The COMPAC Open Seawater Lubricated Propeller Shaft Bearing System eliminates oil and grease discharges while delivering the lowest operating costs for ship owners. Oil systems can be expensive to maintain, especially when utilizing an EAL. With an open Thordon system, there is zero environmental impact and the headaches that come with oil leakage can be avoided completely, and seawater is free! A COMPAC system guarantees compliance to the everchanging environmental regulations in the shipping industry.
COMPAC bearings are at the heart of the award-winning open seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing system.The COMPAC polymer alloy bearing is homogeneous (there are no layers of differing materials) with properties that are consistent throughout the wall thickness. The Thordon COMPAC bearing is designed in a 2:1 L/D configuration in the AFT bearing.To promote early formation of a hydrodynamic film between the shaft and bearing, the lower (loaded) portion of the bearing is smooth, while the upper half of the bearing incorporates grooves for flow of the water lubricant/coolant. And although start-up friction is initially higher than an oil system, at rated shaft speeds, viscous friction acting on the rotating shaft is lower with seawater than with oil. This has been shown to lead to fuel savings and thus reduced emissions. A key benefit of the seawater system is that it negates the need for a damage-prone aft seal.
A Thordon COMPAC open seawater lubricated propeller shaft system offers considerable advantages to ship owners, not only in bearing wear life predictability and reliability, but they are also cheaper to maintain, easier to install and are future compliant.
The COMPAC system typically includes COMPAC bearings, shaft liners, a Water Quality Package, ThorShield shaft coating and a forward seal.
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