Steve Richter faced a challenge. As boiler core leader, responsible for the maintenance and reliability of the boiler area equipment at Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station in North Dakota, he needed to reduce costs related to replacing tapered journal bearings within the facility’s pulverizers.

In the past, he replaced worn bearings with new and refurbished bearings from a variety of suppliers. Richter needed a more comprehensive, economical approach to journal bearing maintenance. Timken market manager Todd Thorsen and representatives from Motion Industries’ Bismarck, N.D., branch joined forces to propose a three-year plan for replacing bearings at the Coal Creek Station. It combines three services, creating one resource for Coal Creek to obtain tapered roller bearings, bearing repair and competitive pricing on new products.

“We developed a bundled bearing replacement program where Motion Industries would deliver a steady supply of new and used bearings,” says Thorsen. “Our goal was to save Coal Creek Station money, maintain performance and avoid production delays.”

The replacement program feature that most impresses Richter is Timken’s documented repair criteria and associated costs for each repair level.

Coal Creek stores both new and repaired bearings on-site, but turns to Timken for inspections and repairs. The used bearings are checked to determine the necessary repairs needed to maintain reliable service. Under this program, bearings can be either repaired on-site or they can be sent out for repair at any Timken Industrial Services site, such as the South Bend, Ind., facility.

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