News

Media reports indicating the potential volume of lubricating oil polluting the world’s seas and oceans due to shaft seal damage or failure should send a clear message to Administrations that this frequently overlooked source of pollution needs to be quickly addressed.

The water-lubricated SXL turbine guide bearings Thordon installed as part of the re-powering of Norway’s Raanaasfoss 1 hydro plant have experienced almost zero wear after 23,887 hours of continuous operation on the first installed unit. During routine inspections of the 13.5 MW turbines, commissioned by Voith Hydro in 2013, the guide bearings – the operator’s first experience with water-lubricated bearings – showed “almost no wear at all”, with a measured diametric bearing clearance less than 0.30mm (0.012”) on the longest running Unit 1. All remaining turbines (Units 2 to 6) had very low measured diametric clearances of between 0.30 and 0.50mm (0.012” and 0.020”).

At the beginning of Q2 Thordon sent out our annual End User Survey to get feedback as part of our continuous improvement initiative to maintain our high quality standards and to help us serve our customers better. We examined four industry segments separately to determine both the overall satisfaction, and to track performance within each industry: Marine, Hydro & Clean Power, Pump, and Industrial.

Mr. Neil Cooper has been appointed Vice-President, Sales, Thordon Bearings, with the mandate to build upon the Canadian company’s leading position in the global water-lubricated bearings market and drive continued growth.

Thordon Bearings’ COMPAC seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearing system has won the coveted 2019 Seatrade Award for Clean Shipping, in recognition of the technology’s capacity to completely eradicate operational oil pollution from ships’ stern tubes.

Thordon Bearings has received a Canadian Coast Guard contract to supply six award-winning SeaThigor shaft seals for retrofit installation to three purpose-built icebreakers. The order follows the success of the 2017 installation and subsequent operation of SeaThigor seals aboard the oceanographic and hydrographic survey vessel CCGS Hudson, for which a procurement agreement was signed with the Government of Canada under its Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP).