Minnesota Power
Situation
Minnesota Power was experiencing vibration problems on their air pre-heaters. Minnesota Power began re-greasing each coupling during their outages to try to reduce this vibration. Each re-greasing was only effective in reducing vibration for two weeks; each re-greasing tied up 3 maintenance personnel for an entire day.
The Solution
- Minnesota Power replaced their rigid couplings with MGTL couplings
- Because MagnaDrive Couplings have no physical connection between the motor and the load equipment, there is no vibration transferred between them.
The Results
- Minnesota Power’s vibration problems on their air pre-heaters have been almost completely eliminated.
- Readings indicated a reduction in vibration of over 80% versus the original rigid couplings
- Annual non-energy operating costs using traditional coupling: $21,600
- Annual labor costs using MagnaDrive Coupling: $3,360
- Annual savings per coupling: $18,240
- Additional expense incurred per coupling: $5,000
- Breakeven Point = ($5,000) / ($18,240/yr): 0.3 years