• Grooves on the bearing surface enhance the lubricant film

• Bearing sound feature analysis can predict necessary maintenance

• Environment Minister Thekla Walker: "Innovation with great potential"

The Rolls-Royce Power Systems business unit has developed a sliding bearing for its mtu engine, which can reduce its fuel consumption by 1%. This achievement won him the Environmental Technology Award from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Environment. The Minister of Environment Thekla Walker awarded the award to Dr. Otto Preiss, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Rolls-Royce Power Systems on November 4, 2021. The new bearing significantly reduces the amount of friction between the bearing and the crankshaft, and it can also predict the maintenance time that will be required next. "This is an innovation with great potential, because the new bearing can simply replace the existing bearing in the entire range of applications," Baden-Württemberg Environment Minister Thekla Walker said at the award ceremony.

The bearing surface is not completely smooth, but is decorated with fine grooves, which together with the lubricant produce a water-skiing effect and act as an anti-friction layer. This anti-friction layer can reduce the friction loss between the crankshaft and the bearing by 20-35%, depending on the operating mode. This innovative bearing is the result of a collaboration between a small project team in Friedrichshafen, bearing manufacturer Miba and MontanUniversität Leoben in Austria.

"The technology behind sliding bearings is very mature and complete. To really improve it, you need outstanding engineering expertise and innovative talents. Therefore, we have successfully developed an optimized metal sliding bearing with our partners without further modification. It is installed in our engine, which makes us very proud. Just adding a simple production step can reduce fuel consumption by 1%, which not only reduces costs, but also avoids emissions," Rolls? Royce Power Systems Chief Operating Officer Officer and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Otto Preiss pointed out. The company's mass-produced mtu engines will be equipped with new sliding bearings in the near future. MTU engines that have been put into use should be gradually modified during the overhaul. The future plan is to sell the new bearing as a single component of Miba AG.

The use of bearings in the engine reduces the loss caused by friction, while maintaining power output, fuel consumption is reduced by about 1%. This doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s a bit long, as shown in the simplified example below: A mining truck driven by a large engine has a power output equivalent to about twenty medium-sized passenger cars and a running time of about 20 For several hours a day, it consumes approximately 400 liters of fuel per hour at full load. Therefore, the new bearings installed in the engine can save approximately 80 liters of fuel per day.

In addition, the innovative bearing technology indicates the due time of the next major maintenance work by generating changes in the sound characteristics of the bearing that can be explained accordingly. In this way, the service life of the bearing can be fully utilized. Avoid premature maintenance and detect excessive wear in time, thereby saving material and operating costs.

The patent-pending bearing is not only suitable for Rolls Royce's mtu engine: "It is suitable for all equipment where the sliding bearing must withstand high loads-such as utility vehicle engines, turbines and wind power plants. Because of the new bearings, it is more It used to be put into operation faster, so the production time was longer,” explains Dr. Thomas Kottke, who is in charge of the project.

Source: www.mtu-solutions.com