GASTECH 2000

Synopsis

State of the Art,

Submerged Motor Pumps and Turbine Generators
Everett H. Hylton
President
Ebara International Corporation
Cryodynamics Division
Sparks, Nevada, USA

The first commercial liquefaction plant for natural gas was built in Cleveland/Ohio in the early forties.
Liquid transfer was achieved through gravity or tank pressurization, the classic forms of cryogenic
fluid transfer, still in use for liquefied Helium and Hydrogen.

In the late fifties the first LNG pumps were developed and built using external air cooled electric
motors coupled to vertical pumps derived from deep-well applications. The motor and pump were
connected using a flexible coupling and a mechanical seal was used to prevent leakage of the
cryogenic fluid into the atmosphere. This mechanical seal proved to be one of the critical areas of
unreliability when faced with the demanding cryogenic environment. Despite today s advancements
in seal design and performance, the systems required to enable a seal to operate properly are complex,
require constant attention and will perform tolerably when placed in a warm environment well away
from the cryogenic liquid. Additional problems were also faced with obtaining suitable explosion-
proof motors, especially as the power requirements increased.

The introduction and development of electric motors totally submerged in LNG took place in the early
sixties. This new motor design eliminated both the mechanical seal and motor problems and
established the beginning of a new, successful generation of LNG pump technology. This new
technology uses the pumped fluid both as lubricant for the bearings and coolant for the motor.
Additionally the hydraulic energy of the fluid is used to balance the axial thrust of the rotating
assembly. Within a short period of time the submerged motor LNG pump became, and remains, the
industry standard design.

Further development of this LNG pump concept was aimed towards multiple stage high-pressure
pumps, ever-increasing flow capacities and high power, high-efficiency cryogenic electric motors.
The selection of cryogenic alloys, long life ball bearings and bushing materials, improved insulation
materials and techniques for the submerged motor, together with a rich pool of specific know-how
contributed to the undisputed success of today s LNG pump technology.

Turbine technology can be considered as the cousin of pump technology and as history repeats its
mistakes, the first LNG turbines in the early nineties followed the way of air-cooled generators.
These first submerged turbines had rotating shaft seals, with their inherited leakage problems.

The recent development of a new generation of cryogenic LNG turbines is based on the forty years of
experience in submerged LNG pumps and took full advantage of existing technical solutions. The
electric generator and turbine are mounted together on one shaft, eliminating the need of a dynamic
shaft seal. A portion of the expanding fluid is used to lubricate the bearings, to cool the generator and
to balance the axial thrust. Duplicating the historical trend in LNG pump technology, it is expected
that the LNG turbine will follow the same path of leakage free design as the standard solutions
developed for LNG pumps.

Hylton - 1 -

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REFERENCES

1. CULLEN, D.M. et al. "Cargo Pump Requirements For The Next Generation of LNG Carriers"
GASTECH 1993, Paris

2. WEISSER, G.L. "Modern Submersible Pumps for Cryogenic Liquids", World Pumps 1994

3. HABETS, G.L.G.M.; KIMMEL, H.E. Development of a hydraulic turbine in liquefied natural

gas 7th European Congress on Fluid Machinery for the Oil, Petrochemical, and Related Industries,
IMechE, 1999, The Hague, The Netherlands

4. CULLEN, D.M.; RUSH, S; MADISON,J; "Radial and Axial Diffusers for Submerged Electric
Motor-driven Pumps" World Pumps, September 2000.

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