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.
The 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
Trouble shooting tips – Low Discharge Pressure
I've gotten away from my series on diagnosing pump problems. Hopefully, you've been able to read and digest previous posts. For this post, I'll discuss the issue of low discharge pressure. I look forward to your emails and continued discussion on these topics.
Low discharge pressure can be caused only by loss of flow. Pump discharge pressure is caused ONLY by the system's resistance to the flow provided by the pump. Either the pump is not providing the flow expected, or the system is not offering expected resistance to that flow. It is possible that flow into the pump is being restricted (cavitation or suction starvation). This phenomenon is usually accompanied by noise and vibration. Or, it could be that the pump is not producing its rated flow (pump worn or damaged), or that the pump flow is bypassing rather than being delivered into the system as intended (open, improperly set, damaged or worn discharge system valve). If the pump is relatively new and not being used in abrasive service, it is most probable that discharge flow is bypassing. The most likely paths for such unwanted bypass are the system pressure relief valve (sometimes built into the pump), a bypass pressure regulator leaking (typical of a fuel oil burner system), an inadvertently open bypass valve, or any of these valves having worn valve seats, incompletely closed stems, incorrect signal control or broken springs.
Many pumps can receive a quick, though incomplete, inspection in place without disturbing piping or pump alignment. If the pump does not turn over by hand or with a little leverage assistance and in a smooth manner, the pump itself may be the problem. If one or more of the pumping elements can be visually inspected without major tear down or pump removal, do so. Enough wear to cause a pressure reduction (flow loss) should be readily visible.
It is sometimes difficult to determine if a valve is bypassing when it shouldn't, especially if the valve is built into the pump. It is probably best to remove the valve, do a partial valve dis-assembly and examine the mating valve seat surfaces or seat seals for wear or damage. Check any spring to be sure it is not broken. Work the valve mechanism manually if possibly to detect any binding or galling.
If the problem has still not been identified, be sure the pump river speed is being achieved and that the pump shaft is actually rotating at is correct speed. These conditions must be met, especially in a new system start up.
Sean McCandless Industrial Market Manager Colfax Fluid Handling5 Questions – Designing Lubrication Oil Systems for Power Generation Plants
We are fortunate to work with a great team from Baric who provide us with deep expertise in engineered system construction for the Power Generation, Oil and Gas and Industrial markets. I recently conducted a 5 question interview session with Darren Godsmark, Sales Director. This interview provides a good overview of how Colfax is challenging OEMs to think about their system designs and consider alternatives in system construction and configuration -
Contact us if you're interested in designing a better system.
Baric is well known as a designer and manufacturer of unique packaged units for the rotating machinery industry. The Power Gen industry, however, primarily uses pre-engineered or “build to print” packages. Can you provide some example of your ability to showcase Baric’s design skills in the Power Gen market?
Yes, there are several examples. In fact, we have a design contract to design a skid package for a particular sized turbine for a major global Power Gen supplier.
One of our best examples, however, was a project in which we provided Lube Oil Systems (LOS) for 50Hz and 60Hz turbo-gen sets. It was essentially a “build to print” contract, but we identified a number of improvements that could be made on the systems, which we relayed to the customer.
We’re quite proud of our ability to add value to a customer’s projects by drawing on experience and know-how.
Was the customer interest in finding out about the improvements?
Absolutely. We were invited to participate in a number of seminars – mini-Kaizens, actually, with their design team.
What was the focus of the seminars?
There were essentially three considerations:
- Review and update the global specifications for the lubrication oil system
- A detailed review of main sub-supplied equipment, such as pumps, motors and control valves
- The physical layout of the lubrication oil system
What were the biggest challenges the seminars presented?
The first two were fairly straightforward as the assembled teams worked through the original global specifications. We discussed each element in detail – from material selections of reservoirs and piping to potential suppliers for the main buy outs. We then created a revised final version based on a combination of best practices, shared field experiences and sub-supplier evaluation.
The real challenge came in the design of the LOS itself. Both the 50Hz and 60Hz Turbo-Gen sets had to have the same physical footprint. Site interface points had to be located in the same places. Multiple Lube Oil Cooler options had to be designed without changing the footprint. This included the remote air cooled heat exchanger, plus a single plate & frame water cooled heat exchanger LOS and a dual (duty and standby) plate & frame water cooled heat exchanger, both mounted on the LOS. Both required European (CE) and North American instrumentation installation, as well as AC and DC motor installation. Working together, the customer’s team and the Baric team were able to solve these issues.
Do you think the exercise was a success?
Most definitely. By achieving the design brief as describe above, it gave the customer the option to provide the LOS as a stock order item, based on local requirements, for any area of the world in which they marketed. But for us, the biggest validation was the number of contracts we received by using this design, supplying machinery in Asia, the Americas and Europe.
Sean McCandless Industrial Market Manager Colfax Fluid HandlingExcessive Noise or Vibration
In our continuing series on diagnosing pump problems, we're going to tackle the problem of excessive noise or vibration.
Excessive noise and/or vibration is typically a symptom of cavitation, suction starvation or excessive gas in the liquid. This is especially true if the discharge pressure is fluctuating or pulsating. Mechanical causes of noise and vibration include shaft misalignment, loose couplings, loose pump and /or driver mounting hardware, and worn or damaged driver or pump bearings.
Also, pump valves can also vibrate noisily. Especially on the discharge side of the pump, valves can sometimes go into a hydraulic vibration mode caused by operating pressure, flow rate and the valve design. Resetting or a change in an internal valve component is usually sufficient to solve the problem, but we recommend that you consult your valve supplier to determine the best course of action.
Check out the Colfax SMART Sense Pulse for a quick, efficient monitoring device for your screw or rotary pump system(s).
Sean McCandless Industrial Market Manager Colfax Fluid HandlingIntroducing the new Zenith Metering Pump Website
If you have the opportunity, we invite you to check out the updated Zenith website. Our goal was to provide users with information regarding the performance of Zenith branded metering pumps and systems as well as detailed information on market applications. Site visitors will also be able to learn about metering pumps and find answers to common questions in the knowledge center.
If you are able to visit, let us know what you think. We look forward to hearing from you.
Antonio Mendoza Product Specialist Colfax Fluid Handling