BEARING SELECTION

[rajm008]

HII GUYS,

DOES ANY BODY KNOW HOW TO CALCULATE THE AXIAL LOAD ON A BEARING IN A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP?

 

[JJPellin]

This might be better addressed in the Pump forum. The net thrust load on a centrifugal pump can be approximated by calculating the pressures and areas on the various surfaces on the rotor. For a single stage, between bearings or single stage overhung pump, this is probably a good approximation. For a vertical turbine pump, it might be less accurate. For a multi-stage pump or a very high speed pump, this may be a poor approximation. We often calculate the thrust loads on our single stage pumps using this method. We have received tools from two of our major pump manufacturers for performing this calculation. We ended up making our own tool that uses wear ring diameters, suction pressure, discharge pressure and impeller configuration (balance holes or no balance holes) to calculate net thrust. Our tool uses three operating points (dead-head, run-out and BEP). The thrust loads often change a lot at different operating points.

Question in ALL CAPS are generally considered bad form and are less likely to get meaningful replies. Take a few minutes to write a well thought out question with good details and you will be more pleased with the response.

Johnny Pellin