VICTREX® PEEK™ Polymer Used For Large Bearings

VICTREX® PEEK™ Polymer used for Large Bearings used in hydro-generation applications

Victrex has over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas, and energy production industries. We are passionate about continuously expanding our polymer product line and processing methods to deliver advanced high performance materials that lead to new products and technologies used in energy production.

A complete package of energy industry solutions
VICTREX® PEEK™ polymers are highly versatile materials. They range from high flow and high purity grades to films and coatings. PEEK helps designers and engineers in the energy industry achieve significant improvements in product performance, quality, differentiation, and cost.

These product improvements can lead directly to higher production, enhanced safety, shorter discovery times and more efficient resource recovery. Everyone benefits.

The unique value of Victrex energy solutions lies within our ability to tailor high performance VICTREX PEEK polymers for our customer's best advantage.

These high performance properties include high resistance to heat, corrosion, wear, electricity and hydrolysis, as well as excellent dimensional, mechanical, and chemical stability with inherent purity and low flammability.

Victrex solutions can speed your time to market
We work closely with our customers to ensure application success. Working alongside our processors with some of the largest energy companies in the world, we help accelerate application development by thoroughly understanding engineering requirements from the end user point of view.

Engineers and designers then work as teams to provide optimized solutions based on VICTREX® PEEK polymers. The Victrex reputation is built on our unique expertise in PEEK, and our ability to work closely with our customers, share best practices, and create product solutions that help enhance energy production.

Major bearings manufacturer Daido Metal Co., Ltd. (President: Seigo Hanji; Headquarters: Nagoya, Aichi) has developed a large bearing designed for hydro-generation applications that is highly durable and has high slidability qualities using Victrex® PEEK™ polymer. These large bearings have been very well received by heavy electric manufacturers in Japan and throughout the world. Daido plans to aggressively expand to gas and steam generator manufacturers throughout Europe and the USA as well as into the large industrial machine sector with large pumps, compressors, and more.

Traditionally, the material used for high load and high-speed revolution bearings utilized in hydro-generator and similar applications was white metal (an alloy of tin, copper and antimony). However, white metal has been considered difficult to use in miniaturization due to issues related to heat resistance and mechanical strength. Consequently, Daido adopted Victrex PEEK polymer — renowned for its high strength, high heat resistance and low friction factor — to the surface of its bearings. In doing so, Daido was able to improve the load capacity by 50% and reduce the friction factor by approximately 30 to 40%. This resulted in the ability to reduce the surface of the bearing by approximately 60% and also increase the operating temperature to 250°C (compared to 125°C for white metal products). In addition, Daido's internal performance testing indicates that bearing life will potentially increase to twice of that of white metal based bearings.

Daido states, "Ultra-fine bronze beading is sintered on the back of the rear steel plate surface and then the resulting porous intermediary layer of Victrex PEEK polymer is injected using a proprietary impregnation technique. In this way, the base material (steel) and the sliding surface (Victrex PEEK polymer) are solidly soldered together." Daido also says, "Oil filters were necessary to facilitate smooth revolution for large revolving machines using white metal based bearings that required oil pressure during initial motion (when revolution begins). However, now that Victrex PEEK polymer — with its superior sliding qualities — is used in the bearings, such equipment is no longer required. This makes it possible to streamline related equipment and maintenance. In addition, due to the high chemical resistance of Victrex PEEK polymer, it is also possible to omit the need for bearing insulation."