P4 - Failure Analysis and Troubleshooting Mechanical Seals and Systems

Abstract

Any piece of equipment which has been in operation has a story to tell. The condition of the equipment can reveal a rich set of information which reveals the way the equipment was operated, maintained, and eventually, degraded. Noticing that equipment has failed is only the beginning. Understanding how and why it failed can be more useful since it gives the user the opportunity to eliminate or mitigate the causes of failure. Unfortunately, this is not a casual exercise and requires a structured approach. Fortunately, the methods of problems solving can be demonstrated and extrapolated to a wide variety of applications.

This course will introduce the concepts of component functions, failure mechanisms, common seal failure modes, and Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in the context of mechanical seal failure investigations. In addition, these same techniques will be applied to monitoring opportunities for mechanical seal piping plans in operations. All of these techniques will focus on identifying true root causes and creating effective corrective actions to prevent the reoccurrences of failures.