumps for the oil and gas industry include high-load capacity angular contact ball bearings with machined brass cages, double-row angular contact ball bearings, deep groove ball bearings, and cylindrical roller bearings. Bearings for compressors often feature high-load and high-speed cylindrical roller bearings as well as angular contact ball bearings. These components must maintain exceptional reliability to ensure uninterrupted operation.
Applications benefiting from quality bearings include irrigation pumps, oxygen compressors, vacuum pumps, high-flow pumps, helical gear pumps, manufacturing compressors, and turboexpanders used in extraction, refining, transportation, and storage of oil and natural gas. Emerson provides tailored bearing solutions to meet the stringent requirements of oil and gas operations, ensuring optimal performance and reliability.
Renewable Energy Industry
Renewable energy production requires components that are both flexible and robust to perform reliably in diverse weather conditions. As renewable energy continues to grow as a vital resource, QBC Bearings plays a significant role in equipment for photovoltaic and wind power generation, as well as the manufacturing processes involved. For instance, bearings are utilized in wire saws for cutting silicon wafers of solar cells, etching equipment, and diffusion furnaces used in cell processing. They also play a crucial role in conveyance robots that support various stages of production, sun-tracking devices in photovoltaic systems, and essential components in wind power generation, such as the main shaft of wind turbines, gear reducers, generators, and swiveling parts.
QBC Bearings offers a variety of bearing types to meet the specific demands of renewable energy applications. These include deep groove ball bearings, angular contact ball bearings, spherical roller bearings, tapered roller bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, needle roller bearings, oil seals, and special environment ball bearings. These specialized components ensure reliability and efficiency in the operation of renewable energy equipment.
