Compliant abrasion resistant bearings for a submersible well pump

• Main Authors: Dan L. Adams, Dewayne May, Steven K Tetzlaff
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 05.02.2020
• Subjects: BLASTING; HEATING; LIGHTING; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; NON-POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT PUMPS; POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS; WEAPONS

An electrical submersible pump assembly (11, fig 1) includes a centrifugal pump (15, fig 1) having a plurality of stages, each having an impeller and a diffuser. The impellers are driven by a shaft 25 rotated by an electrical motor (17, fig 1). A seal section (19, fig 1) is coupled between the pump and the motor. A thrust runner 37 is coupled to the shaft for rotation. The runner receives thrust from an impeller and has a flange 44 extending radially outward with a thrust transferring face 45 that transfers the thrust to a bushing 39 mounted in a receptacle 30 formed in a diffuser 27. The bushing has a thrust transferring end 51 adjacent a thrust receiving shoulder 53 in the diffuser. The runner and the bushing each have a greater hardness than the diffuser. A helical coolant groove (65, fig 5) formed on a cylindrical exterior of the body of the runner has a first end at the thrust transferring surface and a second end at an end of the body opposite the flange. A flange flow port 67 extends through the flange and registers with the first end of the helical coolant groove.