Tag Archives: machining

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/

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 →