~ " ' MM II II II MM I II I Ml II II II I II

J European Patent Office _ _

© Publication number: 0 3 5_1 ^ 4>■8n8o n
B 1„
_„.
Office europeen des brevets

© EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION

© Date of publication of patent specification: 01.09.93 © Int. CI.5: F04D 13/06, F04D 2 9 / 0 4 ,
F04D 1 3 / 0 2
© Application number: 89103632.9

@ Date of filing: 02.03.89

© Canned pump having a high inertia flywheel.

® Priority: 18.07.88 US 220720 © Proprietor: WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COR-

PORATION
@ Date of publication of application: Westlnghouse Building Gateway Center
24.01.90 Bulletin 90/04 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15222(US)

© Publication of the grant of the patent: @ Inventor: Veronesl, Luciano

01.09.93 Bulletin 93/35 102 Glenn David Drive
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15238(US)
© Designated Contracting States: Inventor: Ralmondl, Albert Anthony
BE DE ES FR GB IT 140 La Vale Drive
Monroevllle Pennsylvania 15146(US)
References cited:
EP-A- 0 083 987 EP-A- 0 173 792
CA-A- 1 144 784 FR-A- 2 334 878 © Representative: Gallo, Wolfgang, Dipl.-lng.
US-A- 2 897 025 US-A- 4 464 592 (FH) et al
Patentanwalte Dipl.-lng. L. Fleuchaus
Dlpl.-Phys. H. Schroeter Dipl.-lng K. Leh-
mann, Dipl.-lng.W. Wehser Dipl.-lng. R. Hol-
zer, Dlpl.-lng.(FH) W. Gallo Ludwlgstrasse 26
D-86152 Augsburg (DE)

00
00
00

oo '
Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person
®
may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition
CL shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee
LU has been paid (Art. 99(1) European patent convention).
Rank Xerox (UK) Business Services
(3. 10/3.6/3.3. 1)
 1 EP 0 351 488 B1 2

Description which continues to provide power to the pump

motor. However, due to the lack of mechanical
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION inertia in the pump itself, any localized failure of
the pump or its controls may prevent the pump
This invention, in its preferred form, relates 5 from extended coast-down. In addition, due to the
generally to pumps, and, more particularly, canned necessity for extra equipment, this option becomes
pumps with high inertia flywheels. fairly expensive, both in capital cost and in opera-
Centrifugal pumps having flywheels are well tion and maintenance cost.
known, the flywheel being incorporated to mechani- A flywheel within a canned or wet winding
cally store potential energy during operation of the io pump has been utilized. However, the losses re-
pump, which energy may be utilized to maintain sulting from spinning a large, high mass flywheel
rotation of the pump in the event of loss of motive through the fluid contained in the pump casing are
power, such as loss of electric power. In nuclear substantial. The outer surfaces of the flywheel at-
reactors, this technology becomes very important tempt to frictionally pump the surrounding fluid,
to help maintain coolant circulation through the 75 while the casing surrounding the flywheel inhibits
reactor core after coolant pump trip, since the fluid flow. Therefore, turbulent vortices form caus-
nuclear fuel continues to give off substantial ing highly distorted fluid velocities which yields
amounts of heat within the first several minutes substantial drag on the flywheel. This drag is a
after a reactor trip, and cooling is improved with function of the speed and area of the surface of the
forced flow. The flywheel is generally a metal disk 20 flywheel, which both increase with the radius of the
having relatively high mass and being precisely flywheel, such drag being commonly understood to
attached to or mounted on the motor shaft for increase with about the fifth power of the diameter
rotation therewith, the inertia of which keeps the and about the cube of the angular velocity.
shaft rotating after deenergization of the motor. One arrangement to overcome this power loss
Pressurized water reactor (PWR) reactor cool- 25 is disclosed in United States Patent No. 4,084,924 .
ant pumps generally include a pump and motor This patent describes a wet winding pump as de-
being separated by a complicated shaft seal sys- fined in the pre-characterizing portion of claim 1.
tem, the seals being used as part of the reactor The flywheel has associated therewith a free-
coolant system pressure boundary. The seals are wheeling shroud rotatable relative to the shaft and
generally subject to about a 180 bar pressure dif- 30 the flywheel. The shroud encompasses the
ferential between the reactor coolant system and flywheel but is spaced apart therefrom and in-
the containment atmosphere. These seals are sus- cludes passages for ingress and egress of liquid
ceptible to failure, and may cause a non-isolable into and out of the space between the flywheel and
leak of primary coolant ranging in size from very the shroud. The disclosure envisions that the
small to fairly large. As such, seal failure may 35 shroud will rotate at some angular velocity between
result in a challenge to the redundant safety sys- zero and the velocity of the flywheel, thereby creat-
tems provided in nuclear power plants to prevent ing two pumped fluid layers, one (between the
and mitigate damage to the reactor core. flywheel and the shroud) being pumped by the
Canned pumps have been used in nuclear re- flywheel and the other (the layer outside the
actor plants for some time, and avoid the problem 40 shroud) being pumped by the shroud. The lower
of the shaft seal arrangement since the entire relative angular velocity between the rotating sur-
pump, including bearings and rotor, are submerged faces therefore results in lower total drag.
in the pumped fluid. Therefore, the use of the Therefore, it is the primary object of the
pump expressly reduces the potential for a small present invention to provide a high-inertia flywheel
loss of coolant accident (LOCA). Exemplary canned 45 for a canned or wet winding pump that minimizes
motor pumps are described in U.S. Patents Nos. the losses associated with the flywheel.
3,450,056 and 3,475,631 . In boiling water reactors,
continued rotation of these pumps upon loss of SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
electric power is provided by electro-mechanical
means, generally in the form of motor-generator 50 With this object in view, the invention resides
sets having flywheels incorporated therein. The in a canned pump as characterized in claim 1.
motor-generator set is generally located outside of Accordingly, the flywheel has its outer circum-
the reactor containment for accessibility purposes, ferential surface coacting with radial bearing means
the electricity being transmitted from the generator disposed within the casing and mating with the
to the pump motor through containment wall pene- 55 circumferential surface. The pump preferably also
trations. In the event of a loss of electric power to includes thrust bearing means substantially mating
the motor-generator set, the flywheel maintains ro- with one or both ends of the flywheel. The flywheel
tation of the generator for some period of time, preferably comprises a heavy metal disk defining a

2
 3 EP 0 351 488 B1 4

first end, a second end, and an outer circumferen- and out through the tangential discharge nozzle 34
tial surface, and a shell enclosing the disk for in the side of the housing 30. The pump 20 in-
preventing corrosion thereof. cludes a hermetically sealed casing 38 removably
mounted to the pump housing 30 by a plurality of
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 5 studs 40 and nuts 42, including therebetween a
replaceable gasket 44 to prevent leakage. The
The invention will become more readily appar- pump 20 further includes a motor 46 for driving the
ent from the following description of preferred em- impeller 36 via a rotatable shaft 48 about pump
bodiments thereof shown, by way of example only, centerline axis 49, and a high inertia flywheel as-
in the accompanying drawings, wherein: io sembly 50 mounted on the shaft 48 between the
Figure 1 is a simplified plan view of an ad- motor 46 and the impeller 36 for mechanical stor-
vanced reactor coolant system having canned age of potential energy to be used to continue to
reactor coolant pumps. rotate the shaft 48 if the motor 46 becomes de-
Figure 2 is a side view, partially in cut out, of a energized.
canned reactor coolant pump having a flywheel is The motor 46 has a rotor assembly 51 moun-
incorporated therein. ted on the shaft 48, a stator assembly 52, and a
Figure 3 is a detailed view of the flywheel shown corrosion-resistant stator can 54 separating the sta-
in Figure 2. tor 52 from the rotor 51 , defining the fluid pressure
Figure 4 is a plan view of the flywheel and boundary within the pump 20 and also defining a
bearings taken along lines IV-IV of Figure. 3. 20 thin boundary layer of fluid between the can 54 and
Figure 5 is a simplified cross section of a the rotor 51 for minimizing fluid friction losses from
flywheel and bearing shoes showing details of rotation of the rotor 51. Electrical connections are
the mating surfaces. made in the terminal box 56, with connections to
the stator assembly 52 passing through the casing
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODI- 25 38 via terminal assemblies 58. The pump 20 also
MENT includes a heat exchanger 60 for removing heat
generated by friction and electrical losses within
Reference will now be made in detail to several the pump 20. The heat exchanger 60 includes a
present preferred embodiments, some examples of water jacket 62 having a wound cooling coil 64
which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 30 therein, the jacket 62 receiving cooling water flow
In the drawings, like reference characters designate from an external source such as the plant compo-
like or corresponding parts throughout the several nent cooling water system (not shown), for keeping
views. Also, it is to be understood that such terms the pump 20 internal temperature at about 65 °C.
as "forward", "rearward", "left", "right", Fluid, at a total flow rate of about 15 l/s, is passed
"upwardly", "downwardly", and the like, are words 35 from the jacket 62 through a conduit 65a to the
of convenience only and are not to be construed as lower end of the motor 66, is then passed through
terms of limitation. the rotor 51 and the stator can 54, being circulated
Referring now to the drawings, and first to by a small centrifugal auxiliary pump impeller (not
Figure 1, an advanced pressurized water reactor shown), details of which are not necessary for
primary coolant system 10 is shown. The system 40 understanding by those skilled in the art, oper-
10 includes a reactor vessel 12, pressurizer 14, atively connected to the shaft 48, and after passing
one or more steam generators 16, and one or more the flywheel assembly 50 as described below, is
canned reactor coolant pumps, shown generally as returned to the coil 64 via a second conduit 65b.
20. The pumps 20 circulate coolant fluid, normally The stator 52 lies outside of the stator can 54 and
water, to the reactor vessel 12 through a cold leg 45 inside the casing 38, this area normally being dry.
22, through the vessel 12 which embodies the However, the casing 38 is designed such that a
reactor core (not shown), through a hot leg 24 to breach of the can 54 will not cause failure or
the steam generator 16, and through the U-bend leakage of fluid from the pump casing 38. An
heat exchanger tubes (not shown) of the steam alternative embodiment would be a wet winding
generator 16. 50 pump (not shown), wherein the stator 52 is also
Looking now at Figure 2, a canned single-stage submerged in fluid, requiring that winding insulation
centrifugal reactor coolant pump 20 having one be perfectly sealed.
embodiment of the present invention is shown. The Looking now at Figure 3, the flywheel assem-
pump 20 includes a pump housing 30 defining bly 50 is shown in greater detail. The flywheel
suction 32 and discharge 34 nozzles and having an 55 assembly 50 comprises a disk 67 which is prefer-
impeller 36 for centrifugally pumping the coolant ably made of a heavy metal having very high
fluid, whereby water is drawn through the eye of density and specific gravity such as uranium, tung-
the impeller, discharged through the diffuser 37 sten, gold, platinum, or an alloy of one of these

3
 5 EP 0 351 488 B1 6

elements, chosen to yield the desired inertia. The lic analysis of the pump design has shown a cal-
metal chosen will preferably have a high yield culated rotor up-thrust condition, requiring thrust
strength, such as in excess of about 400 N/mm2 , bearings 80 below the runner 72 for start-up con-
and should be non-brittle, so that the extreme ditions when the pump rotor 51 has low angular
forces exerted on the disk 67 from rotation will not 5 velocity, and above the runner 74 for normal run-
cause failure or excessive deformation of the disk ning conditions, when the rotor 51 creates a
67. One preferable embodiment is cast, heat treat- steady-state upwardly directed thrust.
ed uranium alloyed with about 2 percent by weight The outer circumferential plate 76 is utilized as
molybdenum, a high density alloy having a mini- a radial journal and is substantially mated with
mum yield strength of about 450 N/mm2 and an io radial bearing means 86. The radial bearing means
elongation of about 22 percent. In the embodiment 86 is comprised of a plurality of radial bearing
described herein, the uranium alloy disk 67 has an segments 87, the current embodiment having 7
outer diameter of about 66 cm, an inner diameter segments, disposed about the periphery of the
of about 23 cm , and a length of about 37 cm long, flywheel assembly 50, as is best seen in Figure 4,
yielding a rotating inertia of about 170 kg m2 , but it is each segment 87 being mounted to the casing 38
is to be understood that the teachings of this inven- by precipitation hardened stainless steel radial piv-
tion may be applied to any size flywheel. The ot pins 88. The pins 88 allow vertical and circum-
heavy metal disk 67 is enclosed in a stainless steel ferential tilt capability for alignment and
shell 68 comprised of four members: an inner hydrodynamic film generation between the seg-
diameter annular plate 70 disposed around shaft 48 20 ment 87 and the plate 76. It is expressly en-
having an inner diameter of about 19,5 cm for visioned that the bearing means 80, 86 utilized in
mating with the shaft 48, a first end plate 72, a this invention may be of the Kingsbury type, as is
second end plate 74, and an outer circumferential known in the art. It has been calculated that the
plate 76. The four plates 70, 72, 74, 76 are welded losses associated with the radial bearing means 86
together to sealably enclose the disk 67, thereby 25 and the thrust bearing means 80 may be less than
preventing corrosion or erosion of the heavy metal. if the outer surface 76 and ends 72, 74 of the
The inner diameter plate 70 mates with and is flywheel 50 were left free to spin in fluid, as herein-
keyed, as is best shown in Figure 4, by one or below described. Thus, while it is normal in the art
more keys 71 to the shaft 48, as is known to those to dispose radial bearings on the shaft at a location
skilled in the art for joining flywheels to shafts. The 30 having as minimal a radius as possible so as to
inner plate 70 also includes a plurality of flow reduce the surface speed at the bearing face, the
channels 78 cut or drilled therethrough to allow current embodiment justifies the relatively high
cooled fluid from the heat exchanger 60 to flow bearing power loss associated with disposing the
around and cool the flywheel assembly 50. Each radial bearing segments 87 about the circumfer-
flow channel 78 preferably includes a radially ex- 35 ence of the flywheel 50.
tending end portion 79 for directing coolant flow As shown best in Figure 5, each thrust bearing
outwardly away from the shaft 48, the end portions shoe 82 and each radial bearing segment 87 will
79 tending to centrifugally pump the fluid to in- preferably include a carbon graphite insert, shown
crease coolant flow and overcome friction losses. representatively by 90, ground and crowned to
The first end plate 72 and the second end 40 provide surface finish and contour for water lubri-
plate 74 lie generally perpendicular to the shaft 48, cated service. In addition, the end plates 72, 74
and the surfaces thereof may be utilized as thrust and the outer circumferential plate 76 will include a
runners. As such, thrust bearing means 80 are hardened material facing 92, such as stellite, prop-
disposed within the casing 38 for substantially mat- erly ground for mating with the thrust shoes 82 and
ing with the plates 72, 74. The thrust bearing 45 radial segments 87, respectively.
means 80 includes a plurality of thrust bearing The entire rotor 51 and flywheel 50 assembly
shoes 82, 11 on each side of the flywheel assem- is immersed in reactor coolant water, at coolant
bly 50 in the present embodiment, mounted to the system pressure, and, during steady-state opera-
casing 38 by precipitation hardened stainless steel tion, there is no transport of fluid between the
thrust links 84 and thrust shoe retainers 85. The 50 reactor coolant system and the motor casing 38.
thrust links 84 generally include primary and sec- As above described, the pump heat exchanger 60
ondary links which provide self leveling and load removes heat created within the pump 20 by fric-
equalization for the thrust shoes 82, which is com- tion and electrical loss. The water flows over the
mon in the art and does not need to be detailed for bearing means 80, 86 for heat removal therefrom,
a thorough understanding of the present invention. 55 and importantly, flows between the bearing inserts
The thrust bearings 80 absorb forces exerted along 90 and the flywheel facings 92, thereby maintaining
the longitudinal axis of the pump 49 and minimize the thin fluid film important to low friction service
movement and vibration along that axis 49. Hydrau- and preventing damage to the bearing and flywheel

4
 7 EP 0 351 488 B1 8

surfaces 90, 92. To augment flow to the thrust Claims

bearing means 80 on the top side of the flywheel
50, as described above and as seen in Figures 3, 1. A canned pump comprising a motor-driven
4, and 5, the present embodiment has 6 flow shaft (48), an impeller (36) mounted on said
passages 78, 79 drilled through the inner diameter 5 shafts for pumping a fluid, a flywheel (50) also
plate 70, which pass about 3 l/s to these bearings. mounted on said shaft, and a casing (38) en-
The rest of the total coolant flow of 15 l/s flows closing said flywheel, characterized in that said
past the lower thrust bearings 80 and then past the flywheel (50) has associated therewith radial
radial bearings 86 to the return line 65b. bearing means (86) provided in said casing
The losses of a flywheel having the same iner- io (38) and substantially mating and coacting with
tia as described above but spinning in water have the outer circumferential surface of said
been calculated to be about 275 kW. The power flywheel.
loss in the above described embodiment has been
calculated to be about 155 kW. This is the result of 2. The pump according to claim 1, characterized
the small gaps between the flywheel surface fac- is in that said radial bearing means (86) include a
ings 92 and the bearing inserts 90. The gap with plurality of bearing segments (87) extending
the radial bearing segments 87 is expected to be around the periphery of said flywheel (50) and
about 0,125 mm, and the gap with the thrust bear- mating therewith, said segments (87) being
ing shoes 82 is expected to be about 0,025-0,5 supported within said casing (38) by radial
mm. These water gaps should reduce the friction 20 pivot pins (88).
loss of the flywheel 50. Incorporating the bearings
around the flywheel also has the benefit of replac- 3. The pump according to claim 1 or 2, char-
ing normal thrust and radial bearings of the pump, acterized in that said flywheel (50) has further
where, looking back to Figure 2, in the embodiment associated therewith thrust bearing means (80)
shown, the only other main bearing necessary is 25 provided within said casing (38) and substan-
shaft radial bearing 94 located aft of the motor 46. tially mating and coacting with at least one end
The present embodiment also includes means surface of said flywheel.
for separating the hot impeller 36 and reactor cool-
ant system piping from the casing 38 around the 4. The pump according to claim 3, characterized
bearings 80, 86. As seen in Figure 3, an insert 96 30 in that said thrust bearing means (80) include a
is provided within the casing 38 defining chambers plurality of thrust bearing shoes (82) mounted
98 therebetween, the dead air space of which in- to said casing (38) by thrust links (84) for
sulates the casing 38 from heat transport from the providing self-leveling and load equalization of
pumped fluid and hot impeller 36. In addition, cool- said thrust shoes.
ing coils 100 are provided between the insert 96 35
and the casing 38, receiving and returning cooling 5. The pump according to any of claims 1 to 4,
water from an external source through inlet 102 characterized in that said bearing means (80,
and discharge 104 piping. 86) include carbon graphite inserts (90) for
It is within the scope of the present invention to minimizing friction losses.
maximize the parameters of the current design by 40
minimizing the power losses associated with the 6. The pump according to any of claims 1 to 5,
flywheel and bearing assemblies and maximizing characterized in that said flywheel (50) in-
the inertia. Inertia of the flywheel varies directly cludes stellite pads (92) on the surfaces there-
with about the fourth power of the radius of the of for mating with said bearing means (80, 86)
flywheel, and power loss, due to the greatly in- 45 and minimizing friction losses.
creased speed of the outer surface of the flywheel
as radius increases, varies directly with diameter to 7. The pump according to any of claims 1 to 6,
about the fifth power, therefore the equations de- characterized in that said flywheel (50) is made
scribing inertia and power loss may be jointly of a heavy metal with a yield strength greater
solved to obtain the preferable dimensions of the 50 than about 400 N/mm2 (60.000 psi).
flywheel.
It will be apparent that many modifications and 8. The pump according to claim 7, characterized
variations are possible in light of the above teach- in that said heavy metal is an uranium alloy
ings, for example, the flywheel assembly 50 may containing about 2 percent by weight molyb-
be mounted aft of the motor 46. 55 denum.

9. The pump according to claim 7 or 8, char-

acterized in that said flywheel (50) comprises a

5
 9 EP 0 351 488 B1 10

disk (67) made from said heavy metal and a aufweist.

stainless steel jacket (68) therearound to pre-
vent corrosion of said heavy metal. 7. Pumpe nach einem der Anspruche 1 bis 6,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dal3 das Schwungrad
10. The pump according to claim 9, characterized 5 (50) aus einem Schwermetall mit einer Streck-
in that said stellite pads (92) are mounted to grenze von mehr als 400 N/mm2 (60.000 psi)
said jacket (68). hergestellt ist.

Patentanspruche 8. Pumpe nach Anspruch 7, dadurch gekenn-

io zeichnet, dal3 das Schwermetall eine Uranle-
1. Gekapselte Pumpe mit einer motorgetriebenen gierung ist, die etwa 2 Gewichtsprozent Molyb-
Welle (48), einem auf der Welle montierten dan enthalt.
Flugelrad (36) zum Fordern einer Flussigkeit,
einem ebenfalls auf der Welle montiertem 9. Pumpe nach Anspruch 7 oder 8, dadurch ge-
Schwungrad (50), und einem das Schwungrad 15 kennzeichnet, dal3 das Schwungrad (50) eine
umschlieBenden Gehause (38), dadurch ge- aus dem Schwermetall hergestellte Scheibe
kennzeichnet, dal3 dem Schwungrad (50) eine (67) und einen diese umschlieBenden rostfrei-
Radiallagerung (86) zugeordnet ist, die in dem en Stahlmantel (68) zur Verhinderung einer
Gehause (38) vorgesehen ist und im wesentli- Korrosion des Schwermetalls aufweist.
chen der AuBenumfangsflache des Schwun- 20
grads angepaBt ist und mit dieser zusammen- 10. Pumpe nach Anspruch 9, dadurch gekenn-
wirkt. zeichnet, dal3 die Stellitauflagen (92) auf dem
Stahlmantel (68) montiert sind.
2. Pumpe nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekenn-
zeichnet, dal3 die Radiallagerung (86) eine 25 Revendicatlons
Mehrzahl von Lagersegmenten (87) aufweist,
die urn den Umfang des Schwungrads (50) 1. Pompe gainee comprenant un arbre (48) en-
herum verlaufen und diesem angepaBt sind, traTne par un moteur, un rotor (36) monte sur
und dal3 die Segmente (87) in dem Gehause ledit arbre afin de pomper un fluide, un volant
(38) durch radiale Gelenkzapfen (88) abge- 30 d'inertie (50) egalement monte sur ledit arbre,
stutzt sind. et un boltier (38) enfermant ledit volant d'iner-
tie, caracterisee en ce qu'il est prevu dans
3. Pumpe nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, dadurch ge- ledit boltier (38) des organes de palier radiaux
kennzeichnet, dal3 dem Schwungrad (50) au- (86) associes audit volant a inertie (50), lesdits
Berdem eine Langslagerung (80) zugeordnet 35 organes de palier radiaux etant apparies et
ist, die in dem Gehause (38) vorgesehen ist cooperant avec la surface circonferentielle ex-
und im wesentlichen mindestens einer Stirnfla- terieure dudit volant d'inertie.
che des Schwungrads angepaBt ist und mit
dieser zusammenwirkt. 2. Pompe selon la revendication 1, caracterisee
40 en ce que lesdits organes de palier radiaux
4. Pumpe nach Anspruch 3, dadurch gekenn- (86) comprennent une pluralite de segments
zeichnet, dal3 die Langslagerung (80) eine de palier (87) qui s'etendent autour de la peri-
Mehrzahl von Axiallagerplatten (82) aufweist, pheric dudit volant d'inertie (50) et sont appa-
die in dem Gehause (38) mittels Schubgelen- ries a celle-ci, lesdits segments (87) etant sup-
ken (84) montiert sind, urn eine Selbstausrich- 45 portes dans ledit boltier (38) par des tiges de
tung und einen Lastausgleich der Axiallager- pivot radiales (88).
platten herzustellen.
3. Pompe selon I'une ou I'autre des revendica-
5. Pumpe nach einem der Anspruche 1 bis 4, tions 1 et 2, caracterisee en ce qu'il est prevu
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dal3 die Lagerungen 50 dans ledit boltier (38) des organes de palier de
(80, 86) Kohlengraphiteinsatze (90) zur Mini- poussee (80), associes audit volant a inertie
mierung von Reibungsverlusten aufweisen. (50) et sensiblement apparies a et cooperant
avec au moins une surface d'extremite dudit
6. Pumpe nach einem der Anspruche 1 bis 5, volant d'inertie.
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dal3 das Schwungrad 55
(50) an seinen mit den Lagerungen (80, 86) 4. Pompe selon la revendication 3, caracterisee
zusammenwirkenden Flachen Stellitauflagen en ce que lesdits organes de palier de pous-
(92) zur Minimierung von Reibungsverlusten see (80) comprennent une pluralite de sabots

6
 11 EP 0 351 488 B1 12

de palier (82) montes sur ledit boltier (38) au

moyen d'articulations de poussee (84) afin
d'assurer un auto-nivellement et une egalisa-
tion des charges desdits sabots.
5
5. Pompe selon I'une quelconque des revendica-
tions 1 a 4, caracterisee en ce que lesdits
organes de palier (80, 86) comprennent des
inserts au graphite (90) pour minimiser les
pertes par friction. 10

6. Pompe selon I'une quelconque des revendica-

tions 1 a 6, caracterisee en ce que ledit volant
d'inertie (50) comporte des coussinets en stel-
lite (92) sur ses surfaces afin de s'apparier is
auxdits organes de palier (80, 86) et de mini-
miser les pertes par friction.

7. Pompe selon I'une quelconque des revendica-

tions 1 a 6, caracterisee en ce que ledit volant 20
d'inertie (50) est realise en un metal lourd
presentant une limite elastique superieure a
environ 400 N/mm2 (60.000 psi).

8. Pompe selon la revendication 7, caracterisee 25

en ce que ledit metal lourd est un alliage
d'uranium contenant environ 2 pourcent en
poids de molybdene.

9. Pompe selon I'une ou I'autre des revendica- 30

tions 7 et 8, caracterisee en ce que ledit volant
d'inertie (50) comprend un disque (67) realise
en ce metal lourd et une chemise (68) en acier
inoxydable qui I'entoure afin d'empecher la
corrosion dudit metal lourd. 35

10. Pompe selon la revendication 9, caracterisee

en ce que les coussinets en stellite (92) sont
montes sur cette chemise (68).
40

45

50

55

7
EP 0 351 488 B1
EP 0 351 488 B1

9
EP 0 351 488 B1

10
EP 0 351 488 B1

FIG. 4

11
P 0 351 488 B1