Vertical Turbine Pump Reliability Improvement
Abstract
The subject pump was designed and installed when pipeline pressure was estimated high based on a higher production volume. The selected multistage vertical turbine-pumps are generically prone to vibration issues due to its flexible shaft design.
Due to the deviation between the pump design condition and its actual operating condition, flow turbulence and recirculation in the pump impellers produced enough vibration excitation forces that caused the mechanical seals to fail prematurely and to leak.
Pump restaging was not implemented due to the relatively high cost and uncertainty of a future line pressure. Since the pump is used for batch services, not its entire operating flow/pressure range is necessary to meet production needs.
Performance and Reliability Mapping (PRM) were performed instead thus ensuring a higher MTBF on the pump and seal components.
Description
Case StudySubject
Pumping machineryCollections
Citation
Zhao, Yve (2018). Vertical Turbine Pump Reliability Improvement. Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /174983.