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ME266
Main Feed Water Pump Damage
Technical committee

Ship type Oil tanker

Date of build October 1986
Navigation route Liner, Japan ~ Persian Gulf
Trouble machinery
Category Pump
Name Main feed water pump
Type DK100-4M
Date of trouble November 22, 1994, during voyage

1. Outline of breakdown

During navigation, when the auxiliary boiler was ignited for inerting and one main feed water pump
was in use, severe leakage occurred from the fore-side mechanical seal of the pump. At this point, the
pump was immediately switched to the standby pump.
The result of overhaul inspection is as follows:
1) Total loss of the fore-side ball bearing (Angular contact type x 2 sets)
2) The circumference of the bearing nut for tightening the above ball bearing was worn, had stuck,
loosened, and eventually dropped from the screw thread
3) Due to total loss of 2 fore-side ball bearings, the rotor attached part and the following parts have
come in contact with each other, resulting in abnormal abrasion:
a) Balance sleeve and balance bushing
b) Stage piece and impeller
c) Mouse ring and impeller
4) Total loss of the fore-side mechanical seal.

2. Cause

The cause is attributed to improper tightening of the bearing nuts at the time of overhaul/assembly.
(Two weeks before occurrence of the breakdown, the vessel was docked for overhaul maintenance.
The total hours of operation after docking until breakdown occurred were 6 hours.)

3. Repair

Although the breakdown occurred simply because of improper tightening of the bearing nut, most of
the major parts constituting the pump were replaced with new ones:
<Newly replaced parts>
a) Rotor assembly
b) Balance bushing
c) Stage piece
d) Mouth ring

1
e) Mechanical seal
f) Bearing nut
g) Ball bearing

Fig. Overall view of pump