Morgan Advanced Ceramics, Stourport

Ceramic Shafts and Bearings for use in the Pump Industry, Products for Pump Applications

Shaft & Bearing Pump Components

Morgan Advanced Ceramics has been supplying high precision Alumina ceramic components for hot and cold water circulating pumps for over thirty years. In addition to our established pressing and extrusion capability, our leading-edge Ceramic Injection Moulding (CIM) facility minimises the need for grinding, hence reducing overall manufacturing costs for complex shapes by producing “as fired” geometry with tolerances of +/- <0.3%.

This advance in process technology opens the door to a wide variety of application possibilities and intricate designs.

Ceramic Advantages Include

• Maintenance free operation for pump life in excess of 15 years

• Exceptional corrosion resistance in aqueous based pumping applications

• Shaft/bearing clearances down to <=40μm to ensure minimal pump running noise

• High material thermal stability

• Extreme resistance to wear during high speed rotation (>3,000rpm) in abrasive fluid systems

• Alumina, being chemically inert and insulating avoids both electrochemical and electrolytic action

Applications Include

• Domestic hot water circulators

• Pond, fountain and aquarium pumps

• Submersible pumps

• Dosing pumps

• Industrial and chemical pumps

Domestic pumps
Domestic pumps are primarily hot water circulators (central heating pumps) used in residential and office buildings pumping hot water from a central boiler system to radiators. The pump designs usually incorporate an Alumina bearing with a Carbon thrust bearing. Domestic appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines often incorporate pump designs using Alumina/Carbon based seals.

Industrial pumps 
Industrial pumps are used in pumping water from deep wells. These pumps often use Alumina thrust bearings with a lapped or polished working face, which are ideal for this application as they mate with the carbon thrust pad.

Submersible pond pumps for garden water features and aquariums. 
These typically use two Alumina bearings housed in the impellor and magnetic rotor assembly, running on a stationary Alumina shaft. The bearings are usually of wider tolerances than for circulating pumps as the load and noise requirements are less demanding.

Automotive water pumps
Automotive water pumps often use an Alumina ceramic/carbon seal assembly because of the Alumina's high wear and corrosion resistance to anti-freeze solution. 

Vertical pumps 
Vertical pumps such as those used for pumping water above ground into high-rise residential or commercial buildings often are designed with precision-machined Alumina bearings

Materials

MAC materials used within pump applications belong to the Alumina family (MAC grades - Hilox™: 961, 965, 991, 880 & 882)

Alumina offers a combination of good mechanical and electrical properties suitable for a wide range of applications. It has a high compressive strength, hardness and is dense, non-porous, has low toxicity and vacuum tight. It has excellent dimensional stability across very wide temperatures and resists chemical attack. It can be produced in a range of purities with additives designed to enhance certain properties depending on the requirements of the application (hence the different grades listed above). It can be formed by different ceramic processing methods and can be machined or net-shaped formed to produce a wide variety of sizes and shapes. In addition ceramic components can be readily joined to metals or other ceramics using metallising and brazing techniques.

Typical Drawing Tolerances

Schematic Drawings of Ceramic Pump Components