Bearing technology is a key skill for TurboSpares

Specialist materials and precision workmanship deliver reliable products

TurboSpares was established in 1996 by Peter Roos and remains a family business in the port of Rotterdam. It has built its reputation on rapid response times with high-quality service levels for turbochargers in marine, industrial and power generation applications. It keeps a large stock, enabling it to supply a wide range of turbocharger spare parts at short notice. These include parts from original equipment manufacturers and alternative European-made spares, all of which carry a one-year warranty.

The company specialises in supplying quality parts for major turbocharger brands including ABB, KBB, MAN, Napier, IHI, MET and PBS. All components leaving the TurboSpares workshop are fully inspected and securely packed to ensure safe shipment. Typical part supplies range from smaller turbocharger components, such as sealing bushes, gaskets and O-rings to larger components including gas inlet and outlet casings, rotor assemblies, cartridges or even entire turbochargers. Complete service overhaul kits are also available from stock for ABB TPS products, including TPS-D/E trubochargers and higher-temperature TPS-F units.

TurboSpares acknowledges that turbochargers are among the most important engine components and that they are safety-critical components, not only in themselves but also for engines’ and ships’ operation. Given the necessary IMO identifications numbers, it can therefore deliver spare parts against the correct specification, as registered in technical files, fully in compliance with IMO requirements. Such critical parts include nozzle rings, compressor wheels, diffusers and turbine shafts.

A particular focus of the TurboSpares’ business is in bearing technology, with the company being an authorised workshop for SLF hybrid ball and roller bearings. The combination of TurboSpares’ technical expertise and the specially-designed SLF hybrid bearings enables the company to deliver highly reliable assemblies, based on standard and special bearings in a range from 30 mm outer diameter upwards.

One example of this technology is the special design available for ABB VTR-4 series turbochargers. For these bearing assemblies, TurboSpares uses the German-designed and made SLF precision bearings at P4 grade accuracy. The rolling elements are made of ceramic Silicon Nitride (Si3N4), the rings from X30 high-alloy steel and the cage from polyether ether ketone – known as ‘PEEK’. The advantages of using ceramic materials for rolling elements include more reliable performance, less false brinelling and reduced wear and heat generation.

TurboSpares maintains a fully-equipped workshop with facilities for cleaning, blasting and balancing of high speed rotating equipment. Shaft repairs and re-blading can be carried out and non-destructive testing equipment is available, including for UV penetrant crack inspection and for wall thickness measurement. The company has recently upgraded its balancing capabilities with the installation of new state-of-the-art equipment that now enables full balance analysis to be carried out using a visual computerised system. After balance correction, a full technical report is produced that is added to the customer’s comprehensive service report.

The company offers full overhaul facilities for turbochargers but now offers the option of a cartridge exchange service, including overhaul-and-warehousing, for the ABB TPS product range. Under this arrangement, TurboSpares will overhaul and store spare cartridges for operators, enabling these to be called off for use at short notice, thus significantly reducing ship downtime.

With continued emphasis on needs for preventative maintenance, TurboSpares also offers operators the opportunity for turbocharger monitoring systems. Early detection of potential problems, thus preventing serious and un-anticipated failures, helps to support equipment throughout its life cycle and reduce unplanned outages. An example of this technology is the availability of systems to measure shock pulses in bearing housings and provide accurate information on the mechanical state of the bearing surfaces. Alongside vibration monitors, speed transmitters and exhaust gas temperature sensors, these shock sensors present operators with greatly improved opportunities to monitor turbocharger operation and diagnose and address potential problems.