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Innovative Vertical Pump Sealing Solutions

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Upgrade in Action: HydroSeal 

Vertical pumps have reliability and maintenance considerations unique to their design and application. One of these considerations is the pump seal design. Many vertical pumps rely on packing in lieu of mechanical seals. While it is a less sophisticated design, packing has benefits for vertical pumps, including greater ability to handle fluid with particulates, less sensitivity to misalignment, and greater stiffness and damping provided at the seal location. However, packing also has multiple disadvantages, foremost of which is the need to continuously adjust the packing gland to maintain the desired leakage rate and the requirement that some fluid must leak to the atmosphere. The cost associated with replacing worn components in the packing area is another notable drawback.

 

In cases where any of the disadvantages associated with packing or a mechanical seal noticeably impact reliability or the cost of operation, upgrading to a seal casing design is an attractive alternative. This is the decision that a pulp and paper mill in the Southeastern US made when experiencing reliability and environmental concerns in their River Water pump system. Faced with the need to install a new sealing device, they decided that the ability to avoid aboveground leakage and eliminate time-consuming periodic maintenance justified the investment in a vertical pump seal casing.

Read the full case study in World Pumps March/April 2024 edition.

Learn more about Hydro’s Hydro South service center and Hydro’s Engineering Services.

Capability Spotlight: High Capacity Pumps

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From lifting massive weights, to reverse engineering components with expansive surface areas, to troubleshooting vibration in machines susceptible to resonance problems, large vertical pumps have unique challenges. Fortunately, Hydro has cultivated specialized capabilities to meet these challenges.

The first challenge is gathering dimensional data and providing reliable, quality parts supply. Large pumps are expensive to ship off-site and often run without a spare. Being able to capture precision measurements of critical parts on-site reduces both cost and risk. Hydro’s reverse engineering team is experienced in how to efficiently and accurately reverse engineer large components.

The field portion of the reverse engineering process for a large part can usually be accomplished in less than a day. After the measurements are taken, the pump can be returned to service while the model is completed and the part is manufactured.

Taking the initial component data is only the first step in Hydro’s reverse engineering process. Using their experience in the failure modes and upgrades of large pump designs, the reverse engineering team will recommend component upgrades or improved metallurgy to extend the life of the part. Where appropriate, they will also identify methods of refurbishment that can return a large part to reliable service in place of supplying a new component.

Another challenge when working on large pumps is that they require a shop with the appropriate tooling and lifting capacity. It also requires a team dedicated to providing a higher standard of repair. Because vertical pumps are made of several stacked components, maintaining tight tolerances and best-in-class fit-ups is critical for reliable operation. Hydro’s standards are more stringent than those required by any industry body. This translates to longer life, better performance, and safer operation.

Take a tour of Hydro’s Hydro East facility in the Philadelphia metro area, who have a special focus on large vertical pumps.

Introducing: Hydro East from Hydro, Inc. on Vimeo.

 

Learn more about our capabilities that support high capacity vertical pumps or contact us for more information.

Navigating Resonance Challenges

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A Case Study in Diagnostic Testing and Innovative Solutions

Some services are inherently difficult due to factors such as fluid quality or multiple disparate operating points.  These factors are an inherent part of the process and cannot be changed to improve reliability. Harsh applications can be a costly prospect, both in overhaul costs and in the time and labor required for frequent servicing. Many times we become caught in the perception that there is no improvement to be had for these services. A short mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) becomes routine and expected, and maintenance activities and parts procurement are built around this expectation.  

When equipment is sent out for refurbishment, the expectation is that mechanical and hydraulic performance upon reinstallation will be better than what was experienced in the worn condition. This assumption holds true in most cases; however, sometimes unexpected behavior can occur after a pump is remanufactured and reinstalled. While it is easy to jump to the conclusion that these performance changes were caused by errors made during the repair or installation of the equipment, sometimes the problem is more complex and related to latent weaknesses in the design that had lain dormant until refurbishment.

This scenario was experienced by a power utility in the Southeastern US when they ran into significant vibration increases after one of their boiler feed pumps was refurbished by a local repair shop. Concerned by the level of vibration, the utility reached out to Hydro South, who have extensive experience in this application and model. From there, Hydro Reliability Services was called on to collect data on the problematic equipment and use advanced modeling tools to understand the nature of the vibration. The field testing and analysis revealed that pump had been operating with a very small margin between a structural resonance and one of the pump forcing frequencies. Armed with this information, solutions were developed to increase this margin and return to stable operation.

Read the full case study in Pumps & Systems March 2024 edition.

Learn more about Hydro Reliability Services and how they support field testing, vibration troubleshooting, and advanced system studies.

Capability Spotlight: IMPEL

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Maintenance documentation varies widely in quality, often being incomplete, vague, or outdated. Procedures may lack detail, rely on obsolete methods, or feature unclear diagrams. Sometimes these procedures are taken from OEM manuals, which are too generic and require design knowledge to understand which steps are applicable.

For many years, maintenance crews have been relying on the experience of their workforce to perform the work correctly despite poor instructions. However, mass retirement from an aging workforce, higher employee turnover rates, and leaner staffs have taken away this safety net of experience and leave our facilities at risk. One of the greatest risks to the safe and profitable operation of our plants is preventable errors that result in online equipment failure.

A maintenance procedure that is optimized for the world we live in now has different requirements than the procedures developed in the past.  Firstly, it needs to adequately capture the institutional knowledge of skilled professionals who are familiar with the equipment. Secondly, it needs to clearly illustrate each step in the procedure in a way that is easy to follow. Thirdly, it needs to accurately reproduce the design of the installed equipment instead of being overly generic. Lastly, it needs to be delivered in a format that reflects how the new generation of workers consume information- digital and interactive.

The last requirement may seem like more of a ‘want’ than a ‘need,’ but it is just as critical as the other three. Most workers who have graduated in the past 10-15 years are what are commonly referred to as ‘digital natives’ and have been immersed in a learning environment that depends heavily on digital assets.  Providing information in a way that is intuitive for them to use and matches the way they are used to interacting with information will help them retain that information and complete work more efficiently. This not only supports reducing risk for maintenance errors, it streamlines the work completed to save on labor hours needed for each job.

Hydro has addressed this need by developing IMPEL, an interactive, digital maintenance platform that replicates pump design and installation to clearly illustrate each step of the maintenance procedure. IMPEL uses an interactive 3D model of the equipment that is animated to illustrate each step of the maintenance procedure. Part of the development process includes an extensive overview of the procedure by Hydro’s experienced field service technicians to ensure that it includes best practices and to add notes and warnings into critical steps where mistakes may be made.

Introducing IMPEL from Hydro, Inc. on Vimeo.

Our maintenance professionals have a great responsibility- keeping our plants running safely and reliably. Let’s make sure they are armed with the best tools available.

Learn more about Hydro’s IMPEL or contact us for more information.

Capability Spotlight: Hydro University

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Hydro University was developed with a mission of ensuring that pump users around the world have access to the knowledge required to optimize industrial operations and reduce pump lifecycle costs. By imparting technical skills, pump knowledge, and troubleshooting methodologies, we help our customers to achieve this.

Hydro has spent 50 years accumulating knowledge of pump operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and upgrades. Our aftermarket perspective uniquely empowers us to look at our pumps the way an end user would- with an eye for improving reliability and performance of existing assets instead of a focus on initial design. Our training is similarly focused on imparting skills critical to end users’ every day job functions instead of theoretical design that would rarely, if ever, be used by pump system owners.

Hydro University: Meet Our Training Instructors from Hydro, Inc. on Vimeo.

Hydro University understands that not every organization or learner will have the same goals and has developed a varied slate of delivery methods to support skill development.

For those looking to engage in course material on their own schedule, Hydro University offers a breadth of online technical webinars and e-learning classes. The topics are expansive, covering a depth of knowledge such as centrifugal pump fundamentals, system optimization, vibration, failure modes, and many more.

For organizations looking for an in-depth skill development strategy, Hydro University provides tailored programs that combined classroom, hands-on, and virtual course material customized to the end user’s learning goals. These programs can include a mentorship aspect, where Hydro’s subject matter experts join students in an application optimization project that provides practical application of the skills they learned in the classroom.

Interested in learning more about Hydro University? Download our current course catalog, visit the Hydro University LMS to browse online courses, or contact us for more information.