Turbomachinery and Pump Symposia

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Potassium Carbonate Pump Failure : High Axial Movement due to Uncontrolled (unbalanced) forces
(Turbomachinery Laboratories, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, 2016) Mohamed, Hatem; AbdAl-Wahab, Ibrahim; International Pump Users Symposium (32nd : 2016)
A multi stage pump 1.4 MW was in operation till 4 years, the pump stand still for mean period without any failure symptoms , all last measurements (casing vibration, pressure ,flow) was OK , when the pump operated again after two weeks from stand still and during one day sudden failure was occurred due to high axial movement which established from axial thrust without any track alarm (No Online monitor system as axial probe ,bearing temperature or discharge pressure ,,,all parameters are local ) , This axial thrust typically effects of Benfield process, the axial thrust was followed by damage of drive end mechanical seal, this failure result in silicon carbide powder to enters between DE throat Bushing with shaft , the overheating initiated at mechanical seal area causes melting and stuck for DE throat Bushing with shaft sleeve of the mechanical seal i.e.. The shaft. Our case study talks about the root cause analysis and how to deal with potassium carbonate pumps. Also it talks about the reasons of damage , how to solve the problem and repair the damage parts also the corrective actions which has been taken to avoid repeating this failure in the future.