Worthington Boiler Feed
Application: Boiler Feed in WAO Process
Pump Details: Worthington 2WXL 810
Pump Type: Multi-stage Segmental Diffuser
These boiler feed pumps, used in wet air oxidation process, were exhibiting reduced performance. The plant sent these pumps to several repair facilities, but did not achieve significant improvement. Hydro was asked to perform a comprehensive inspection and created an engineered repair plan to solve the problems.Hydro corrected many problems with these pumps, some which were caused by poor-quality previous repairs. Hydro reinstalled bearings with the proper clearances and brought the wear ring clearances back to acceptable tolerances. The pump shaft was replaced and the tolerances between the impeller bores and pump shaft was tightened. Impeller entrances and exit vane tips required restoration for proper hydraulic profile. The sleeves and casing wear rings were replaced with the correct metallurgy, heat treatment hardness and clearances. Each impeller was individually balanced to 2W/N and then the entire rotor was balanced to 2W/N.
Hydro also reviewed the pump installation for piping strain and alignment problems that could adversely affect MTBR. Many of the pumps had been shimmed to match the motors, rather than rigidly mounting the pump to the base. Hydro machined the base plate pump pedestals for rigid mounting.
Hydro's engineered rebuild of these older boiler feed pumps allowed this plant to not only restore performance but to realize a substantial cost savings.