Boulden International - Engineered Bearings, High-Temperature Lubricant, Composite Wear Components for Centrifugal Pumps, and Flexible Element Disc Pack Power Transmission Couplings

Boulden International is a distributor and manufacturer's representative for engineered materials and components designed to improve the reliability, efficiency and safety of rotating equipment.

Tilt-pad thrust and journal bearings

Boulden International supplies custom-engineered tilt-pad hydrodynamic thrust and journal bearings for turbines, compressors, pumps, and other rotating machines. Our bearings are designed with the following features:

• Ball and socket pivot design
• Copper thrust pads
• Bronze journal-bearing pads
• Offset pivot (optional)
• Directed lubrication

Our design tools allow us to model your current bearing based on geometry and operating parameters. For thrust bearings, we can design a new bearing which will handle a much larger load and run at lower temperature. For journal bearings, we can do a full rotor-dynamic analysis, bearing study, and build a new bearing to improve the stability of your rotor train. Most bearings can be designed to fit your existing bearing housing with no machinery modifications required.

If you are experiencing oil leaks from your bearing housing, we can also design and manufacture custom-fit oil housing seals.

High-temperature lubricants

We are a stocking distributor of high-temperature lubricants which can survive long beyond where other lubricants break down. Some key features of our non-hydrocarbon based lubricants are:

• Temperature stability from -75°C (-103°F) to 400°C (752°F)
• Non-oxidizing, inert, non-toxic and non-flammable
• Undamaged and non-reactive with acidic or caustic cleaners, steam or moisture
• Extremely long lubricant life - very long lubrication intervals and much smaller quantities consumed
• Excellent lubrication film thickness
• Silicone-free and chlorine-free formulation

Typical applications in power plants are for steam turbine control valves, damper and ductwork valves, sootblower gearboxes, expansion bearings and expansion joints.

The lubricant is also non-reactive with virtually all elastomers, metals and plastics making it an excellent mechanical seal lubricant. It will not cause swelling of gaskets or damage to other seal components. Because it does not react with or wash away in steam or moisture, it is also an ideal lubricant for instrumentation and controls such as pressure relief valves, control valves, and manually operated valves.

Wear components for centrifugal pumps

Most centrifugal pump designs feature a number of rotating-to-stationary interfaces with close-clearance wear components. Typically, these parts are metallic, creating the potential for metal-to-metal contact inside the pump and possible pump seizure if the pump runs dry. In the case of pump wear rings, metal parts require substantial clearance between rotating and stationary parts resulting in a loss of pump efficiency.

Modern composite materials offer an alternative by eliminating the metal-to-metal interface and replacing it with a metal-to-composite interface. By changing the stationary components from metal to DuPont™ Vespel® CR-6100, the pump will be more able to survive run-dry events and other off-design process situations.

Furthermore, the use of Vespel CR-6100 allows internal pump clearances to be reduced, improving efficiency, reducing overall vibration levels, and resulting in improved life for the mechanical seals and bearings.

Power transmission couplings

We supply high-performance multiple-disc flexible element power transmission couplings for machine trains up to 100MW and for speeds as high as 100,000 rpm. We supply power transmission couplings for steam turbines, gas turbines, pumps, fans, blowers, and generators. Flexible element power transmission couplings provide the following benefits:

• No lubrication
• Zero maintenance
• Zero backlash
• Easy installation
• No relatively moving parts and no wearing parts

We provide extensive service capabilities, from the design and manufacture of new couplings to repair and replacement of existing couplings from any manufacturer with rapid response.