This Post is ONLY related to my experience with more tant 30 years fabricating, designing, testing,

commissioning, starting up and repairing vertical pumps. And for those that do not meet me, I am
the one on the right (April 1993 @ 3 am)…with my mentor Mr. Miguel Blanco, the engineer that
teaches me many things the first 6 year of my carrier in the former FAMOVEN – Goulds in Venezuela,
the nice country where I was born. The pump you can see was the first one of 25 mix flow, 350 HP,
20,000 GPM that were sold to PDVSA by incredible sales team we had at that time. These pumps
were fabricated and tested in Venezuela in a test pit that was also constructed under my supervision
and design.

This Post, it is not a copy paste of a book; it is only my toughs about a subject that many customers
insist but that I really do not consider necessary at all. Take in account that I have fabricated pumps
over 2500 HP , 350 PSI that were and are running fine over more than 20 years , working 24/7
without any problem, and to be honest in the world on Vertical Pump we can find a lot of gurus that
expend a lot of year in and office or design center, but it is only 50% of my case, because then other
50% I was Always on the field , helping customers, in commissioning, pumps repair, start up, and
so on.

I am referring to rotor balancing for VTP (Vertical Turbine Pumps) Pumps. Let me start telling you
that in the factories where I worked, that are Famous, prestigious, and excellent brands, all VTP
impellers were balanced as individual components and not as a rotor. In the factories we use a piece
of shaft to balance one by one each impeller. All pumps were assembled stage by stage until finish
the complete bowl assembly that is really the pump. The remains elements like Columns, Lineshaft,
and discharge head are only to provide movement to the pump and to conduce the fluid above
surface. Never the rotor was assembled and balanced to later on disassemble and assembled again
during the final pump assembly. I know that many of you could say that it in not mean that the
procedure mentioned is the right one, BUT before goes to conclusions please read the complete
post.

In my times in one of the biggest refineries in the world 1988 (1 Million BBD/Day), An engineer from
IRD and also Bentley Nevada (he worked for both companies at different times) told me that the
best way to balance a piece or a rotor is duplicating as much as possible the dynamic conditions
where the rotor or the piece will work. And that make sense, if we can duplicate the actual condition,
we will see what is really happening when the piece is rotating at the nominal RPM and also with
the supports located where the actual bearings will be located. Well, I know that is not possible to
balance an impeller or a rotor immerse in the fluid where it will work, but we should try to do the
best to get a dynamic condition that almost duplicate the actual condition. Having that on mind,
let’s consider the following cases

1) When balancing a OH1 rotor, the impeller is installed in Overhung, placing the machine
supports where the bearings go. In this way, the most similar possible condition will be
given to the system, which will be linked to the damping of the system, and therefore to
its natural frequency. Of course that the Natural frequency will be different because we do
not have in this system the fluid that will change the natural frequency, but at least we
are getting the best similar actual condition

OH1 Impeler Balance

2) Same case happens when we balance the first stage of a VTP pump that have a bushing
guide in the suction bell, or a BB1 pump where the impeller is supported between
bearings.

Single stage, VTP Mix Flow pump. Look that machine supports are located in the area where
bushing bearing are located.
 3) For a BB3 Pump, impellers are balance First one by one, later we install two impellers in
the pump shaft and repeat the procedure, this time balancing the component as a rotor.
During the procedure we continue adding add two more balanced impeller and repeat the
rotor balance, until finish the assembly with all impellers installed. For example, for a four
stage rotor, after balance all four impeller individually, we will balance the rotor with two
impellers:

And after with Four Impellers:

BB3 rotor balance. Machine supports are located in the area where bearing will be installed.

Depending of the pump design, in some cases the stationary wear ring should be installed during
the rotor assembly to avoid disassemble the rotor after balance. In this case some devices are
required to hold the wear rings during the balance process.
As you know, BB3 pump is also a between bearing pump, that means that the rotor ONLY have to
mechanical support, one on each end. Of course, wear rings, center bushing, balance drum and
other elements also provide hydraulic support and stability to the rotor (Lomakin Effect).

But what happen with VTP, that is the point that I would like to share with you. If you take a look
to a VTP pump you will find that EACH IMPELLER is supported by two bearing bushing,

I mean, the rotor is no supported only at the end shaft as a BB pumps. So the rotor has a natural
Frequency that is higher that the one that could l have if the rotor is supported at the ends shaft. In
other words, the rotor will need to rotate a higher speed to reach its first natural frequency

There are other important difference, for assembly a VTP the rotor must be disassemble to be able
to assemble the pump again, There is no way to assemble the bowl assy with the rotor fully
assembled. On BB1, BB2 and BB3 pumps, the rotor can be fully assembled and after installed in the
pump casing, keeping the original balance grade that was achieved in the balance machine. Usually
G2.5.
When a VTP rotor is fully assemble and place in a balance machine it will look like this:

The machine supports are located ONLY in two positions that is not the actual dynamic condition,
in this case is even worse because you can see one impeller that is in overhung that is not at all the
way that this rotor will work. In the true life, this roto will have every impeller between bearings,
like this:

And that configuration is not possible to duplicate in a balance machine that only have two supports.
So If you balance each impeller individually you will get the more closer dynamic condition and
modal deflection that the system with only two support.

In the other hand, there is no point to balance a complete rotor @ G2.5 to later on disassembly, and
reassembly again where many things can change. If you change a single bolt to one position to
another one, or a single key, or move a collect 1 mm away of the original position all the effort to
get a “Swiss Watch balance” will be lost. In my times in a factory, I try both methods, the one with
the rotor full assemble and balancing impeller by impeller and I do not get ANY positive difference
doing the balance with the rotor fully assemble. To be honest, was even worse because the time
consuming, the difficulty to balance in multiple planes, versus doing the process impeller by
impeller.
In summary, for me, and you can send me some knives to my heart if you want, balance a complete
rotor in a VTP pump is spend more than necessary- It is like a cut a piece of steel with a blowtorch
and measure it with a micrometer. If you called me to repair your VTP pump, and of course balance
the rotor I will do in the way you want me to do it, but again it is not necessary, based on my
experience, to do that with the complete rotor assembly. Get vibrations lower that 1 mm/sec and
a life useful of more that twenty years is a good argument to continuo and recommend to do in this
way.