News

Navigating Resonance Challenges

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A Case Study in Diagnostic Testing and Innovative Solutions

Some services are inherently difficult due to factors such as fluid quality or multiple disparate operating points.  These factors are an inherent part of the process and cannot be changed to improve reliability. Harsh applications can be a costly prospect, both in overhaul costs and in the time and labor required for frequent servicing. Many times we become caught in the perception that there is no improvement to be had for these services. A short mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) becomes routine and expected, and maintenance activities and parts procurement are built around this expectation.  

When equipment is sent out for refurbishment, the expectation is that mechanical and hydraulic performance upon reinstallation will be better than what was experienced in the worn condition. This assumption holds true in most cases; however, sometimes unexpected behavior can occur after a pump is remanufactured and reinstalled. While it is easy to jump to the conclusion that these performance changes were caused by errors made during the repair or installation of the equipment, sometimes the problem is more complex and related to latent weaknesses in the design that had lain dormant until refurbishment.

This scenario was experienced by a power utility in the Southeastern US when they ran into significant vibration increases after one of their boiler feed pumps was refurbished by a local repair shop. Concerned by the level of vibration, the utility reached out to Hydro South, who have extensive experience in this application and model. From there, Hydro Reliability Services was called on to collect data on the problematic equipment and use advanced modeling tools to understand the nature of the vibration. The field testing and analysis revealed that pump had been operating with a very small margin between a structural resonance and one of the pump forcing frequencies. Armed with this information, solutions were developed to increase this margin and return to stable operation.

Read the full case study in Pumps & Systems March 2024 edition.

Learn more about Hydro Reliability Services and how they support field testing, vibration troubleshooting, and advanced system studies.

Capability Spotlight: IMPEL

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Maintenance documentation varies widely in quality, often being incomplete, vague, or outdated. Procedures may lack detail, rely on obsolete methods, or feature unclear diagrams. Sometimes these procedures are taken from OEM manuals, which are too generic and require design knowledge to understand which steps are applicable.

For many years, maintenance crews have been relying on the experience of their workforce to perform the work correctly despite poor instructions. However, mass retirement from an aging workforce, higher employee turnover rates, and leaner staffs have taken away this safety net of experience and leave our facilities at risk. One of the greatest risks to the safe and profitable operation of our plants is preventable errors that result in online equipment failure.

A maintenance procedure that is optimized for the world we live in now has different requirements than the procedures developed in the past.  Firstly, it needs to adequately capture the institutional knowledge of skilled professionals who are familiar with the equipment. Secondly, it needs to clearly illustrate each step in the procedure in a way that is easy to follow. Thirdly, it needs to accurately reproduce the design of the installed equipment instead of being overly generic. Lastly, it needs to be delivered in a format that reflects how the new generation of workers consume information- digital and interactive.

The last requirement may seem like more of a ‘want’ than a ‘need,’ but it is just as critical as the other three. Most workers who have graduated in the past 10-15 years are what are commonly referred to as ‘digital natives’ and have been immersed in a learning environment that depends heavily on digital assets.  Providing information in a way that is intuitive for them to use and matches the way they are used to interacting with information will help them retain that information and complete work more efficiently. This not only supports reducing risk for maintenance errors, it streamlines the work completed to save on labor hours needed for each job.

Hydro has addressed this need by developing IMPEL, an interactive, digital maintenance platform that replicates pump design and installation to clearly illustrate each step of the maintenance procedure. IMPEL uses an interactive 3D model of the equipment that is animated to illustrate each step of the maintenance procedure. Part of the development process includes an extensive overview of the procedure by Hydro’s experienced field service technicians to ensure that it includes best practices and to add notes and warnings into critical steps where mistakes may be made.

Introducing IMPEL from Hydro, Inc. on Vimeo.

Our maintenance professionals have a great responsibility- keeping our plants running safely and reliably. Let’s make sure they are armed with the best tools available.

Learn more about Hydro’s IMPEL or contact us for more information.

Headbox Feed Casing Refurbishment

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Application: Headbox Feed
Pump Details: Single-stage Sulzer ZPP 800
Pump Type: Double-suction Horizontal Split Case

After years of useful service, casings of many horizontal split case pumps are quite worn and no longer meet the original specifications. Hydro offers an alternative to purchasing a new OEM casing that offers a much lower cost and reduced turnaround time.

Due to their long-standing relationship with Hydro, a paper mill decided it was time to restore the casing of their headbox feed pump. Because this pump was in a critical application, the mill required a very short turnaround time.

To avoid a temporary shut down of the mill, Hydro was able to perform a line bore and insert upgrade within a period of three days. Utilizing around-the-clock shifts, Hydro completed the case inspection and developed machining fits and tolerances to restore the casing to its original specifications. Hydro then manufactured and mounted inserts to the casing.

Not only were the casing and wear components restored to their original fits, the upgraded materials will significantly improve mean-time-between-repair.

Learn more about Hydro’s targeted upgrades for the pulp and paper industry here.

Capability Spotlight: Hydro University

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Hydro University was developed with a mission of ensuring that pump users around the world have access to the knowledge required to optimize industrial operations and reduce pump lifecycle costs. By imparting technical skills, pump knowledge, and troubleshooting methodologies, we help our customers to achieve this.

Hydro has spent 50 years accumulating knowledge of pump operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and upgrades. Our aftermarket perspective uniquely empowers us to look at our pumps the way an end user would- with an eye for improving reliability and performance of existing assets instead of a focus on initial design. Our training is similarly focused on imparting skills critical to end users’ every day job functions instead of theoretical design that would rarely, if ever, be used by pump system owners.

Hydro University: Meet Our Training Instructors from Hydro, Inc. on Vimeo.

Hydro University understands that not every organization or learner will have the same goals and has developed a varied slate of delivery methods to support skill development.

For those looking to engage in course material on their own schedule, Hydro University offers a breadth of online technical webinars and e-learning classes. The topics are expansive, covering a depth of knowledge such as centrifugal pump fundamentals, system optimization, vibration, failure modes, and many more.

For organizations looking for an in-depth skill development strategy, Hydro University provides tailored programs that combined classroom, hands-on, and virtual course material customized to the end user’s learning goals. These programs can include a mentorship aspect, where Hydro’s subject matter experts join students in an application optimization project that provides practical application of the skills they learned in the classroom.

Interested in learning more about Hydro University? Download our current course catalog, visit the Hydro University LMS to browse online courses, or contact us for more information.

Capability Spotlight: Centaur Condition Monitoring

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Hydro’s Centaur is an IoT condition monitoring solution developed by rotating equipment experts with a specific focus on detecting equipment failure modes and providing impending warning of incipient problems. Centaur includes the necessary hardware, software, and dedicated engineering support to successfully trend equipment condition and avoid unplanned downtime.

The Problem

Industrial users have relied on analog gauges and route-based data collection methods for decades. These methods often lead to inaccurate or incomplete readings and can expose workers to elevated safety risks, especially in hazardous environments. More importantly, traditional methods do not provide the benefits that continuous monitoring does, such as early detection and warning alerts, remote support for troubleshooting and diagnostics, and improved MTBR/MTBF.

Our Solution

A complete picture of equipment health can only be revealed by capturing a continuous stream of data and using both analytical power and subject matter expertise to turn this data into actionable information. Centaur achieves this by combining digital vibration, temperature, and pressure sensors, cloud-based software, and the experience gained through 50 years of developing aftermarket solutions for rotating equipment.

A critical piece of Centaur’s ability to reduce users’ cost of asset ownership and avoid unnecessary downtime is its dedicated engineering team, who provide proactive monitoring oversight, monthly health reports, and advanced analytical support. These rotating equipment experts perform root cause analyses of concerning trends and alarm events, which include recommended action steps to remediate suspected issues long before they become costly failures.

The Difference

In contrast to traditional IOT companies, Centaur was developed with the input of rotating equipment experts. As an unbiased presence in the aftermarket, Hydro has amassed experience over a broad spectrum of manufacturers, designs, and applications.

This expertise influenced hardware and software design, ensuring that Centaur is capable of effectively detecting and identifying known equipment failure modes. Some examples include the measurement of phase data and a frequency range capable of detecting bearing fault frequencies.

How it Works

The Benefits

  • Increased accuracy: Provides more precise pressure readings, maintaining safe and efficient operations.
  • Greater data collection frequency: Allows creation of detailed pressure profiles and trends, supporting identification of anomalies that indicate potential issues.
  • Increased worker safety: Eliminates need for workers to access dangerous or hard-to-reach areas and provides earlier warning of potential safety issues.
  • Predictive maintenance: Enables condition-based maintenance by tracking performance degradation over time.
  • Cost savings: Reduces cost of equipment ownership by preventing potential issues and reducing downtime.
  • Trending efficiency: Detecting and trending performance degradation facilitates more informed decisions on equipment operation and maintenance.

Ready to learn more about Centaur? Contact us or apply for a free trial.