Prevent Unplanned Downtime in Pulp and Paper Mills The pulp and paper industry is a vital sector of the global economy and produces essential materials for everyday use. As in most other manufacturing sectors, rotating machinery – electric motors, pumps, conveyors, and more specialized equipment – plays an enormous role. This machinery’s rotation is made possible by bearings, which provide a low-friction interface between the rotating and stationary mechanical components. If a machine bearing fails, then so does the machine. A bearing failure in a critical machine can halt an entire productio ..read more

Protecting Motor Bearings and Preventing Costly Downtime Industrial plants rely heavily on the seamless operation of electric motors to drive various processes. However, one significant and common issue that plagues these plants is motor bearing damage, often resulting in expensive downtime and maintenance costs. One culprit behind this damage is stray electrical current, which wreaks havoc on the bearings, causing progressive damage and ultimately leading to the need for replacement ..read more

Variable frequency drives are used with electric motors and generators in many systems, from HVAC to propulsion, on hybrid and electric marine vessels.  But these drives create a voltage on the shaft of the rotating equipment, which can discharge through the equipment's bearings or through coupled equipment like gearboxes.  For long-term reliability, this equipment requires electrical bearing protection, like AEGIS® Shaft Grounding Rings.  This post will look at a few particular drives applications in marine vessels ..read more

We talk a lot in the pages of this blog about different applications that can benefit from controlling electric motors with variable frequency drives (VFDs).  From the deepest mines to the stratosphere and beyond, their applications are endless.  In this post, we will be looking at three winter/cold weather-specific uses of VFDs ..read more

Mining has been vital to civilization since at least the Bronze Age. In today’s electrified world, metals and minerals are more important than ever. The need for mined products is ubiquitous from copper for wiring to phosphates for fertilizer. And valuable – in 2021, the value of the largest 40 mining companies was $925 billion ..read more

We recently wrote about how the static resistance of an AEGIS ring (measured with a multimeter) is higher than the effective resistance when operating on a VFD-controlled motor.  But the fact is that neither value is actually important to know ..read more

For the past few decades, the use of variable frequency drives (VFDs) in the motors of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems has become increasingly common to manage energy consumption. Compared to electric motors that run at a constant speed, VFD-equipped motors offer significant advantages, often consuming 50 percent or less of the energy motors use when run direct on line. The savings become even more apparent for large commercial and industrial facilities, where energy efficiency impacts a business’s bottom line. In simple terms, a VFD controls the rotational speed of ..read more

We get a lot of questions about the resistance (ohms) of our AEGIS Shaft Grounding Rings.  Fair enough:  Our rings work by providing a low-resistance path between the frame and shaft, so stray electric current will flow through the ring instead of through the bearings.  It's natural to wonder how much resistance current feels when it flows through the ring.  The answer is typically a few to several ohms*, but there's much more to the story ..read more

Premature failure can be a real problem in an AC motor equipped with a variable frequency drive (VFD), largely due to motor bearing failure. Yet VFDs have been promoted by engineers, facility managers, building owners, and other stakeholders as devices that help ensure greater energy efficiency while also complementing the workings of automated machinery. VFD technology is one of the greener motor-related technologies used today, allowing users to control the motor’s torque and speed. VFDs can reduce power consumption for an electric motor by 30 percent or more, though the motors need extra p ..read more

We have written about choosing a mounting style for AEGIS® Shaft Grounding Ring - here, here, and here.  But once you know what mounting style you want, how do you get the rest of the part number?  That's where our catalog's Product Selector comes in ..read more