Charlotte Stonestreet
Managing Editor |
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Reliability for 25 years
09 June 2015
SKF S2M Magnetic Bearings installed in the centrifugal gas compressor at TransCanada Pipelines, Wolf Lake, natural gas compressor station are still operating after a quarter of a century.
The compressor station, with magnetic bearings installed in the centrifugal gas compressor, shows overall availability of 98.5% in the last five years. The magnetic bearings were installed in the late 1980s as part of TransCanada's oil-free compressor initiative, and provide high reliability with minimal servicing and maintenance.
The 25 year operation underlines how frictionless, oil-free, low maintenance SKF bearings bring enhanced reliability to oil and gas applications. The magnetic bearing technology offers advantages over regular bearings as it eliminates costly and high maintenance oil-auxiliary systems and the associated fire hazards and oil disposal costs.