Hydro Middle East performs swift re-build on fire-damaged circulating pumps

Hydro Middle East, specialists in pump rebuilding, particularly in the oil and gas industry and other industrial markets was called in to assess the damage and redesign and rebuild the fire-damaged pumps. Hydro’s engineers first evaluate the causes of any pump damage or failure and then provide expert engineering analysis and a responsive field service.

Written by: Thomas Arakal (Hydro Middle East)
Published by: World Pumps

Two fire damaged pumps

Two fire damaged pumps arrive at the Hydro Middle East Service Centre.

Analysis & recommendations

In the case of the fire-damaged pumps, once the fire was under control, Hydro immediately sent a field engineer to the site to conduct a root cause analysis and make recommendations to ensure that the equipment would be restored within the very fast turnaround that the company required.

The engineers discovered that the fire had been so severe it had completely burned out all of the oil in the bearing housing. In addition, the baseplate was also warped because of the excessive heat. A turnaround of between two and three weeks for redesign and rebuild was proposed, subject to mechanical seal availability and the two hot oil circulating pumps, along with the baseplate and the motors were shipped to Hydro Middle East’s facility in Dubai, U.A.E.

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Emergency Nuclear Pump Rebuild

Faisal Salman and Nick Dagres of Hydro, Inc report how performing new design modifications on two critical safety-related charging pumps have extended their lifespan and reduced maintenance.

Written by: Faisal Salman & Nick Dagres
Published by: World Pumps

Certified Test Lab

Setting up the pump at Hydro’s Hydraulic Institute Certified Test Lab.

A Western European nuclear power plant was having difficulty meeting the necessary hydraulic performance at runout for two centrifugal charging pumps. The system needed 30 ft of Net Positive Suction Head required (NPSHr).

The pumps are safety-related pumps, which pump bore-rated water (water mixed with boric acid) into the reactor to kill nuclear fission. What water is to fire, bore-rated water is to nuclear fission. Bore-rated water kills nuclear reaction.

The two pumps are each about 15 ins in diameter and about 100 ins in length. They were shipped from the Western European site to Hydro, Inc.’s Chicago, IL facility to conduct analysis, redesign, manufacturing, and testing.

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The Importance of Feed Pump Barrel Inspections

Written by: Greg James
Publisher: Pump Industry / November 2016

Rebuilding a typical boiler feed pump cartridge and returning the running clearances to specification is a critical process for effective and efficient plant operation. The cost to rebuild a cartridge – supply new mechanical seals, bearings and consumables, the lost production, down time and the labour costs – is a significant investment.

After rebuilding a cartridge and returning all operating clearances to specification, the good work can be greatly affected by installing the cartridge into a distorted barrel and/or discharge head combination.

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