Polymer bearings speed up beer bottling

A Belgian brewery is using lubricant-free polymer bearings in the brewing of its Trappist beer – a brand also widely sold in the South African market. The maintenance-free bearings eliminate the risk of contamination, allowing the brewing process to continue uninterrupted.

The Chimay brewery notes that by using maintenance-free spherical bearings from igus in its bottling plant and replacing rusty, seized ball bearings with lubrication-free igubal H3 bearing inserts, it has been able to increase efficiency and reduce maintenance and plant downtime.

Brewed by monks at the Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey in the Belgian province of Hainaut, Chimay is one of 12 operations in the world that produce Trappist beer, with most of the profits being directed towards social projects.

In 2018 the brewery produced approximately 18.5 megalitres of beer and its high production requirements posed challenges for its bottling plants which faced frequent failures and the seizing of conventional metallic ball bearings. The time-consuming replacement of defective ball bearings led to long periods of downtime and production losses.

The brewery changed to the use of igubal H3 bearings in 2022 and says that the bearings have shown very little wear and have helped improve its production process. The bearings are made of tribologically optimised high-performance plastics, making them lubrication-free, maintenance-free and corrosion resistant. The bearing material is said to work well within design limits, even at speeds of 200 rpm. The bearing inserts are designed to be easier to install and replace than metal ball bearings, helping to further reduce maintenance times.

In addition, using the bearings eliminates wear-related shaft damage, further extending the service life of the system. The bearing inserts are also highly resistant to chemicals, reducing the risk of damage. Using the bearings, the bottling line is said to achieve a speed of 55 000 bottles an hour.

"With the igubal H3 bearings, we have been able to solve the most important problem on our conveyor systems and significantly extend the service life of our systems," says Chimay maintenance technician Vivien De Schryver.