The machinery that operates at high
speeds, the bearings are subjected to severe mechanical stress that produces
heat and causes a strong increase in temperature that can compromise correct
system operation.
The awareness of this problem led to designing a specific technology for oil
recirculation lubrication that allows you to lubricate and at the same time
cool the bearings or gears.
The recirculation provides a flow of oil to the
lubrication points, with control of the quantity and temperature of the fluid.
By means of an electric
pump the lubricant is taken
into the main line, where the flow of oil is measured and regulated. When the oil goes through the point being lubricated, it acts not only as a lubricant, but it also
eliminates the heat created by the bearing or the area being lubricated. Unlike the total-loss lubrication systems, through a
return tube, the lubricant circulates from the bearing to the pumping station
where it is filtered and cooled by means of heat exchangers, before being sent
back to the lubrication points in order to be reused.
Specifically, the flow is controlled
thanks to the use of a meter and volumetric flow regulator which constantly monitors the successful
lubrication. The volumetric nature of the rotating satellite of the meter
allows the exact volume to be known in
the dispensing phase and,
combined with a servo motor system, at the same time allows the exact flow
parameters to be maintained, even if there are variations in pressure or
viscosity (due to temperature variations).
All of this guarantees complete remote control of the system (settings and monitoring) and the
consequent reduction of manual operations. Another innovation of this device is
the ability of the flow to bypass the meter module, allowing the removal of the
unit without the need to shut down the system.
This type of system is completed with the
installation of a custom-designed monitoring device to monitor and provide remote diagnostics and
to guarantee that the oil recirculation system always works at top efficiency.
Oil recirculation is used on machines with many points to be lubricated, such as paper mills,
utensil machines and printing machines, and
it favours a general increase in work speed and performance, as well as making
it possible to adjust and monitor the distribution of each point. In addition
to these sectors, recirculation lubrication
systems lend themselves
well to installation on systems that transform heat into electricity and
thermal energy from renewable sources (e.g. biomass, geothermal and solar
energy) or from waste heat created by industrial processes, engines and gas
turbines. Installation on this type of system allows the high-speed bearings to
be lubricated, as well as the shaft of pumps and turbines used to convert the
heat into electricity.
