Ksb Aktiengesellschaft

Juergen Schill

Bernhard Brecht

Heinz-Dieter Hellmann

Falk Schaefer

Bao Wang

Dieter Hellmann

Christian Trautmann

Baogang Wang

A method and apparatus for early fault detection in a centrifugal pump equipped with a balancing device, where the balancing device has an axial gap and optionally at least one radial gap through which a balancing flow is conducted, and with a spring element which acts on the balancing device to hold open the axial gap. Reliable information regarding impending faults is obtained while largely using existing elements by measuring the deformation of the spring element () during operation of the centrifugal pump (), and starting from the pump characteristics of the centrifugal pump () and the spring constant of the spring element (), drawing a conclusion regarding the instantaneous operating state of the centrifugal pump based on the measured deformation.

Method and apparatus for early fault detection in centrifugal pumps

A balancing arrangement which is used to relieve or take up axial thrust in a multistage centrifugal pump, having a balancing device with at least one axial gap ( ) and at least one radial gap ( ) and in which a balancing flow is conducted through the gaps, and having an axial bearing which receives remaining axial thrust. Associated with the axial bearing is a cardanic ring ( ) which serves to offset alignment errors. Highly reliable operation with only low leakage losses is achieved by configuring the balancing device such that a residual thrust in the direction of the suction side of the pump exists in all operating conditons and the cardanic ring is designed such that it is elastically deformed by the residual thrust and has a spring constant such that the axial gap (s) will close from a maximum width position when the pump is at rest to a minimum width position during operation while still avoiding contact between the surfaces which define the axial gap.

Balancer for multistage centrifugal pumps

A centrifugal pump having an axial inlet and an inflow guide device mounted upstream of the impeller, which guide device is composed of several fixed guide vanes, which on the side facing the impeller each have an edge pointing in or opposite to the direction of rotation of the impeller. The edge pointing in or opposite to the direction of rotation may take the form of a swirl blade (,) which is formed on the guide vane (,) and located in the vicinity of the wall of the inlet (,), and which has a shorter radial length than the guide vane (,). This increases the efficiency of the pump and achieves an effect which increases the breadth of applicability of the pump.

Centrifugal pump with inflow guide device

Growing community of inventors

Weisenheim/Berg, Germany

Juergen Schill