GRAPHALLOY Does Not Seize

In this design of a furnace tap gate, the 18 in, X 15 in. metal plate slides open and closed via cam followers rolling on stationary rails. Although the travel is short and the gate opens only once an hour, conventional grease-lubricated cam followers would certainly lock-up when exposed to the expected 750^o F. Therefore the OEM chose this component with GRAPHALLOY bearing material. It was dimensionally interchangeable with needle bearing configuration, but required NO LUBRICATION.

GRAPHALLOY Saves Maintenance Costs

The pillow blocks supporting the line up rolls originally had grease lubricated ball bearings. However, the combination of high temperature and intermittent operation caused frequent maintenance problems... numerous bearing replacements, seizures with the resulting roll "flat spot" repairs, and the occasional production line shut down. The engineering solution was to replace the OEM supplied ball bearings with interchangeable pillow blocks, using GRAPHALLOY busings. The initial cost was higher, but annual dollar savings in roll life, replacements, labor and lubricants was over $200,000.