Increasing the operational reliability of a ship by using a composite impeller in
the event of hydrophore pump failure
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Online publication date: 2023-01-29
Publication date: 2023-01-29
Eksploatacja i Niezawodność – Maintenance and Reliability 2023;25(1):18
HIGHLIGHTS
- The proposed composite impeller enables the pump to operate continuously, reliably and at maximum load for 48 hours.
- Optimum printing parameters enable the desired geometry of surface structure to be achieved.
- The flow, power and efficiency characteristics of the pump are consistent with the reference model.
- Carbon fibres, reinforcing the filament randomly distributed in the extrusion stage are arranged in parallel.
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The time-consuming technological process of manufacturing impellers
and the high production costs are the reason for the search for alternative
materials and manufacturing methods. In this paper, based on a literature
analysis, the performance of a pump with an impeller that was
manufactured by an incremental method from polyethylene
terephthalate with an admixture of glycol and carbon fibre (PETG CF)
was selected and studied. Operation tests were conducted on the ship’s
rotodynamic pump test bench. The composite impeller pump was shown
to have an efficiency at the selected printing parameters of 26,23%,
comparable to a tin bronze impeller, which has an efficiency of 27,7%.
The maximum pump useful power with the impellers tested was 337 W
at a flow rate of 4.42 m3
/h. The results confirm that, with a filament layer
height of 0.12 mm and 100% fill in the four print contours, the pump
characteristics obtained are consistent with those of the reference
impeller. This fact ensures continuous operation of the ship’s pump for
48 hours which makes the chosen manufacturing method a reliable
emergency method of impeller repair in offshore operations.