Colfax Fluid Handling attends SABIC Technical Innovation Conference
The team from Colfax Fluid Handling partnered with our Saudi Arabia distributor, Kanoo, and exhibited at the 2012 SABIC Technical and Innovation conference. The show was a success and we thank the organizers and our partner, Kanoo, for their support and effort. This show was particularly important for Colfax Fluid Handling as it marked the introduction of our facility in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. This facility aims to manufacture API 614 lubrication systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
During the show, we were able to discuss various applications and opportunities with visitors including:
- Warren and Houttuin branded pumps for tank farm and port tank terminal business units for export, shipping, loading/unloading pump applications for a range of end user liquid products
- Zenith branded injection pumps/systems for high pressure liquid catalyst injection for the reactors in a polymer processing plants
- IMO & Allweiler branded 3 screw pumps for handling shear sensitive Polyols and liquid styrene used for the manufacture of Polyurethanes
- Warren & Houttuin branded 2-screw pumps used in the Carbon Black plants (for Elastomers & Rubber manufacturing) for anti-foulant charge pumps, binder (aqueous lignosulfonate solution) transfer pumps and Coal tar feed pumps all involving the injection and transfer of viscous and challenging process liquids for critical petrochemical plant applications.
Colfax Fluid Handling representative Simon Pistilli discusses the Allweiler branded AllHeat centrifugal pump
The Colfax Fluid Handling booth at the SABIC Technical and Innovation Conference
Sean McCandless
Oil and Gas Market Manager
Colfax Fluid Handling
Rotary Pump Start up Guide Continued
Happy Holidays and Happy New Years blog readers.
I started a series recently offering users a few tips to help with a smooth transition on equipment start up. Today, I'd like to offer up some tips if you have purchased a horizontal pump configuration. Horizontal pumps configurations are a common orientation, at least for Colfax Fluid Handling. Again, bullet points are provided below and I recommend you work with your supplier and their technical staff to ensure proper installation.
- Be sure the foundation is level with hold-down bots tight.
- Be sure that grouting has completely filled the base plate with no hollow or voids and has cured.
- If the pump will handle liquid above 150F or a steam turbine is used as the driver, an estimate of the center line growth in height of the hot machine must be made. Shaft to shaft alignment (cold) should incorporate a deliberate, compensating offset, so that alignment is nearly correct when equipment is up at operating temperature
- Users should not rely on the alignment that was produced where the pump and drive train were assembled. Transportation, lifting and handling as well as foundation irregularities will impact alignment, always in an undesirable direction. Final alignment should be achieved as a last step before start up.
Rotary Pump Start Up Guide
I ran a series a few months ago that provided a series of trouble shooting tips for users of rotary pumps. Hopefully, you found this work helpful and have been able to share it with your colleagues.
Today, I'm going to start a series of blogs that offer you a pre-startup guide that may help minimize issues with your system. Rather than provide an exhaustive discussion about each, I'll just list bullet points below and you can take it from there. Standard disclaimer - this is not an exhaustive list and I encourage you to thoroughly read the technical manuals and instructions from your pump, driver and all auxiliary equipment suppliers to learn of requirements that may be specific to their equipment.
Pipe and Valves:
- Verify that all valves have been installed and in the proper orientation. An absent or reverse mounted check valve, foot valve or relief valve can cause serious damage
- Verify that piping has been inspected during fabrication to insure that weld bead, weld rod and scale have been removed.
- Pressure test your piping system. Do not pressure test in excess of design limits and many pumps can withstand discharge pressure only on their discharge side.
- Check and tighten all flange blots to specified torque
- Flush the entire piping and valve system to remove all dirt and fabrication debris. This is customarily done using a flush pump.
Colfax Fluid Handling at Power Gen
The Power Gen International is one of Colfax Fluid Handling's most important annual shows. At this show, we're able to connect with multiple customers - both current and prospective as well as tell the world about some of the good things that we're doing under the Colfax umbrella. We've found this show to be a prosperous venue for connecting with EPC (Engineering and Procurement Companies), Power Plant operators and Rotating Equipment suppliers.
This show also marks the first time that Howden and Colfax Fluid Handling have exhibited under the Colfax umbrella. We're fortunate to work with Howden as they have many positive and longstanding relationships within the Power market. Here are some photos -
Colfax Fluid Handling representative Ben Martin providing an overview of Fluid Handling technology
Colfax Fluid Handling Booth - Power Gen International
Howden Booth at Power Gen International
If you're in Orlando, today is your last chance to stop by.
Sean McCandless Oil and Gas Market Manager Colfax Fluid Handling
Fluid Handling’s largest twin screw pump and a few comments about NPSHA and NPSHR
Colfax Fluid Handling recently completed an order for our largest twin screw pump within a tank terminal operation. These pump sets provide flow at rates of 3,100+ m3/h for fluids such as jet fuel, naptha and gasoline. Engineers might not know of a two screw pumps ability to handle fluids with light viscosity such as jet fuel, naptha and gasoline, but it is a common practice. Other application specific parameters will be kept confidential to the client application.
Why is a two screw pump a great choice for tank terminal operations? Primarily because of low NPSHR (Net Positive Suction Head Required). NPSH can be a difficult concept to understand but may be best summarized by the amount of fluid energy required to prevent the pump from cavitating. NPSHR is associated with the pump while NPSHA (Net Positive Suction Head Available) is associated with the system. For this application, the Fluid Handling team worked directly with the engineering team and end user to lower the NPSHR. As a general rule, you can lower NPSHR by slowing the speed of the pump. This doesn't work in all cases so discuss with your sales or engineering contact your application specifics.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Sean McCandless Oil and Gas Market Manager Colfax Fluid Handling
Consider two screw pumps in a polymer flooding
In most oil fields, only 30% of the asset is retrieved from the original discovery. This is why we are reading and learning more about secondary and tertiary recovery methods or Energy Oil Recovery (EOR) such as steam flood, detergent flood and carbon dioxide flood. Recently, Colfax participated in a tertiary EOR program using a two screw pump to inject polyacrylamide at flow rates up to 100 m3/hr. Each site brings unique challenges so certainly polyacrylamide won't work for all cases, but consider Colfax Fluid Handling two screw pumps if you are evaluating EOR with polymer injection.
Also, if you are involved in steam flood operations, operators may consider multiphase systems as part of their surface extraction operation. If you're unfamiliar with multiphase technology, we offer the following description on our Oil and Gas site - "Multiphase systems handle the raw, production fluid stream with no pretreatment or conditioning of the fluid, operating in a near continuous upset mode due to the widely varying pressures, temperatures and fluid composition from the wells. The pumps not only eliminate harmful flaring and reduce the equipment footprint, but they reduce the backpressure on the wells and introduce additional energy into the upstream gathering system, thereby accelerating the total output from the reservoirs. The added benefit of technology would be the introduction of extra energy into the process fluid, thereby increasing the fluid velocity in the overall piping network, helping to eliminate solids settling and downstream gas pocket obstructions."
Sean McCandless Oil and Gas Market Manager Colfax Fluid HandlingColfax Fluid Handling publishes article in Chemical Processing Magazine
WARNING! A bit of self-promotion - this summer Richard Meighan and I published an article in Chemical Processing Magazine on the pros and cons of the 11 different positive displacement pump types. The article is title, "Consider Positive Displacement Pumps". If you haven't had the chance, the link is provided here.
If you're interested in learning more, send us an email and schedule your lunch and learn session. We're buying lunch!
Sean McCandless Oil and Gas Market Manager Colfax Fluid HandlingThe Lunch and Learn Series
Our team travels all over the world meeting with EPC's, IOC's and NOC's (I am sure there are other acronyms out there that I haven't listed!) conducting lunch and learn presentations. These presentations are largely technical and focus on the benefits of technology under different operation parameters rather than the features and benefits of a specific pump type. We've found customers to appreciative of an approach that is not a direct sales pitch, rather an honest assessment of strengths and weaknesses followed by case study with full disclosure on the assumptions.
For example, here are 5 facts that you may or may not have known about positive displacement technology -
- Positive displacement (PD) pumps don't produce head like centrifugal pumps, they move flow.
- The rate of a PD pump, unlike a centrifugal pump, increases as the fluid viscosity increases.
- PD pump performance is not dependent on specific gravity, unlike centrifugal pumps.
- Rotary PD pump performance is not governed by the Best Efficiency Point (BEP)
- Unlike centrifugal pumps, most PD pumps are self-priming and some can pull almost a pure vacuum.
Contact us to schedule your session. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sean McCandless Oil and Gas Market Manager Colfax Fluid HandlingOil and Gas Thailand
In cooperation with our local distributor, Colfax Fluid Handling recently attended the Oil and Gas Thailand show. Overall, we felt it was a successful show and provided yet another opportunity for Colfax Fluid Handling to demonstrate our products capabilities and review application specifications with the many people who stopped by our booth. Here are a few photos from the team.
Be sure to check out of schedule of events. We hope to see you at one of our 2013 events.
Sean McCandless Oil and Gas Market Manager Colfax Fluid HandlingTwo screw pumps for Induced Gas Flotation Units
Do you operate or are designing an Induced Gas Flotation (IGF) unit? IGF's are typically found in terminals, refineries or other petrochemical plants and remove oil or other solids from water prior to disposal.
If you are involved with IGF's, you may want to consider two screw pumps as an alternative to the commonly used open impeller centrifugal pumps. Two screw pumps offer low shear features which may allow larger percentage of the oil to be recovered and returned to the central process. Greater recovery factor likely means lower disposal costs and potentially greater production yield or throughput.
For additional design consideration, know that two screw pumps can be paired with VSD's to accommodate any process or fluid changes that the IGF experiences over its life.
Sean McCandless Oil and Gas Market Manager Colfax Fluid Handling