Capability Spotlight: Resolve Reliability Problems

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

Navigating Resonance Challenges

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.

RATS MRO Conference & Workshops

Join Hydro at the Rotating and Turbomachinery Society’s 2023 MRO conference and workshops. On Wednesday, October 25, Hydro Scotford will be participating in the mid-day trade show. On Thursday, October 26, Hydro Reliability Services’ Kyle Bowlin will be presenting during one of the workshops on methods for detecting and resolving resonance.

Conference Website

Workshop Website

SHP Horizontal Impact diagram

Wednesday Webinar: Resonance, A Sleeping Giant

Join instructor Glen Powell as he focuses on ways to identify structural resonance and how to eliminate the high vibration amplitudes that commonly accompany it without the guesswork.

Wednesday December 6, 2023 | 2:00 – 3:30 Central (Chicago)

Register Now