[Commentary]

Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

Shigeru YOSHIKAWA*

Abstract
In a thermal power plant, the boiler feed pump (BFP) is one of the critical auxiliary machines that are equivalent to the heart
of the plant. In pace with the increases in the capacity of equipment for thermal power generation, improvements to adapt to
higher temperatures and pressures, and changes in operation method, BFPs have been improving and advancing. This paper
explains how BFPs have been upsized and made compatible to higher pressures; main specifications of BFPs; structures and
materials of typical BFPs for conventional supercritical thermal power plants and for combined-cycle thermal power plants;
characteristics of the shaft seal and bearing; technological development for higher capacities and performance; actual develop-
ment and delivery of 100% capacity BFPs; improvements to the structure design for increasing the stress resistance of BFPs
so that they can adapt to more severe conditions in the operation of thermal power plants associated with the spread of renew-
able energy; and examples of efforts to streamline the BFP design for manufacturing cost reduction and space saving.
Keywords: Feed water pump, High pressure, Efficiency, Super critical thermal power, Combined cycle thermal power, Reliability,
Specific speed, Shaft strength, Bearing, Double casing

ability because it must operate in more severe condi-

1. Introduction
tions such as partial load operation and increased fre-
This paper outlines the history and structural and quency of start and stop actions.
technical characteristics of boiler feed pumps (hereafter
2. History
referred to as BFP), which are high-pressure pumps
mainly used for thermal power generation. 2.1 BFPs for conventional thermal power plants
In a thermal power plant, the BFP is one of the criti- Since BFPs are used to feed high-temperature/pres-
cal auxiliary machines that are equivalent to the heart sure water to boilers, their history is closely related
of the plant. In thermal power generation, high-pres- with the improvement toward higher boiler capacities
sure steam is used to drive a turbine, which in turn ro- and higher temperatures and pressures.
tates the generator directly connected to the turbine to Boilers and other equipment for commercial thermal
generate power. The steam is produced by feeding hot power generation have been improved to achieve higher
water to the boiler from the BFP. This means that an per-unit capacities with the objective of reducing the
unexpected stop of the BFP completely stops power percentage of equipment costs (for advantages of scale)
generation and therefore the BFP requires a very high as well as to achieve higher steam temperatures and
level of reliability. In recent years, with the populariza- pressures for higher thermal efficiency1).
tion of renewable energy, thermal power generation re- Looking at the history of boilers in Japan, the maximum
quires load adjustment for a stable power generation unit capacity was 66 MW in 1955, which increased to
system as well as operation under severe conditions 325 MW in 1965 and to 600 MW in 1969. In 1974, a
such as rapid changes in load. The BFP is also required boiler with a capacity of 1 000 MW was brought into
to provide even higher levels of capabilities and reli- operation. Boilers in Japan thus have been undergoing
rapid increases in capacity. After 1980, boilers with a
unit capacity of more than 600 MW went mainstream,
* Fluid Machinery & Systems Company

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

followed by many units with a capacity of more than Table 1 BFP specifications for 700 MW USC thermal power plant

1 000 MW built after 1990. Start-up and

Purpose Main feed water
backup
Looking at the steam conditions, Japans first boiler Capacity t/h 1 200 730
with a steam pressure of 16.6 MPa (at the inlet of the Discharge pressure MPa 38.05 37.26
turbine) was fabricated in 1959. In 1967, Japans first Rotation speed min-1 6 000 6 300
Water temperature 188.4 184.1
supercritical constant-pressure boiler was brought into
Motor drive (with
operation for higher generation efficiency. Boilers sub- Drive Steam turbine
a fluid coupling)
sequently underwent rapid increases in supercritical Output kW 17 500 12 000

pressure, resulting in a situation where 82% of the Number of units 2 1

power generating units built in 1974 were of a super-

critical type1). which started to act as base-load power plants. Under
When used in combination with a supercritical-pres- the circumstances, in commercial thermal power gen-
sure boiler with a unit capacity of more than 1 000 MW, eration, many units that were compatible with middle-
the BFP is required to deliver a very high level of per- load operation started to be used, with supercritical
formance such as a flow rate of approximately 1 700 t/h, variable-pressure once-through boilers, capable of main-
a discharge pressure of approximately 30 MPa, and a taining high efficiency even in the middle-load area, go-
shaft power of approximately 20 000 kW. To achieve ing mainstream. This situation required variable-speed
this high pressure, the BFP is required to achieve a motor drives, leading to the introduction of motor
high rotation speed of 5 000 to 6 000 min . At that time, -1
drives with a built-in speed increasing gear and a fluid
it was common to combine two 50% capacity BFPs coupling.
driven by steam turbines (T-BFPs) and one BFP driven Efforts to increase the thermal efficiency continued.
by a motor with a speed-increasing gear (M-BFP) as a In 1989, a 700 MW, USC plant was brought into opera-
backup and for start-up purposes. Figure 1 shows the tion with a main steam pressure of 31.1 MPa and a
relationship between the increases in boiler pressure main steam temperature of 566 C.
and BFP discharge pressure . 2)
Table 1 shows the specifications of the BFPs used in
Note that EBARA supplied BFPs for both of Japans this plant2).
first supercritical and ultra-supercritical (USC) power 2.2 BFPs for combined-cycle thermal power plants
generating units. EBARA also delivered Japans first In parallel with the movement to improve the systems
BFP for a 1 000 MW power generating unit. for the conventional thermal power generation toward
In the 1980s, many nuclear power plants were built, higher capacities, temperatures, and pressures, com-
bined-cycle power generation went into actual use in the

45
middle 1980s, a thermal power generation system that
achieves higher efficiency by combining two cycles: a
40 Approx.38 MPa
gas-turbine combustion cycle and a steam-turbine cycle
Feed pump
35 discharge pressure
that uses the exhaust heat from the former cycle. With
31 MPa Boiler
Approx.30 MPa
30 pressure continuous technological development for cooling turbine

25
25 MPa blades and making them heat resistant, the gas-turbine
Pressure MPa

Approx.20 MPa combustion temperature has increased, resulting in fur-

20
17 MPa ther improvement in power generation efficiency. State-
15 Supercritical Ultra-supercritical (USC)
of-the-art combined-cycle plants (with a gas turbine that
10 uses a temperature of higher than 1 600 C) have
5 1967 1989 achieved a sending-end efficiency of as high as 60%. In
recent years, many combined-cycle thermal power
0

Fig. 1 Boiler pressure and BFP discharge pressure plants have been constructed because they use, as a fuel

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

for gas turbines, LNG a fuel that emits less carbon The latter group requires a balance disk or a similar
dioxide and therefore impose less environmental load. component for balancing the axial thrust.
These plants require BFPs that feed water to heat (3) Material
recovery steam generators (HRSG). The outer barrel and discharge cover, which are pres-
sure-containing components, are made of forged carbon
3. Structures of BFPs
steel, and the gasket surface and high velocity sections
3.1 BFPs for conventional thermal power plants 3)
are overlaid with austenitic stainless steel to prevent
(1) Casing structure erosion. The internal casing and impeller are made of
BFPs used in supercritical and USC plants are required 13Cr or 13Cr-4Ni martensitic cast stainless steel.
to provide a high discharge pressure of 30 to 35 MPa (4) Shaft seal and bearing
with a feed-water temperature of as high as 180 C or Most commercial thermal power generation plants in
higher. These plants use double casing barrel-type Japan used non-contact throttle bushes or floating
multi-stage pumps designed to be adaptable to high- rings, which are not likely to wear under high-speed
pressure and -temperature specifications. These pumps and -pressure conditions and are suitable to continuous
have a forged cylindrical outer barrel with a high rigid- operation. In recent years, overseas plants in particular
ity that contains a single-piece structure consisting of use mechanical seals in many cases. As for the bear-
an internal casing and a rotor, with one end of the outer ings, a forced lubricating type is used.
barrel fastened to a discharge cover with bolts. They Figure 2 shows the structure of a typical BFP for
are designed according to the technical standard for conventional thermal power plants.
thermal power generation or a similar public standard 3.2 BFPs for combined-cycle plants3)
so that the thicknesses of the outer barrel, discharge (1) Casing structure
cover, and discharge nozzle, and the size and number BFPs for combined-cycle thermal power plants feed
of cover fastening bolts will provide sufficient strengths water to the heat recovery steam generator. They are
against the design pressure (maximum allowable working required to provide a discharge pressure of 15 to 20
pressure). MPa and a feed-water temperature of approximately
The outer barrel is a simple thick cylinder that is not 150 C, which are substantially low compared to super-
affected by high pressures or changes in pressure. The critical thermal power plants. For this reason, single
barrel is fastened to the discharge cover with bolts case, ring section-type, multi-stage pumps are used in
with a spiral gasket inserted between them to prevent most combined-cycle plants. However, they absolutely
leakage of water. The fastening bolts are controlled with require technologies for analyzing and evaluating ther-
a hydraulic wrench, bolt heater, or bolt tensioner so that mal stress and deformation because they are required
it will constantly provide appropriate fastening force. to adapt to quick plant starts and abrupt changes in
By providing a middle extraction flange on the dis- feed-water temperature. The basic structure of a ring
charge cover side or the suction side as appropriate, in- section-type casing consists of a suction casing, dis-
termediate pressure can be taken out so that it can be charge casing, inter stage casing, and intermediate ex-
used for applications such as coolant spraying to the traction casing, which are fastened with casing bolts,
reheater. with the joints between the casings sealed with metal
(2) Internal structure touch based on the fastening contact pressure of the
The structures of the internal casing, impeller, and other bolts. Depending on the results of thermal deformation
hydraulic components are divided into two groups: one analysis, an O-ring is fitted as appropriate to completely
group uses a combination of a axially split casing, back prevent leakage of feed water even during thermal
to back arrangement impeller, and a volute type and transient.
the other group uses a combination of a ring section (2) Internal structure
casing, straight through impeller, and a diffuser type. Heat recovery steam generators for combined-cycle

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

Discharge nozzle Temperature

detection seat Suction ange

Outer
barrel
Discharge cover

Forced lubricating
bearing (radial)

Forced lubricating
bearing (thrust) Throttle bush

Throttle bush

Nozzle for draining Balance return ange

Middle extraction ange and warming
for spraying to reheater

Fig. 2 Double casing barrel type BFP for supercritical thermal power plants

plants are often structured with three stages (high-, Pumps structured to use double suction impeller at
middle-, and low-pressure drums), and designed to ex- only the first stage are often used because this struc-
tract intermediate-pressure feed water from the inter- ture can reduce the required NPSH by halving the suc-
mediate stage of the BFP to feed it to the middle-pres- tion flow because of the double suction.
sure drum. In other words, one unit of BFP can feed (3) Material
middle- and high-pressure water. Total amount of the The suction, discharge, and extraction casings, which
middle- and high-pressure feed water are sucked from are pressure-containing components, are made of 13Cr-
the suction casing. After the amount of the water to be 4Ni cast stainless steel and the inter stage casing of
fed to the middle-pressure drum is extracted from the 13Cr-4Ni stainless steel.
extraction stage, only the amount of the water to be (4) Shaft seal and bearing
fed to the high-pressure drum is pressurized. For this For the shaft sealing device, a mechanical seal with
reason, the specific speeds (Ns) of impeller and diffuser almost no leakage is used because the pressure and
for the stage before the extraction are often different peripheral speed conditions are slightly less severe than
from those after the extraction. those for BFPs for supercritical plants. For the bearing,
In combined-cycle plants, ring section-type diffuser though a forced lubricating type is used, a self-lubricat-
pumps are used. They have all impellers arranged in ing type can also be safely used in some cases as will
one direction and therefore require a thrust balancing be described later since the peripheral-speed conditions
component. Balancing components are available in two are less severe than those in conventional supercritical
types: balance-disk and balance-drum types. Water thermal power plants. Figure 3 shows the structure of
leaked from the balancing component is normally re- a typical BFP for combined-cycle thermal power plants.
turned to the suction side. When the pressure decreases
4. Upsizing and sophistication of BFPs
in the balancing component, the water temperature
rises. When the saturated vapor pressure of water with With the growth of equipment for thermal power gen-
the temperature rise taken into account is higher than eration in capacity and pressure, BFPs have been
the suction pressure, the water may flush out and re- upsized and become sophisticated. Among the pumps
turns to the pump inlet. If this is the case, the pump used in a thermal power plant, the BFP uses the most
does not operate soundly. If this happens, the balancing power because it must produce high pressures re-
piping is connected to the deaerator. quired by the boiler. This means that the improve-

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

High-pressure drum
Middle-pressure drum feed-water ange
feed-water ange
Suction ange

Discharge casing
Suction casing
Intermediate
volute Casing bolt

Bearing (radial) Bearing (thrust)

Mechanical seal
Mechanical seal
Balancing component

Fig. 3 Structure of a BFP for combined cycle thermal power plants

ment in BFP efficiency is a critical challenge that

must be solved to reduce the environmental load. The
impeller used in a BFP is a centrifugal pump with a
specific speed (Ns) of approximately 120 to 250 (m3/
min, m, min-1). Generally, the pump efficiency is higher
when the specific speed is higher within this range or
the flow rate is higher if the specific speed is the
same. In a normal case, two BFPs each with a 50%
capacity are used as the main feed pumps. If one BFP
can provide a 100% capacity, it improves the efficiency
through the increase in capacity and enhancement in 16-72 01/251

specific speed as well as helps save space and re- Fig. 4 100% capacity BFP for 1 000 MW supercritical thermal
power plants
sources . In Japan, EBARA has experience in designing,
4)

fabricating, and delivering main feed pumps with a

specification of 100% capacity per unit for 500 MW BFP, the main shaft has larger torque and is thus required
and 600 MW supercritical thermal power plants and to have a large diameter, compared to conventional
these pumps are successfully operating. In some coun- BFPs, to maintain the required strength. If the
tries and areas, a system based on a single main feed rotational speed and pump head remain the same, the
pump with a 100% capacity is in actual use in 1 000 MW diameter of the impeller also remains unchanged. This
plants. Recently, EBARA also manufactured and means the main shaft with an increased diameter
delivered a large BFP that satisfied this requirement. interferes with the flow passage of the impeller meridian
Figure 4 shows actually shipped BFP and followings plane. Under the circumstances, to achieve high efficiency,
are the outlined specifications of this BFP. we determined the optimal hydraulic shape including
Capacity of 3 200 t/h total pump head of 3 800 m the volutewhich reduces the flow velocity of the water
shaft power of 37 700 kW rotation speed of 5 000 min -1
from the impeller, and converts it into static pressure
Specific speed of approximately 250 (m /min, m, min )
3 -1
and the cross over passages between the stages. To
In general, higher capacities and higher specific this end, we made full use of CFDnote including analysis
speeds increase the pump efficiency. The shaft power of unsteady flows.
increases with the increase in capacity; accordingly, if We also determined, through analysis of the main
the rotation speed is the same as that of a 50% capacity shaft strength, the optimal diameter that minimizes the

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

increase in shaft diameter from that of the 50% capacity power output based on solar and wind power signifi-
BFP (existing conventional design). For a system based cantly depends on the meteorological conditions such
on a 100% capacity BFP, only one unit is used and if it as the weather and wind conditions, resulting in the
should unexpectedly stop, the power generation capacity drawback that it is difficult to stably operate electric
is totally lost. For this reason, needless to say, we power systems based on renewable energy. In order
designed the main shaft so that each part of the shaft to cope with this issue, thermal power plants are
would maintain a sufficient strength. increasingly required to provide more flexible power
Note: Computational fluid dynamics system operation with a higher level of supply-and-de-
Table 2 compares the performance of BFPs delivered mand adjustment capability. Specifically, they are re-
to power plants of typical sizes and with typical out- quired to improve the load change rate, minimize the
puts. The BFP shaft power consumes 3.5 to 4% of plant minimum load factor, and shorten the start-up time.
output; this ratio can be reduced through the increase In association with the supply-and-demand adjust-
in efficiency to be achieved by increases in capacity. ment capability added to thermal power plants, BFPs
For 500 MW plants, we successfully reduced the ratio are required to operate in more severe conditions such
to the rated plant output by approximately 0.5 point by as increased frequency of start and stop actions, changes
using one 100% capacity BFP. Even if the output is the in feed water temperature, and increased frequency of
same, however, the water temperature (density), capac- low flow operation. To address these requirements,
ity, and total pressure are different from plant to plant efforts have been made to improve the stress resis-
and therefore it is not generally practical to make com- tance (robustness) of BFPs by reviewing the structure,
parisons according to only the shaft power ratio. Look- materials, and design. Figure 5 shows an example of a
ing at the efficiency, for the 500 MW plants, while the BFP structure that has incorporated the structural and
system based on two units exhibited an efficiency of design considerations to adapt to the operational re-
82%, the system based on a single unit achieved an quirements above. Table 3 shows specific items that
86% efficiency, resulting in a 4-point improvement as must be improved and phenomena that must be ad-
described earlier .4)
dressed along with possible causes of them (some of
the measures in the Table 3 are not always against the
5. Improvement in BFP stress resistance
more severe operating conditions but have been intro-
Recent years have seen increased introductions of re- duced as part of the efforts to improve the general
newable energies such as solar and wind power. Re- functional reliability of BFPs5)).
newable energy is expected to continue to spread as
6. Streamlining of BFPs
one of the measures against global warming because it
does not use fossil fuel and therefore emits no carbon As described earlier, BFPs are the heart of the main
dioxide when used for power generation. However, the piping system in thermal power systems and therefore
required to provide high levels of functionality and reli-

Table 2 Specifications of typical BFPs ability. On the other hand, it is also important to supply

Rated
power at as low a price as possible, in developing coun-
Total Rotation Shaft Number Power
plant Capacity Efficiency tries in particular, where the demand for power is
pressure speed power of unit ratio
output
MW t/h MPa min 1 kW % Unit % pressing and therefore the construction of many new
500 890 29.67 5 500 9 999 82 2 4.00 thermal power plants is planned. For this reason, pump
500 1 630 30.1 5 500 17 747 86 1 3.55 suppliers are also required to cooperate to simplify the
600 1 000 30.1 5 500 11 157 83.5 2 3.72
equipment for power generation plants and make
600 1 860 33.2 5 000 22 589 85.3 1 3.76
efforts to reduce the costs for such equipment as one of
700 1 120 30.6 5 500 12 711.7 85 2 3.63
1 000 1 650 30.5 5 500 18 393.3 86 2 3.68
the challenges that they must address. Here are some
1 050 1 700 31.2 6 000 19 279.5 85.5 2 3.67 of the efforts to streamline BFPs.

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

Fig. 5 BFP structure that has incorporated measures for increasing the robustness

Table 3 Measures for increasing the robustness of BFPs

No Degradation Causes Measures for increasing the robustness

Wall thickness reduction of Erosion caused by high velocity and/or uneven Overlaying austenitic stainless steel onto the

discharge nozzle flow inner surface
Degraded seal performance of metal touch seal or
Erosion of high-differential-pressure
self-compressed gasket associated with increased Using an auxiliary O-ring in combination
part of the inner volute
frequencies of start and stop actions
Replacing the first stage impeller with new
Increased duration of low flow operation
Incipient cavitation one designed for low flow regarding with inlet
associated with the adoption of DSS, etc.
configuration
Cracks at the portion to which Impact of pulsation caused by increased duration Modifying the nozzle stub so that it will be a

auxiliary piping is attached of low flow operation more rigid structure
Changes in nozzle load associated with increased
Vibration caused by misalignment Installing an stabilizing device
frequencies of start and stop actions
Impact of pulsation caused by increased duration
Increased bearing vibration Using a full circular bearing housing
of low flow operation
Wire-wool damage of 13Cr steel shaft caused by Overlaying carbon steel to the main shaft
Damaged bearing metal
foreign particles in lube oil journal
Occurring of abruptly changing Torque locking caused by poor sliding of the
Upgrading to a flexible disk coupling
vibration gear-coupling tooth surface
Decreased torque of the shaft-end nut. Loosened
Fretting corrosion on the fitting Using a shaft-end nut of a locking sleeve type
fixed disk caused by secular distortion of the disk
portion of the thrust disk Using a long hub type thrust disk
contact surface
No maintenance for a long time because it is Discontinuing the use of the bleed off pipe
Degraded mechanical seal for inter
installed on the suction cover and not required and the mechanical seal as the structure for
stage bleed off
when the inner-volute rotor disassembly extraction from the discharge cover
The above number is the part that shows the number of the in Fig. 5.

6.1 Discontinuance of booster pumps mally installed upstream of the BFP to ensure the
With a rotation speed of as high as 5 000 to 6 000 min , -1
NPSH required for the BFP.
BFPs for supercritical thermal power plants require a Under the circumstances, M-BFPs for start-up pur-
high required NPSH (NPSHR). With an increase in poses used in some plants are actually designed to in-
power generation capacity, the flow rate of the BFP in- clude an impeller equipped with an inducer in the first
creases, which requires an even higher NPSHR. The stage to lower the NPSHR for elimination of the need
NPSH available (NPSHA) of a BFP, which is deter- to use a booster pump and cross over piping. This
mined by the height of the deaerator installed, is nor- design helps reduce plant construction costs by saving
mally approximately 20 to 25 m. For this reason, space and resources. Figure 6 shows the structure of a
through the cross over piping, a booster pump is nor- BFP with an inducer4).

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

Suction
Middle extraction
Discharge

Inducer
Flow to balance the piping
Back to balance piping

Fig. 6 BFP with an inducer

6.2 Full-cartridge, ring section, double casing

BFPs
The BFPs shown in Figs. 2, 6, and Figure 7 are structured
with a horizontally split internal casing (inner volute).
As Fig. 7 shows, a BFP with this structure allows you
to take out the shaft and impeller as a rotor assembled 16-72 02/251

as one unit if the upper half of the inner volute is Fig. 7 Disassembled inner volute and the rotor to be taken out

disassembled. Since this facilitates inspection in power

plants, this design has been adopted in many power plants 350 MW supercritical plants (equivalent to the 50% ca-
inside and outside Japan. It also has the drawback, pacity BFP for 700 MW supercritical plants). Figure 8
however, that the design requires a high manufacturing shows a full-cartridge, ring section, double casing
cost because the inner volute has a complicated structure BFP in assembled and dissembled states.
made of cast steel. On the other hand, the structure 6.3 Self-lubricating bearing
with a ring section-type internal casing (inner case) Involving high rotation speed and high output, BFPs
offers the cost-related advantages that it does not require use a forced lubricating bearing. The lube oil unit (LO)
an inner volute, which is costly, and that when compared requires arrangement of a main oil pump (MOP) and
under the same performance (pressure), it allows you an auxiliary oil pump (AOP) for start-up and backup
to slightly reduce the diameter of the internal casing, purposes. Normal oil supply pressure is between 0.08
resulting in a smaller diameter of the outer barrel. This and 0.12 MPa. When the oil pressure has decreased (to
structure has the drawback, however, that it is difficult 0.05 MPa) during operation, the pressure switch or
to inspect on site because inspection of the rotor requires transmitter installed in the lubricant feed piping issues
you to vertically place the inner casing and rotor and an alarm and, at the same time, automatically activates
then take out the inner case, guide vane, and impeller on a the auxiliary oil pump. When the oil pressure has
stage-by-stage basis. On the other hand, a full-cartridge further decreased (to 0.03 MPa), it stops the BFP for
structure allows you to take out, as one unit, all components, protecting the bearing and ensuring safety. The lube
including the inner casing, rotor, outer-barrel cover, oil unit is provided with an oil reservoir for containing
bearing, and shaft seal, except the outer barrel. This allows lubricant, oil-pressure regulating valve, oil cooler,
you to return the full-cartridge component to the factory switching twin filter, and other equipment. A normal
for inspection, eliminating the need for on-site inspection. oil reservoir requires a capacity three or more times
EBARA has experience in manufacturing and delivering the flow rate of the oil pump. The required instruments
a 100% capacity, ring section, double casing BFP for include devices for monitoring the differential filter

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

a) Assembled b) Disassembled

Fig. 8 Full-cartridge, sectional-type BFP

pressure, oil level of the oil reservoir, and oil temperature. manufacturing cost or installation space.
Since the unit equipped with these devices and On the other hand, a typical BFP for combined-cycle
instruments make up a large percentage in terms of plants is directly driven by a 2P motor and provides an
foot print and manufacturing cost, it is significant to output of approximately 2 000 to 2 500 kW, which is low
streamline the lubrication system (Figure 9). compared with BFPs for supercritical thermal power
Whether the bearing requires forced lubrication or plants. Equipped with no turbine or fluid coupling, this
self-lubrication depends on the peripheral speed at the BFP requires a separately installed lube oil unit. The
radial bearing and the type of the thrust bearing. Con- BFP, if equipped with a self-lubricating bearing, can
sidering the fact that BFPs for supercritical thermal streamline the power generation system by reducing
power plants provides a high rotation speed of more the floor space for installation. While the current BFPs
than 5 000 min with high shaft power, they will probably
-1
use a forced lubricating bearing based on the existing
continue to require forced lubrication. Lubricant is fed selection criteria, we think that it is possible to broaden
from the turbine if the BFP is driven by a turbine or the self-lubricating bearings to a wider range of appli-
from the fluid coupling if the BFP is driven by a motor cations by improving the self-lubricating mechanism
with a fluid coupling, meaning that the lubricating and bearing cooling structure (Figure 10).
method of the pump bearing does not affect the

Suction Discharge

Motor

Pump

Oil supply unit

6 700
1 400

Cooler

Oil tank
1 780

Auxiliary
oil pump

Fig. 9 Boiler feed pump outline drawing (with oil supply unit)

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 Boiler Feed Pump (BFP)

Radial
Main shaft bearing Thrust bearing

Fig. 10 Self-lubricating bearing

responding to the changes in the market environment,

7. Conclusion
we should make further efforts to develop technologies
This paper outlines the history and characteristics of for further increasing the efficiency and reliability of
boiler feed pumps (BFPs) used for commercial thermal BFPs and reduce their manufacturing costs.
power generation along with technical improvements
References
to them. In pace with the increases in the capacity of
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equipment for commercial thermal power generation,
the technological development for themfrom Course 32
improvements to adapt to higher temperatures and (2005 version) by Thermal and Nuclear Power Engineering
Society (issued in June 2006 by Thermal and Nuclear Power
pressures, and changes in operation method, BFPs
Engineering Society).
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in making efforts to meet the increasing demand for ing/valves from the introductory course about thermal and
nuclear power generation (No.595, Vol.57, April 2006 issue
power and to reduce the environmental load, thermal from Thermal and Nuclear Power Engineering Society).
power generation will play an increasingly important 3) Thermal engineering handbook 8pumps (revised 2015 ver-
sion from Thermal and Nuclear Power Engineering Society).
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operation will be more flexible through combined use chinery November 2008 issue.
5) 2-3. Pumpsfrom the lecture on Preventive maintenance
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capture and storage (CCS). It is required that while

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