Pump Reliability And Efficiency Increase Maintenance Program - Utilizing High Performance Thermoplastics
Abstract
At a major oil products refinery, an aggressive effort has been ongoing to improve centrifugal pump reliability and efficiency. Working closely with a manufacturer of high-grade thermoplastics, the company has developed and implemented a program providing justification, procedures, and material information needed to modify existing centrifugal pumps and improve their reliability and efficiency. These improvements have meant lower maintenance costs, increased mean time between failures, and reduced equipment downtime. Any of the occurrences can, and too often do, result in financial incidences. The centrifugal pump improvements have also resulted in reduced energy costs and increased production. This paper will highlight the use of thermoplastic materials as replacement wear components in place of commonly used metals. The paper will illustrate the benefits of upgrading equipment at the time of repair. It will show the general guidelines in selecting candidate pumps and how those pumps can be fitted. These materials should be used on machines that have been identified as critical equipment by virtue of the fact that there is no operating spare, or that a shutdown could cause a loss in production. The program has identified these candidates at each refinery. The paper will illustrate a number of cases where, by upgrading to thermoplastic components, pump efficiency, reliability, and production have increased, and energy consumption has been reduced.
Description
Lecturepg. 115
Subject
Pumping machineryCollections
Citation
Hinkel, Tommy; Giffrow, Matt (1999). Pump Reliability And Efficiency Increase Maintenance Program - Utilizing High Performance Thermoplastics. Texas A&M University. Turbomachinery Laboratories. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /164095.