Tag Archives: reliability

Ahlstrom Makeup Liquor Pump

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Application: Make-Up Liquor
Pump Details: Ahlstrom Model 2LRS-20
Pump Type: 2-Stage Overhung

When a pulp mill’s make-up liquor pump failed, it was sent to Hydro’s Scotford facility for refurbishment and upgrade to restore reliability.

Hydro’s standard disassembly and inspection process uncovered a path for abrasives to reach the wear rings. Heavy localized wear was identified at the casing, behind the casing wear ring.

 

Additionally, the pump was experiencing excessive leakage of the seal water and black liquor. The millwrights were unable to properly adjust the packing gland because the 2-bolt packing gland follower was cocked on the studs due to the high pressure of the seal water. This misalignment also caused significant wear to the diffuser vane tips.

Hydro manufactured new wear rings without slots to prevent the abrasive material from damaging the case and minimize wear behind the casing wear rings. The worn areas of the casing and a new sleeve were overlaid with tungsten carbide to prevent further damage.

Hydro designed and machined a 4-bolt split packing gland follower to help maintain alignment of the packing gland follower with the stuffing box. A special material was installed to help cool and lubricate the seal to allow the proper distribution of seal water.

The diffuser vane tips were welded to restore them to their pre-wear length and the impellers were balanced to a stringent level of 2 W/N. The 2 stage pump was built vertically to ensure centerline compatibility of stationary components.

This engineered rebuild provided improved reliability for the makeup liquor pump.

Learn more about Hydro’s focused improvements for the pulp and paper industry here. Read more about Hydro Scotford here.

Capability Spotlight: Resolve Reliability Problems

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Why look backwards when you can be looking forward?

The problems you inherited with your pump and system design shouldn’t be an anchor holding you back from stable operation. Hydro’s mission to increase pump reliability extends beyond our service facilities and into the field. Hydro Reliability Services provides expert troubleshooting, advanced engineering analysis, and field mechanical and hydraulic testing for your rotating equipment.

Many pump applications experience ongoing vibration and reliability issues; aging installations are also seeing margins between operation and resonant conditions eroding and previously reliable equipment being pulled into problems. The root cause of these problems is often resonance, a condition that is often misdiagnosed and commonly goes undiagnosed, resulting in persistent high amplitude vibration issues for long periods of time. Structural resonance typically results in highly directional vibration and increased amplitudes that can be difficult to resolve without the proper engineering approach. Fortunately, technology has developed to diagnose resonance and develop effective solutions without resorting to costly trial-and-error methods.

To help our customers solve complex problems with critical pumping equipment, Hydro Reliability Services’ engineers bring an array of technology to the site. Monitoring of traditional health indicators – flow, power, vibration, and pressure – is supplemented with advanced technology, such as Operating Deflection Shape and Experimental Modal Analysis. Leveraging their expertise and advanced modeling software, Hydro’s reliability engineers analyze this data to determine design and system weaknesses and propose improvements. This assessment gives you the ammunition you need to make an informed judgment about the risk of current and future operation.

Read our recent case study in Pumps & Systems magazine to learn more about how field testing and troubleshooting helped a power plant resolve a vibration issue in a critical application.

What does more effective troubleshooting mean for you?

  • Maintaining a competitive edge in your marketplace through reduced operation and maintenance costs
  • Creating a safer workplace with much lower risk of equipment-related accidents and reduced exposure to hazardous materials
  • Contribution towards a sustainable future through more efficient operation and reduced risk of product leakage into the environment
  • Ability to focus resources on proactive strategies and process innovation instead of continuously reacting to problem equipment

Byron Jackson Process Water Pump Improvements

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Application: Pond Process Water
Pump Details: Byron Jackson 32KXL
Pump Type: Multi-Stage Vertical

Industrial pumps are sometimes repaired or modified by smaller local repair shops that do not have the engineering oversight to ensure that the repairs and modifications meet the original design’s intent. When Hydro received this pump, it was clear that prior modifications that had been performed without engineering review were causing problems.

This pump had been “upgraded” by replacing the upper bearing with an enclosure tube, which was not part of the original design. The lack of that bearing contributed to the instability of the top shaft and may have lead to the pump’s failure.

After fully reverse engineering the pump, Hydro redesigned the existing enclosure tube to incorporate the missing upper bearing. The modification involved machining the enclosure tube into two pieces and joining them together with a coupling and adding a bushing to stabilize the shaft.

Because the spare parts provided were of an older design and no longer fit the pump, Hydro manufactured several parts. These included a new transition piece, diffusers, a new bearing, and suction bell. Moreover, the impeller vane tips were weld-repaired and re-machined, and the impellers were then balanced to 4 W/N. The pump, which was rebuilt to standard specifications and reconstructed using a durable stainless steel, was returned to service successfully.

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

Lear more about Hydro’s Scotford service center, the service center that spearheaded this project, here.

Empowering Pumps Maintenance & Reliability Summit

Join Hydro’s Bob Jennings for Empowering Pumps‘ Maintenance and Reliability Summit. Bob will be speaking at 11am CDT on Winning the Trifecta of Efficiency, Reliability, & Sustainability.

Register Here

This presentation focuses on the technological advancements that have been made in recent years regarding data capturing, impeller redesign, impeller casting, CNC manufacturing (i.e., 5-axis milling), and acceptance testing.

It showcases the fact that technology is advancing so rapidly that processes that we used 5-10 years ago have become obsolete. Remedies which were cost prohibitive 10 years ago can now be readily and economically achieved. The pump repair industry has moved from product-based processes remedies to solution-based processes.

Combined, these result in meaningful energy reduction, improved equipment reliability and sustainability, while assisting the end user improve ESG scores through quantifiable reporting.

 

VIATC 2024: Vibration Institute Annual Training Conference

Join Hydro at the Vibration Institute Annual Training Conference on August 7-9, 2024. Visit us at Booth 300 at the exposition to talk with Hydro Reliability Services’ Kyle Bowlin about strategies for troubleshooting vibration problems, new technologies, and effective approaches to system analysis.

This year’s VIATC will be held in Covington, KY. Learn more about the event here.