A new service concept recently introduced for TPL..-B turbochargers lets ship operators skip bearing inspections between scheduled overhauls. The bearings can now stay in place for 36,000 running hours, or from “drydock to drydock”.
More than 2,000 two-stroke TPL..-B turbochargers have accumulated over thirty million running hours since the first units went into commercial operation in 1999. In addition to being a proud statistic, this total is also ironclad proof of the outstanding reliability of the TPL..-B bearings.
The excellent field performance of the bearings is backed up by service expierence. As a result, ABB now officially approves running TPL..-B turbochargers without an intermediate bearing inspection until the next scheduled overhaul at 36,000 running hours. The 18,000 running hour inspection recommended in the past, and which required disassembly of the complete cartridge, is therefore no longer necessary!