Westinghouse Electric Corporation

The United States of America as Represented by the United States Energy

Donald R Nixon

John A George

A canned motor pump includes a main housing with a rotatable shaft carrying an impeller, a high inertia flywheel mounted on the shaft, and a bearing housing stationarily mounted to the main housing. The bearing housing contains a convex radial bearing assembly pivotally mounted on an outer circumferential surface thereof for engagement with a bearing surface on an inner diameter of the flywheel. One embodiment of the convex radial bearing assembly employs a pad made of a self-lubricating, hard material and engageable with a hard metal surface on the inner diameter of the flywheel, and a second embodiment of the convex radial bearing assembly employs a pad with a hard metal surface on the outer diameter of the bearing housing and engageable with a sleeve made of a self-lubricating, hard material and located on the inner diameter of the flywheel.

Radial bearing assembly for a high intertia flywheel of a canned motor

A canned pump is described which includes a motor, an impeller, a rotatable shaft, and a high inertia flywheel mounted on the shaft and within a hermetically sealed housing. The flywheel comprises a heavy metal disk made preferably of a uranium alloy and having an inner circumferential annular recess portion. One embodiment employs a radial bearing assembly mounted to a bearing housing member, which also carries a thrust bearing assembly, for bearing surface contact with the inner circumferential surface of a stepped portion of the flywheel assembly. A second embodiment employs a radial bearing assembly mounted on the bearing housing member for bearing surface contact with a journal on the outer surface of the shaft. These arrangements locate the radial bearing assembly within the vicinity of the inner circumferential annular recess portion of the flywheel.

Radial bearing assembly for a high inertia flywheel of a canned pump

In fossil boilers and steam generator of fossil boilers and nuclear power plants, a son-air detector using ultrasonic transducers is employed with a glandless motor pump which may have a vertical top vent pipe to ascertain with fast response if the vent pipe has liquid or not. In the glandless motor pump, the pumped primary liquid per se is used for lubricating the bearings of the motor, whereby, if the lubricating liquid is absent, the motor operation should not be continued. For redundancy, a second transducer may be used, whereby when both the transducers are connected to simultaneously indicate absence of liquid in the vent pipe, suitable corrective action is initiated. A vent pipe filled with liquid will transmit ultrasonic bursts (provided by the transducer) through the liquid, so that the ultrasonic waves are reflected back. An empty vent pipe will not reflect the ultrasonic waves which would simply be dissipated. The motor pump also uses a wrap around type heat exchanger cooler which takes in plain cool water from the outside to cool the outside of the stator. The motor pump optionally is provided with a bearing water thermometer and a purge line.

Son-air detector

A circular plate extends across the diameter of 'sump suction' pump, with a close clearance between the edge of the plate and the wall of the pump tank. The plate is located above the pump impeller, inlet and outlet flow nozzles but below the sodium free surface and effectively divides the pump tank into two separate chambers. On change of pump speed, the close fitting flow restriction plate limits the rate of flow into or out of the upper chamber, thereby minimizing the rate of level change in the tank and permitting time for the pump cover gas pressure to be varied to maintain an essentially constant level.

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Murrysville, PA, United States of America

Donald R Nixon