The Jacking Pump and Its Role in Steam Turbine Engine Start-Up

Start-up of a steam turbine is essential, and its success relies on its jacking oil pump working properly. This system supplies high-pressure oil that lifts the rotor while minimizing friction between bearing surfaces made of white metal/babbitt metal and sleeves.

Foam slab jacking is a fast, clean and safe alternative to mud jacking that allows permanent lifting of concrete slabs without needing to drill holes into your home or business property.

Early Life and Education

Pump jacks are tools designed to produce oil. As artificial lift devices, they are usually the initial system installed in an oil well. Their purpose is to convert motor rotation into vertical reciprocating action that powers a rod string that lifts polished rods, sucker rods and column loads.

DAC Worldwide’s Pump Jack Trainer (295-409) illustrates key surface and subsurface components of one of the most frequently employed methods of artificial lift used for oil production, commonly referred to as Pumpjacking. It can be used for both basic operations training and in-depth maintenance courses in industrial settings.

Circa 1914 oilfield production technology was discovered in Pennsylvania woods. A metal device known as a pump jack evolved from early wooden walking beams that served early petroleum production.

Professional Career

LGH provides professional equipment for lifting, lowering and turning loads safely in various industrial and construction applications. Their jacking pumps are perfect for raising and repairing concrete slabs such as driveways, sidewalks and garage floors.

Mudjacking, concrete lifting and slab jacking are methods used to correct settled or tilted slabs of concrete by pumping a mixture containing cement, sand and water called “mud”. Once this mixture has been placed underneath it, its original position can be restored using either a foam slab jacking pump or concrete mud pump.

Jacking oil supply is delivered from a high pressure (around 350 bar) pump fed from the main reservoir and delivered directly to bearing lift pumps through an auxiliary lubricating oil pump or motor-driven positive displacement two-shaft gear pump.

Achievement and Honors

Tony has been active in the development of numerous products over his professional career and received multiple accolades – such as being awarded with the Hydraulic Institute’s “Member of the Year” honor as well as serving on several key technical committees within HI.

ACPA awarded him with their highly sought-after Safe Operator of the Year award, bestowed only upon those who have demonstrated outstanding work in the field and an unwavering dedication to furthering the concrete pumping industry. He dedicated much of his time and efforts towards strengthening ACPA’s safety training program as well as sharing his expertise within the industry.

Though some criticize Lil Pump for his eccentric style and cocaine-themed lyrics, his comeback has become one of the most celebrated stories in recent hip-hop. Even Chance the Rapper played Lil Pump as part of his Saturday Night Live parody!

Personal Life

Jacking oil systems supply high-pressure oil to lift turbine-generator shafts when their regular lubricating oil supplies do not produce an adequate hydrodynamic oil wedge on bearings to prevent premature failure of bearings.

Oil is distributed via separate jacking oil pumps that draw their supply from the main oil reservoir and distribute it at pressures up to 350 kg/cm2. These may be multi-plunger or motor-driven two-shaft gear pumps.

Jacking pumps are typically crank-balanced, meaning their weight creates the counterbalance that eliminates the need for counterweights. Air-balanced versions also exist that use pneumatic cylinders filled with air from an on-site compressor to balance themselves for counterbalance; such units may be much lighter.

Net Worth

Jacking pumps provide high pressure oil to lift turbine generator shafts into their respective bearings – typically horizontal machines’ sleeve bearing and lower thrust bearing, or for vertical machines, their lower thrust bearing – before starting up their machines. They typically use motor-driven positive displacement multi-plunger or two-shaft gear pumps with output pressure levels reaching 300 bar for this task.

Oil pumped into the shaft creates a hydrodynamic oil wedge to prevent any shaft damage or breakdown due to lack of adequate lubrication, while serving as an emergency counterbalance for steam turbine. A jacking pump system also serves as an emergency counterbalance.

Jacking pumps are typically supplied with lubricating oil from a Lube Oil system; however, some units provide dedicated jacking pumps with their own dedicated lube oil pump which may be supplied by Auxiliary Lube Oil or Bearing Header systems (see L.O. P&ID).