State of the Art Parts: Expedited Impeller

Posted on December 13, 2021

The destroyed sample used for reverse engineering

State of the Art Parts: A Gulf Coast refinery had the primary pump for a critical system at the HydroTex Golden Triangle facility for refurbishment. While the primary pump was in the shop, the backup pump operating on-site began to show signs of failure. The impeller of the pump being repaired had extreme wear and was unable to be reused. The shop needed to source an impeller in an expedited timeframe to complete the repair ahead of schedule and get the primary pump back in service before the backup pump failed. Continue reading →

State of the Art Parts: Bearing Cartridge & Adaptor Piece

Posted on December 3, 2021

State of the Art Parts: Hydro Parts Solutions recently supplied a new bearing cartridge and adaptor piece for an OH2 pump from a Caribbean rum distillery. The customer had no spares for these components and was in a critical situation because both parts had failed and were unusable.

The OEM had provided a minimum delivery time of 10-12 weeks for both parts. Because these parts were necessary for the equipment to be returned to service, the customer sought out a qualified vendor who could provide the components in a shorter turnaround time. Hydro Parts Solutions was able to offer a 5-6 week delivery.

This job was particularly challenging because there were no samples to reverse engineer, only rough sketches from the customer. While it is standard to request samples to reverse engineer, because of the tight timeframe, Hydro Parts Solutions created a model using the sketches and the design experience and engineering resources within Hydro. Continue reading →

Pitfalls in Puerto Rico: Rescued by Reverse Engineering

Posted on December 2, 2021

When 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

Posted on October 22, 2021

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.

Continue reading →

Hydro South Tests Nuclear Power Vertical Condensate Pump at Test Lab

Posted on September 20, 2021

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 →