The check valve discussion.

[rshackleford]

Yuck. Good for injection, but I wouldn't think good for supply.

[Pumpman]

I used to work for a geothermal power company as a well field spe******t. We installed lineshaft turbine pumps as deep as 2000', and most of these wells had a static water level from 600' to 1000' below top of well. There were no checkvalves anywhere in the column pipe. There was one located about 40' downstream of the discharge head.
When we would start these pumps, it would take anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute for the water to reach the surface. This tells me that the water level in the pump column pipe was somewhere near the static water level of the well. If the column stayed full, it wouldn't take any time for the water to reach surface. There were no vacuum breakers etc. on the systems.
Ron

[speedbump]

They were the predecessor to the jet pump. I worked on many of them. There I go gelling my age.

They were really a very good pump. The working head pump was used like a windmill rig with an electric motor for deep well apps.

bob...

[speedbump]

The pipe must have been large enough to keep the water from hammering the valve I would think. Did it have any hammer to it when the water column reached check valve.

Did you cuss there Ron? I see the profanity police put asterisks in your word that I would think was spe******t.

bob...

[speedbump]

It did it to my word too! Go figure! Spe******t Spe******t Spe******t Spe******t.

[almostdone]

Off topic, but that's pretty funny. I thought there was some deep inside water well business joke that caused Ron to bleep out part of spe******t, but it turns out that the spam filter is just picking up that well-known drug for ED: ******.

Now, I'll spend the rest of day trying to figure out words that contain the magic letters ****** and ******.

[speedbump]

Is it that drug that is advertised on TV and radio, that proports enhancement of sorts? I'll spell it and see what I get ******.

bob...

[Pumpman]

Nope, I didn't cuss. Drat that spam filter anyway. haha
Yes, actually, the checkvalve (10") slammed open with a bang. The pressure would immediately raise to 225 psi on startup, and level out out to 310 - 350 psi while running. Since the geothermal brine was 340 degrees, you didn't stand too close to the piping when you brought one of these pumps on line. We frequently ran these pumps to an open pit until the brine came up to temp, before we sent it to the plant. The sound of the hot brine flashing into steam at the pond would take your breath away. Like standing behind a jetliner as it preps for takeoff.
Ron

[speedbump]

Now that would be something to see. I have never had the opportunity to do any of that kind of work. But I would love to see it.


bob...

[rshackleford]

On the piston pump, I though you guys meant cylinders for windmills. I know they can go more than 25’ feet.

On the turbines, “soft start” pump have made a big difference. Some of these wells with 100’ static’s would really hammer the check valves bad. We would always put a butterfly right on the pump head. Then this valve could be closed way down to prevent some of that hammer. I have seen discharge systems blown apart by careless well owners.

[rshackleford]

If you put a check on a 8" or 10" turbine you better have one hell of a truck to lift that thing our of the hole.

Pumpman:

What kind of lubrication did these deep, deep turbines use? How about shaft centralizers? A 2000' set turbine interests me.

[Pumpman]

Shack,
These were oil lubricated with a 2 3/16", 17-4 s.s. shaft inside a 4" enclosing tube with bronze bearings every 5'. The shaft/enclosing tube was centered in the 12" column pipe using Trico centralizers every 100'.
Everything was installed in 20' sections.
The pumps were anywhere between 26 and 36 stage, depending on depth, and were driven by 4160V 800 hp motors. The bowl assembly had 4" of endplay and you need every bit of it. Once the pump and all column pipe is in the ground, you have to "pull tension" on the shaft and oil tube. The top column pipe had a spider welded in it that the shaft/tube came up through, and the top oil tube was threaded for a big nut. We used the rig to lift the weight of the tube (usually about 35, 000 lbs.) to ensure it was straight and held it there with the nut. The discharge head was then mounted along with the stand and motor.
Once that was done, we needed to set the impellers in the bowls. I calculated the weight of the shaft and we used a crane and a dyno to lift the shaft. Once we had the weight of the shaft on the dyno, we would continue to lift the shaft until the weight on the dyno increased. When the weight increased, I knew the impellers were against the top of the bowls. We would then lower the shaft 3/4" and set the adjusting nut on top of the motor. We ran the pump until the brine came up to temp., usually about 350 degrees. We then shut it down and respaced the impellers to take into account the growth from the hot brine. Once this was done, the pump was restarted and set to the plant.
BYW, it takes approx. 48 straight hours to install one of these pumps.
Ron

[rshackleford]

My ass is dragging after setting 100' of 1.5" oil lube shaft and collumn.

I am a bit suerprised that you only had spiders every 100'. I would have though there would be more.

Who made the pumps?

[Pumpman]

The pumps were made by Johnston Pump, out of Brookshire, Tx.
I used to be a factory rep for them.
Actually, once we pulled tension on the oil tube, the spiders weren't even in play anymore. They were only used to facilitate installation.
Ron

[neili]

I sold an old used Johnston Pump once. It was pretty tought to find information on it. Are johnston pumps still in production? I know MAPS had a tough time finding me information on them.

I didn't know that about spiders. Is this the case because of the amount of tension used or is this the case on all oil lube lineshaft pumps.