The safe-return-to-port function of Thordon Bearings’ TG100 emergency shaft seal has prevented a vessel from sinking following a catastrophic shaft failure.
The crew of the MM Transportation-operated Jennifer S, a 56-ft long workboat operating on the Ohio River, near Rockport, Indiana, activated Thordon’s secondary inflatable emergency seal when the tail shaft was pulled out of the coupling, damaging the TG100’s primary aft shaft seal.
2020年2月3日晚上，詹妮弗（Jennifer）在右舷轴线与浮标绳缠绕在一起时，正在拖曳挖泥机，从而迫使变速箱的轮毂上的轴迫使轴。反过来，这导致车轮的后轴螺母在整个前方位置时撞到了舵，导致轴进一步滑动。
美国塔登（Thordon）的业务发展经理杰森·佩里（Jason Perry）表示：“转向僵硬时，机组人员下来到机房，注意到水涌向甲板板。他们立即激活了TG100的紧急印章，从而阻止了进一步的进水。”
When the vessel was inspected, port engineers found that the shaft had come loose from the coupling, slamming into the entire rotating assembly and damaging the TG100 seal’s silicon carbide faces, which in turn cut a 1-in. split all around the bellows.
“Had this vessel not been installed with Thordon’s emergency seal technology, the vessel was likely to have sunk,” said Perry.
Scott Groves, Thordon Bearings’ Regional Manager, Americas, furthered that the emergency function helped keep the seal’s taper lock (wedge ring) in position on the shaft, preventing the vessel’s shaft from completely sliding out of the vessel.
“We are extremely confident that no other shaft seal currently available is able to prevent complete seal failure in such a scenario. I have my doubts as to whether a conventional seal would have responded as well as the TG100 in such circumstances. Certainly, standard clamp rings with a set screw would have been unable to hold position when the shaft seal was so heavily damaged,” he said.
Thordon的锥形锁/楔形环在向前力下的轴上拧紧到轴上，以保持轴上的波纹管的压缩，即使整个组件损坏或尾轴缩回。
“Everyone on board was safe, dry, and went home to their families that night,” said Perry.
Thordon的美国内陆水道团队抵达该港口，并于2020年2月6日安装了新的TG100密封。
MM Transportation的Drydocking经理Jeff Hall表示：“我们从Thordon那里得到了出色的服务，他帮助重新安装了新的TG100密封并取代了港口密封片上的硅碳化物面，当轴松动时也受到了损坏。我们在另外两个工作艇上有密封件，肯定会在其他工作室安装相同的系统。TG100密封救了我们的船。”
A similar incident occurred last year when the crew of a 2002-built twin-screw workboat activated the TG100’s secondary seal after suffering catastrophic shaft failure in the Mississippi River north of New Orleans. This vessel was the very first workboat to be fitted with a TG100 seal, in 2011.
市场和客户服务总监Craig Carter在评论TG100 SEAL的成功时说：“ TG100的性能记录很棒，现在有数百个单位。它确实是船只安全的重要组成部分，不仅保护了机组人员的生命，还可以保护船只的生命。”
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