SKF introduces spherical roller bearing with food safety features

SKF has developed spherical roller bearings specifically designed for the food and beverage industry. These bearings with food-grade grease and seals have a longer service life than SKF open spherical roller bearings and raise relevant food safety standards in the food and beverage industry.

Together, these factors help the Food line bearings to lower the risk of food contamination, raise machine reliability and extend maintenance intervals.

“This new spherical roller bearing with food-grade grease and integral seal from SKF helps increase both machine performance and hygiene standards.” says Benjamin Geiser, application specific offer manager at SKF.

The new bearing fully complies with food industry standards and has a high load carrying capacity, he added.

The bearing is pre-filled with NSF category H1 grease, which is optimised for food industry use. A high-performance, nitrile butadiene rubber contact seal – both FDA- and EC-approved – protects against water, detergent and contaminant ingress. It minimises the risk of grease leaking from the bearing, which reduces relubrication and raises bearing performance and service life. The seal is also coloured blue, making it easier to detect fragments should they end up in the food.

The bearing, which is self-aligning, is manufactured to the Explorer performance class. It is manufactured from steel with high fatigue resistance, which helps to raise dynamic load carrying capacity and reduce both vibration and heat generation. Overall, SKF Food line spherical roller bearing prolong the service life in average up to three times compared to open bearings.

Furthermore, using this bearing can help to improve sustainability in several ways. Firstly, the low-friction seal reduces energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Secondly, the bearings last longer, so needs replacing less frequently – which reduces the demand on raw materials, manufacturing, and transport. Finally, grease leakage is virtually non-existent, cutting the need for repurchase, relubrication and final disposal.

The new product extends SKF’s food industry offering – following last year’s launch of its Food line deep-groove ball bearing.