Want to Change Water Cooled bearing to Non-Water cooled - Extreme duty and heat 1

[APRSOLUTIONS]

Hello To all, We are a Plastic recycler that uses a large mechanical dryer to dry our plastics. This dryer had an approximately 78in horizontal shaft with metal fingers extending from it and the shaft spins at 1750 rpm. Weight of shaft is approx. 2000lbs. The fingers of the shaft basically catch the plastic and fling it to remove excess water.
Currently the dryer has bearings that are water cooled, but it is generating too much water excess that we then have to pump out due to Environmental regulations. I want to go with a a different type of bearing that does not require water. We recently purchased a second dryer that is a bit smaller for a second process line and it does not have the water cooled bearing. Any suggestions????

 

[Compositepro]

Once-through cooling water is very simple but has become illegal in many areas. Without a major redesign of your equipment the simple solution is to get a cooling tower to cool and recirculate the water.

 

[ornerynorsk]

It's not difficult to close-loop a water cooling system. Doesn't need to be expensive, either. I've seen many improvised systems built with a recirculating pump, automotive radiator, and an electric fan. It all depends on what your input/output temperature requirements are, heat exchange capacity.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[Metalfixer]

Might want to see if a Weld Gun/Torch cooler would work.

https://www.millerwelds.com/accessories/water-coolant-systems/water-coolant-systems

Larry

 

[tygerdawg]

Agree with small cooling tower supply. Stand alone units are not that expensive. You must put in all the stuff to inhibit algae growth, too. Maybe your facility already has a cooling tower water supply available circulating through your plant, just pipe it in. If you want to get sophisticated, you may consider something like a injection molding machine temperature controller. Small-capacity units are not that expensive. With a little measurement and analysis, you may determine your heat load. And also consider upsizing the bearings so that the larger (thermal) mass of the bearings can handle the heat better.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[ornerynorsk]

That's a great idea Metalfixer!

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[Tmoose]

Hot = how many degrees F or C ?
Housing surface temp, process temp, and if possible the shaft temp near the bearings.

From your description and picture it is not clear to me how the bearing cooling water is managed.
Is the bearing cooling water dumped in along with the water flung off the plastic?

 

[APRSOLUTIONS]

Water is pumped into the bearing then exfills back into the wash tank.