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The program aims to develop an automatic monitoring system for the condition of thrust bearings in submersible pumps.
The main objective of the EMBER project, led by FACSA and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Collaborative Challenges call, is to identify or define electrical quantities derived from surface voltages and currents that may correlate with the wear state of thrust bearings in fully submerged pumps.
The advantage of this method, which will be jointly developed by FACSA, the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the University of Valladolid, lies in the fact that it is based on a non-invasive measurement that can be carried out on the surface, without the need to install sensors in the submerged system.
Thrust or axial bearings are a crucial component in pumping systems, especially in vertical-shaft pumps. Located at the bottom, they support the weight of all moving parts, including the working fluid. These bearings, consisting of a fixed element made up of a set of pads and a solid moving element, are subject to wear that must be monitored. Otherwise, this can lead to bearing failure, resulting in a massive and catastrophic motor failure.
Specifically, wear can increase to the point of causing friction so high that it leads to an overload not anticipated by the motor's protective devices, or to the detachment of bearing fragments that, after circulating through the coolant, impact the motor's stator insulation. In both cases, the motor must be rewound, and the maintenance cost is significantly higher than simply replacing the worn bearing.
In surface pumps, wear is typically monitored using a proximity sensor between the fixed and moving elements of the bearing. However, in pumps that operate fully submerged in their working fluid, such as those found in drinking water wells, water treatment plants, or oil extraction facilities, proximity sensors cannot be used, and vibration measurement is also impractical.
The solution currently used by the industry is monitoring the motor's operating temperature, but this depends on other factors and lacks sufficient sensitivity regarding the condition of the bearing.
