Condition Monitoring Uncovers Misalignment Issues

Hydro, Inc. is currently supporting a major refinery by providing remote condition monitoring on their critical rotating equipment. Centaur, Hydro’s condition monitoring solution, continuously collects real-time vibration and surface temperature levels on the customer’s pumps and drive trains. With these sensors, Hydro can work directly with the local technicians to utilize and take action upon the data to optimize rotating equipment maintenance strategies.

Alarm thresholds are chosen based on API standards. Hydro’s monitoring software is programmed to automatically report any alarm or emergent issue to Hydro’s engineering team and to the engineering team of the refinery. The graphs showcase a startup event with elevated vibration amplitude levels above the alarm 2 thresholds (>0.300 ips RMS) at the pump inboard and motor inboard sensor locations in the horizontal direction. Continue reading

Hydraulic Rerates & Pump Efficiency

During a mechanical seal replacement at a major gas plant, a reliability engineer identified that their API OH2 centrifugal pump was operating below the Minimum Continuous Stable Flow (MCSF).

In this case, Hydro Rocky Mountain partnered with HydroTex Deer Park‘s engineering team to provide the customer with an innovative solution by utilizing the existing casing and providing a redesigned impeller to optimize the overall efficiency and life cycle of the unit.

Watch as Ares Panagoulias and Glen Powell, of Hydro’s test lab, examine the historic operating conditions in regard to the pump’s best efficiency point (BEP) and provide a performance test to validate the upgrades and modifications.

Case Study: Hydraulic Rerates & Pump Efficiency from Hydro, Inc. on Vimeo.

Read the full article on World Pumps: worldpumps.com/ancillary-products/features/seal-replacement-reveals-causes-of-vibration/

Machined centrifugal pump

Maximizing Efficiency in Descaling Pumps

descale pump impeller damage

Damaged impeller showcasing severe corrosion.

A major steel plant on the East Coast had been experiencing catastrophic failures with its five-stage descaling pumps. The plant operated using three multistage axially split (BB3) pumps with two spares. All five of the pumps had a mean time between repair (MTBR) of two years. In this case, the plant water quality was considered to be less than ideal, and the entrained abrasives were a factor contributing to the repeated failures.

Poor water quality can lead to a number of pump reliability issues. When pumping fluids with abrasive material, pumps experience erosion and corrosion, and the effects can rapidly degrade both the casings and critical inner elements. While erosion and corrosion alone are not always a difficult problem to solve, it is important to have a firm understanding of the relationship between various types of erosion and corrosion and the metallurgy used in designing the pumps.

Further analysis showcased excessive clearances and inconsistencies with component fits that also contributed to pump performance degradation outside the abrasion. In order to increase the MTBR of the pumps at the plant, the aftermarket pump service provider recommended several engineered upgrades including new impellers to be manufactured using advanced mold technology, specifically addressing the surface finish and dimensional consistency.

Source: https://www.pumpsandsystems.com/maximizing-efficiency-descaling-pumps

Optimizing Reliability Through Material Upgrades

centrifugal pump test

The 14-stage boiler feedwater pump installed for testing to ensure that the performance achieves desired operating conditions.

At a combined cycle power plant, a boiler feedwater pump was experiencing problems. Dr. Gary Dyson of Hydro, Inc. and Larry White of HydroTex discuss how major cost savings were provided through engineering analysis, material upgrades and testing for validation.

A combined cycle power plant in the Pan Handle region of Texas found themselves experiencing repeated failure on one of their 14 stage boiler feedwater (BB3) pumps. The pump had recently been modified by the supplier to provide a short-term solution. This in turn reduced the mean time between failure (MTBF) of the pump, requiring continued support and further analysis.

Combined cycle plants are comprised of both gas and steam power production technologies, capable of producing up to 50% more electricity than traditional simple-cycle plants. With the ever-increasing demand for energy, this technology is becoming increasingly relevant in throughout the pump industry. As such, it is highly important that these plants operate at peak efficiency.

Originally, the stationary inserts at several locations in the pump assembly were modified in such a way that increased the likelihood of friction and galling of the stationary and rotating parts of the pump assembly. The consecutive failures experienced on site were repeatedly of the same failure mode, which strongly points toward a pump design problem.

Authored by Gary Dyson, Ares Panagoulias, Larry White, and Chris Brown.
Source: worldpumps.com

Build your skills: View Hydro’s upcoming pump training seminars

Interested in pump training? Hydro’s got you covered. Providing aftermarket-focused training is an important part of our commitment to our customers. We offer training on a range of topics from pump fundamentals to more specialized hands-on programs for high pressure multistage pumps.

Hydro’s training helps you do what you do – better. Visit our training page to view our upcoming seminars!

Pump Training Seminars | Hydro, Inc. from Hydro, Inc. on Vimeo.