Project Details
[Return to Previous Page]Simulating Centrifugal Pump Bearing conditions on Floating Production Storage and Offloading Units
Company: Flowserve US Inc
Major(s):
Primary: ME
Secondary: EE
Optional: CMPEN, IE
Non-Disclosure Agreement: YES
Intellectual Property: NO
Simulating Centrifugal Pump Bearing conditions on Floating Production Storage and Offloading Units (FPSO) Flowserve Corporation aims to continuously improve its flow control portfolio and provide extraordinary solutions for its customers to make the world better for everyone. Flowserve offers a wide range of pump types that support power, oil, gas, chemical, and general industries. Project Overview: Develop and characterize the thresholds for proper bearing lubrication in a traditional API bearing housing frame with oil flinger rings and sump configuration, when the bearing housing is used in an application on an FPSO unit. The test rig development will be used to simulate the effects of a ship's natural oceanic oscillations on shaft lubrication. Bearing housings are traditionally mounted on mostly flat surfaces and thus sump oil level is not a concern. A flinger ring rotates with the pump shaft and "slings" oil up onto the shaft providing adequate cooling. When a bearing housing moves with the ship it is fixed to, the oil level in the sump will fluctuate and provide varying amounts of cooling oil to the shaft, ultimately decreasing the life of the system. Understanding the effects the oceans oscillatory nature has on performance, and material wear will ultimately improve the competitiveness of our engineering between pump services &/or reduce the risk of warranty cases, especially where FPSO units is a focus. Objectives: o Understand the state of the art with bearings and bearing housings for API applications, including, but not limited to, materials, cost, availability, effectiveness & application limitations. o Define & understand critical design parameters surrounding tilting pad simulation for fluid vessel level applications, such as materials, tolerancing, wear etc. o Research & define the physical requirements for the test rig. o Prepare a comprehensive test plan to determine the optimum design for the tilting pad demonstrator showing how oscillations affect fluid level in the sump. o Create a CAD model of a test rig and Manufacture test rig. o Conduct FEA/ Calculations and analysis to understand design characteristics. o Present final deliverables to Flowserve Deliverables: o Research report on current applications of maintaining constant oil level in an industrial FPSO unit environment o Summary report outlining options & proposal of the final selection of materials, and components required to simulate bearing housing oil fluctuations on a ship. o Final design of test rig including assembly drawings, supporting calculations & design review documentation. o Final report and presentation o Test rig which simulates fluid level in an environment similar to that of a bearing housing/pump skid located on a ship in the ocean Throughout this project students will need to exercise their engineering judgment and intuition as they investigate this technology. The students will present their study, design, results, test rig and conclusions to Flowserve.
