THE DEVELOPMENT OF PTFE (POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE)-FACED HYDRODYNAMIC THRUST-BEARINGS FOR HYDROGENERATOR APPLICATION IN THE UNITED-KINGDOM

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-faced hydrodynamic thrust bearings have been used for many years in the former Soviet Union and in the People 's Republic of China for large hydrogenerator applications. Although t here has been some recent interest in other countries, few installatio ns of this sort have previously been reported in Europe or the USA. Th is paper describes the state of the art and the development and labora tory testing of a prototype set of PTFE pads. Following these trials, a second larger set of thrust pads was designed for use in the pumped- storage hydroelectric power station at Ffestiniog in North Wales. The pads were installed in September 1996 and inspected in May 1997. After nearly 3000 h of operation including 900 separate occasions when the system was started up under load, the pads were found to be in excelle nt condition. Further hydrogenerator installations of PTFE-faced pads are planned as a result of this successful development.