New FuturaSafe® bearing for CP pumps: as hard as could be!

Press Release

Zofingen, 11 May 2009

The new FuturaSafe® bearing developed by CP Pumpen offers customers increased protection from wear, abrasion and chemical attack.

New FuturaSafe® bearing for CP pumps: as hard as could be!

Wherever FuturaSafe® bearings are used, wear and tear problems are a thing of the past.

In terms of materials science, the new FuturaSafe® bearing is captivating in its extraordinary physical characteristics: at 10,000 HV, the FuturaSafe® bearing has one of the highest surface hardnesses of all known materials and, consequently, a very high resistance to wear. In addition, the FuturaSafe® bearing has very high thermal conductivity of 2,000 W/Km (at room temperature). Up to now, such properties were known only in natural diamonds. With the new FuturaSafe® bearing developed by CP Pumpen, which has proven successful in many practical applications, all users can now enjoy the benefits of its unique characteristics.

The new FuturaSafe® bearing must not be confused with bearings coated with ADLC (“Amorphous Diamond-Like Car­bon”, amorphous carbon). Their characteristics are very different: ADLC does not come close to reaching the surface hardness of the FuturaSafe® bearing, and, additionally, is not capable of forming such a strong adhesive bond with the substrate.

The FuturaSafe® bearing has brought dramatic improvements in the MKP (Inox) and MKPL (PFA lined) magnetic drive pumps, which are normally lubricated by the pumped medium. If the pumps are operated in an upset condition without liquid, the lubrication fails. Such dry running between the thrust bearing ring, the bearing sleeve and the bearing bush causes increased friction in the bearing (friction coefficient between 0.7 and 0.9). The individual bearing components overheat and may break, which could result in damage to the pumps. The situation is different if pumps are operated with FuturaSafe® bearings: despite dry running, the friction remains at a very low level (friction coefficient between 0.1 and 0.3), there is almost no wear and tear, and the individual bearing components can continue to be used even after high stress.

MKP and MKPL pumps with FuturaSafe® bearings have been tested for days on end under dry running conditions on the CP Pumpen test stand without damage to the bearings. In contrast, normal bearing components were damaged after a short time or showed traces of overheating. The running surfaces of normal bearings were damaged to the point that the bearings seized and breakages occurred. This risk always exists: often, pumps are run dry because of trivial circumstances, such as checking the rotational direction during commissioning before a pump has been filled with liquid.

FuturaSafe® bearings are also a boon when pumping liquids containing hard solid matter. If such particles get between the lubrication surfaces, they may destroy the surfaces and lead to breakages or running difficulties. The lubrication surfaces of the new Futura­Safe® bearings are so hard that such particles are virtually pulverised. This leaves the lubrication surfaces undamaged, and maintenance intervals can be extended. In the chemical industry, the extremely high universal chemical resistance of the Futu­raSafe® bearing is an additional advantage.

The potential of the new FuturaSafe® bearings is vast, extending to many applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries that used to be inconceivable. New types of applications for magnetic drive pumps become possible, and previously unsolvable issues can now be resolved.

Download the press release as a PDF file 

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CP (www.cp-pumps.com) is one of the industry leaders in premium quality pump technologies that enable industrial customers to achieve sustainable environmental improvements in their fluid handling systems. Based in Zofingen, Switzerland, the company now operates in more than 40 countries and generates 82% of total sales outside Switzerland.