Modern Pumping Today
August 2013
Written by Drew Robb, a freelance writer specializing in engineering and technology
A Caribbean refinery had been using a Union Pump Company (now SPX
Clyde Union) 4×6 (4-inch [101.6 millimeter] discharge, 6-inch [152.4
millimeter] suction) Multi-Phase Extraction (MPE), seven-stage
centrifugal charge pump. Charge pumps are used to maintain the inlet
pressure on main hydraulic pumps in order to prevent cavitation.
Normally such a pump in refinery operation would have been expected
to last about five years between overhauls. This one had lasted perhaps a
year before being taken off line due to reduced performance. When the
charge pump arrived in a shipping crate at Chalmers and Kubeck’s
(C&K) main service center in Aston, Pennsylvania, it had clearly
seen better days.
“It came in partially disassembled and heavily rusted,” says Helen T.
Eife, C&K’s manager for engineered pumps. “It looked like it had
been sitting outside for a while.”
An inspection determined that the failure was caused by using the
wrong type of material for inserts on the wear rings. A complete
refurbishment, including installing GRAPHALLOY® inserts, returned to pump
to operational status.
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