Pumping New Life into a Failed Pump

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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