an island in the middle of a body of water

Pitfalls in Puerto Rico: Rescued by Reverse Engineering

diagramWhen the experts at Hydro were called on to reverse-engineer parts for a large circulating water pump in the Caribbean, they were concerned to discover an OEM-provided suction bell had failed during service. All internal ribs were lost and the bearing holder was found loose within the assembly. Not only had the suction bell failed, but the customer was facing excessive lead times for the parts needed for the refurbishment of the pump.

After a meticulous review of the suction bell design, it became clear that low manufacturing costs had been prioritized over reliability. Instead of providing the customer with a cast component, the OEM had provided a suction bell that had been fabricated, resulting in an excessively thin wall thickness. Continue reading

Hydro, Inc.’s Centaur IIoT Solution Detects Cracked Coupling at Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

Hydro recently began monitoring several pump-motor trains at a municipal wastewater treatment plant using Hydro’s condition monitoring solution, Centaur. Centaur collects and stores real-time vibration and temperature levels. Hydro’s in-house analysts use this data to support end-users by evaluating equipment condition and making recommendations to minimize downtime and maximize the lifespan of the monitored machinery.

 

 

For this installation, the Centaur engineering team outfitted wireless accelerometers at specific points on multiple machine trains. The monitored locations include the motor outboard bearing housing, motor inboard bearing housing, pump inboard bearing housing, and pump outboard bearing housing, as shown below.

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a large room

Hydro South Tests Nuclear Power Vertical Condensate Pump at Test Lab

Hydro South recently completed the overhaul of a Condensate pump at its facility outside of Atlanta, GA. This pump is a vertical can-type, motor-driven centrifugal condensate pump installed at a nuclear power facility in the Southeastern US. The condensate system has three identical pumps that operate in parallel (with a maximum of two pumps normally in service and an installed spare).

The pumps are designed to operate continuously for the normal 18-month fuel cycle with no maintenance attention. Because the condensate system is critical to plant operation, it is imperative to verify the performance of the pump before getting it back in service. Continue reading

Gearbox Refurbishment Solves Performance Problems in Australia

Not only does Hydro Australia service centrifugal pumps, but for over twenty years, the team has been refurbishing gearboxes for their clients. Being part of Hydro’s worldwide network of service centers enables Hydro Australia to achieve great success by working alongside fellow engineers for technical support, expedited parts solutions, and the shared wealth of Hydro’s cross-OEM experience. On this particular gearbox refurbishment, Hydro Australia called upon Hydro Richards in Canada to manufacture two new white metal bearings. Continue reading

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