Design of Special Plastic Bearings and Their Application in Renewable Energy Conversion System

To improve the operational reliability of renewable energy conversion system, high-performance polymers and engineering plastics are used to make some parts and components of the energy conversion device, especially in the marine renewable energy generation field. In this article, special plastic bearings based on the material of polyoxymethylene (POM) were designed and applied in the power generation device of both tidal current energy and island wind energy. The properties of POM were analyzed, and the load of a POM ball was tested. Special structures of the plastic bearings were designed to meet the requirements of pressure resistance and to reduce the friction. These plastic bearings had been used in the prototypes of 20 kW tidal current turbine generation device and 15 kW island wind turbine generation device. According to the prototypes’ operation, the results indicate that these plastic bearings work well and are very suitable for the application in renewable energy conversion system. By optimizing the structure, such plastic bearings would be generalized and applied in the renewable energy generation device with a higher power level.