Tag Archives: emergency

Hydro Parts Solutions Announces New Purpose-Built Facility 

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For Release 8:00 AM
Wednesday, December 27, 2023 

Hydro Parts Solutions Announces New Purpose-Built Facility 

Hydro’s newest expansion in Texas is a purpose-built facility with reverse engineering capabilities and greater ability to provide both cast and machined parts. 

Nederland, TX. — Wednesday, December 27, 2023 — Hydro Parts Solutions (HPS), a subsidiary of Hydro, Inc., opened the doors of its new Nederland facility in June 2023. HPS announced immediate availability to support customers with emergency part solutions. Using their extensive experience in reverse engineering and casting technology, HPS manufactures high quality parts, including difficult-to-source or obsolete components. The combination of in-house expertise and partnerships with local foundries allows them to provide industry-leading lead times, maintain strict quality control, and produce all parts in the USA. 

Embracing technology at every step, HPS offers casting simulations, CNC aluminum, investment, and 3D printed patterns, bleeding edge reverse engineering techniques, and a post-machining equivalency analysis. This commitment to advanced technology, stringent tolerances, and rigorous process documentation ensures that the parts they provide customers with are accurate and consistent. 

“Being conveniently located so close to the Golden Triangle, we have a great advantage with local partnerships and proximity to materials,” said Travis Puente, Operations Manager at HPS, “and the foundries we’ve partnered with, we’ve thoroughly qualified for quality and efficiency.” 

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For more information, press only: 

PR Contact Name: Laura Oppermann
Email: loppermann@hydroinc.com
Website: https://hydroinc.com/parts-solutions/

Rediscover Hydro Parts Solutions

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Did you know that Hydro can provide aftermarket parts solutions for critical pump parts and rotating equipment?

Hydro Parts Solutions, a subsidiary of Hydro, Inc., offers complex solutions to obsolescence as well as difficult-to-source replacement parts.

Utilizing state-of-the-art technology, such as laser scanning and 3D printing, Hydro Parts Solutions has established itself as a proven solution that possesses both the knowledge and sophisticated casting capabilities to expedite casting projects from months to weeks.

Types of items we can cast (and more):

  • Impellers
  • Diffusers
  • Discharge Heads
  • Casing Bowls
  • Suction Bells

Hydro Parts Solutions supports emergency component replacements at an optimal time frame while reducing risk, operational downtime, and unforeseen costs.

Engineered Quality Parts – On Demand, delivering:

  • Consistent Quality
  • 3D Sand Printing
  • Computer-aided machining
  • Emergency Repair
  • Industry Standards and Design Control Processes
  • Short Turnaround
  • Catalogue Data for Future Use
  • Transparency and Communication for our Customers

Want to take a detailed look into our proven parts process? Click on the link to view our redesigned webpage: https://hydroinc.com/parts-solutions/

 

Refurbishing a Contaminated Nuclear Casing

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Creative approaches that extend beyond original designs, standard tools, and traditional engineering practices can provide significant savings and higher reliability of pumping equipment. For example, in one such situation, the casing of a charging pump at a European nuclear plant had been over-pressurized and needed to be refurbished. Not only was the pump service radioactive, but the casing was also found twisted with its internal components unable to properly fit into the casing, and the machined surfaces out of alignment.

The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the pump stated that they could not repair the casing and that the only option was to purchase a new one. The nuclear plant’s engineers approached Hydro, Inc., a global aftermarket pump service provider, for assistance in finding a spare casing.  When no spare was found, Hydro initiated a more detailed discussion with the plant about refurbishing the casing.

Hydro’s team inspected the pump, the casing, and the internal element and explored all possible options (Figure 1). Hydro was able to find an inventive solution by machining the casing in the contaminated state and developing creative methods to guarantee a proper fit-up when the casing repair was completed. Despite the OEM suggesting a new pump be purchased, the service provider was able to find an innovative and cost-saving way for the plant to repair the casing and reduce downtime. Continue reading →

Root Cause Analysis Uncovers Casting Defects

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Efficiency and reliability are at the forefront of a successful pumping system. As such, unplanned outages can be a detrimental disturbance to the overall operation. In this case, the end user’s high pressure multistage  BB5 barrel pump was experiencing severe vibration, unstable performance, and failure in the field leading to unit shutdown.

This particular unit, used in boiler feedwater operations, is critical to the plant’s uptime and throughput. Furthermore, continued failures can cause growing costs due to inevitable maintenance and repairs, often overlooking a long term solution. With each unplanned outage, the plant could face a significant loss in capital.

Previously, the pump had been running for six months before experiencing catastrophic failure, requiring a shutdown and removal for further analysis. Initially, the unit’s damaged components were repaired by welding, and the volute was reassembled and installed for use. Upon its installation, the power plant placed the unit back into service but encountered a second emergency shutdown after two months in operation.

Video: https://vimeo.com/362808909

Source: https://www.pumpsandsystems.com/root-cause-analysis-uncovers-casting-defects-critical-boiler-feedwater-unit

Increasing MTBR Under Emergency Conditions

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increasing mtbr under emergency conidtionsAs the nuclear industry continues to adapt to new requirements under the Nuclear Promise, it is of key importance for utilities to strengthen existing safety protocols and execute efficiency improvements in day-to-day operations and maintenance to optimize overall costs.

One such nuclear plant found themselves  struggling in regards to a planned outage of a vertical service water pump, providing cooling water to safety-related heat exchangers in the power generation process. In this case, the operating pump was actively exhibiting performance issues and was reaching the end of its lifecycle, requiring their reserve unit be placed into service under expedited conditions.

The principle goal for the plant was increasing Mean Time Before Repair (MTBR) of their pump system to optimize efficiency and reduce costs. Unfortunately, upon initial review of the reserve unit, it was identified that it had a history of poor performance issues under previous use.

Authored by Faisal Salman.
Source: nuclearplantjournal.com