Water Lubricated Bearings are the future of Main Guide Bearings!

Posted on Tuesday, June 27th, 2017 and is filed under News

Check out our You-tube featuring conversion of a main guide bearing to the first and original water lubricated bearing…Lignum Vitae. With the longest standing expertise in genuine Lignum Vitae water lubricated bearings it looks like Mr. Edison got it right when he specified the material in the first commercial hydro plant in the US in 1882….

Click here to watch our video Water Lubricated Bearings

Ordinary “New” products come and go Extraordinary products remain important and viable for decades even centuries. Genuine Lignum Vitae is the only water lubricated bearing with 162 years of reliable service for large rotating shafts. Many plants have experienced in excess of 65 years of continuous service on a single lignum vitae bearing! This level of service is unprecedented in the world of bearings and sets a high bar of performance and reliability a century before most “new” materials were even conceived. As the only water lubricated main guide bearing capable of operating at “zero clearance” older plants benefit greatly reducing vibration, shock and instability adding years to the life of the turbine. New equipment will benefit from day one when allowed to operate at closer tolerance than composites offering a more stable operation that will reap rewards for decades to come. Lignum Vitae holds the distinction of being the “most steel friendly material” and recording the lowest coefficient of friction ever reported according to the Society of Naval Architects and Marine engineers.

With a heightened environmental awareness of the negative impact oil places in water it is no wonder numerous law suits have been filed nationwide to stop this practice. Using nothing but run of the river water Lignum Vitae stands ready to answer the call to return to a cleaner operation. Converting oil lubricated to Lignum Vitae eliminates numerous compliance and inspection requirements such as DEQ, EPA, oil spill safety plans, oil line inspections, oil spill insurance, oil/ grease reservoirs, safety meetings surrounding the threat of oil spills. It is our hope no money is spent defending the use of oil and grease but instead used to convert plants back to pure water lubrication.

Lignum Vitae is the first successful water lubricated bearing and continues to pioneer new products to further extend the life of hydro turbine shafts. As our sole focus developing products such as “hone in place” tooling, “bearing coating” for horizontal shafts, “Bullseye” bearings and more in development will continue to place Lignum Vitae North America at the forefront of simple, elegant innovation for years to come. With over 10,000MW currently spinning on Lignum Vitae it is our goal to return every oiled or composite bearing back to the first and original water lubricated bearing, lignum vitae, helping to clean up the environment and keep turbines running reliably.

Lignum Vitae North America can help design, engineer and install any conversion from oil or composites in main guide bearings and greased intermediate bearings to water lubricated with 80% of orders shipped within 48 hours from purchase order.