A double-sided impeller with a dual intake fluid housing apparatus is designed to suction an extraneous fluid through both a first intake and a second intake, where gases trapped in the fluid housing may escape and mitigate cavitation. The apparatus includes a fluid impeller, a fluid housing, an output volute, and a shaft. The fluid impeller is double-sided with a first plurality of blades and a second plurality of blades respectively adjacent to the first intake and the second intake. The fluid housing surrounds the fluid impeller and in fluid communication with the extraneous fluid. The shaft is rotationally coupled with the fluid impeller such that torque applied to the shaft applies torque to the fluid impeller. The output volute is in fluid communication with the fluid housing and tangentially positioned such that the motion of the extraneous fluid in the fluid housing is directed toward the output volute.

A coupling has an opening and a protrusion extending downward from the opening. The protrusion has threads that are preferably positioned outside of the opening. A rotor shaft that connects to the coupling has an internal bore with threads that receives and retains the protrusion, such as by a threaded connection between the two, so the protrusion applies driving force to the shaft.

A pump for transferring molten metal includes an intake tube, a motor, a rotor positioned at least partially within the bottom end of the intake tube, a rotor shaft positioned at least partially in the intake tube, the rotor shaft having a first end attached to the motor and a second end attached to the rotor. An overflow conduit is attached to the intake tube. The pump does not include a pump housing and preferably does not include a superstructure, so it is relatively small, light and portable. In use, the motor drives the rotor shaft and rotor to generate a flow of molten metal upward into the intake tube and into the overflow conduit where it is discharged.

A method of fluxing or degassing a molten metal residing as a bath in a furnace. The bath of molten metal includes a bath surface height and the method provides at least one rotating impeller in the molten metal bath to initiate a flow of the molten metal. The flow in the molten metal results in elevating a portion of the molten metal above the bath surface height where at least one of a fluxing agent and an inert gas is introduced into the elevated portion of the molten metal.

Disclosed is a transfer pump having a pump base with a pump chamber, tangential discharge and an outlet in the top surface of the pump base. A riser tube extends from the outlet and terminates at a launder in order to move molten metal out of a vessel with relatively little turbulence.

The present invention describes an axial pump for pumping liquid metal, the axial pump comprising an inlet for receiving liquid, at least one rotor, the rotor comprising a rotor hub and a plurality of rotor blades positioned thereon, a stator, comprising a stator hub and a plurality of stator vanes, and an outlet for discharging the liquid metal, the pump being adapted for providing efficient pumping while reducing or avoiding erosion of the pump by the liquid metal.

One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a pump/heat exchanger assembly of a nuclear reactor, in particular a liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor, the pump being characterized in that the shaft for driving the impeller is inserted in an shell inside the heat exchanger and has a smaller cross section at the bottom part of the tube bundle of the heat exchanger and a cross section that gradually increases up to a widest cross section at the top part of the tube bundle of the heat exchanger. The resulting axial profile of the impeller's shaft is, at the same time, designed to uniformly distribute the flow of the primary fluid inside the tube bundle of the heat exchanger and to provide high mechanical inertia to the pump.

The present invention is directed to a molten metal transfer system. The system includes a pump having interchangeable low flow and high flow impellers and selective low flow and high flow transfer troughs.

A transfer pump system has a pump base with a pump chamber, tangential discharge and an outlet. A riser tube extends from the outlet and terminates at a launder in order to move molten metal out of a vessel with relatively little turbulence. A riser tube for use in the system has a proximal end configured to be connected to the outlet and a distal end that terminates at or above the launder.

A transfer pump system has a pump base with a pump chamber, tangential discharge and an outlet. A riser tube extends from the outlet and terminates at a launder in order to move molten metal out of a vessel with relatively little turbulence. A riser tube for use in the system has a proximal end configured to be connected to the outlet and a distal end that terminates at or above the launder.