Industrial Asset Recovery Procedure Based on the Circular Economy. Case Study: Sliding Bearing Shoe of Tubular Ball Mill

This paper integrates reverse engineering and circular economy concepts in the remanufacturing of shoe plain bearings for a tubular ball mill used in the mining industry. The developed procedure covers a range of steps including diverse bearing cleaning methods, the definition of various inspection techniques, and the selection of the ideal sacrificial material through spectrometry tests and bibliographic references. It also encompasses the determination of deformation and stress on the shoe plain bearings during normal operation, followed by the remanufacturing process, which involves adding sacrificial material to the substrate and machining it using a CNC machine. Quality control testing of the remanufactured bearings was conducted according to international standards. A comparative financial cost-benefit analysis was also performed between new and remanufactured shoe plain bearings. The results of this analysis provide the company with a solid foundation for decision-making in both the economic and logistical aspects of shoe plain bearings, thereby promoting a more sustainable and efficient management of industrial assets.