202. PTFE Bearing Technology – An Alternative to Whitemetal

Michell Bearings has developed PTFE bearing technology for thrust and journal applications. This type of bearing is known to offer several advantages over the more traditional whitemetal type. The paper describes the PTFE tilting pad thrust bearing together with the key advantages of the product compared with whitemetal. The advantages are demonstrated by a case study involving the retrofit of a problematic whitemetal thrust bearing with PTFE on a pumped storage hydrogenerator. The paper goes on to cover recent developments of PTFE in tilting pad journal bearings.