Validating Energy Efficiency in Bearing Arrangements with SKF

SKF strives to help customers and end-users decrease their energy consumption, thereby increasing SKF’s overall contribution to energy consumption reduction. Currently, the method of proving energy consumption is bearing-specific and undertaken in a bearing test rig in steady-state operation. Including energy efficiency data to validate the contribution of the bearing arrangement to the overall consumption will be central in supporting the customers’ demands. Therefore, SKF is now looking for a plug-and-play solution that can directly or indirectly measure the energy consumption of a rotating mechanical system or sub-assembly comprising a bearing arrangement at the customer’s application prototype.

This solution should enable energy consumption measurement in different usage conditions, providing an integrated approach to energy consumption assessment. The proposed solution should be agile and seamlessly integrated into the customer’s validation processes, starting with testing in one application before adjusting and expanding to the full range of potential industries. While supported by SKF, it should empower customer engineers as the primary users. This solution could effectively quantify SKF’s overall contribution to the energy performance of customer applications in consideration of the broader (sub-)system.

The ideal solution should be plug-and-play and be able to efficiently measure the power usage of bearing arrangements through a combination of data analysis and sensors. The key would move away from the traditional single-bearing friction measurements and provide a more comprehensive and practical way to assess bearing arrangements’ energy efficiency gains during the customer application’s validation stage. The solution should be able to capture trends and provide valuable insights, possibly refining and improving accuracy over time.

SKF is the world’s largest bearing manufacturer, and as an industry leader, its offering has outstanding potential for scaling your company’s solution globally. SKF is constantly looking for innovative solution providers who can help make their offerings even more comprehensive and efficient. By collaborating with SKF, your company can gain valuable industry knowledge, access a broad customer network, and contribute to sustainability initiatives across the industry.