State of the Art Parts- Rerated Impeller

Hydro Parts Solutions recently manufactured three impellers for a rerate project being developed through Hydro’s Rocky Mountain service center in Denver, CO. Hydro Global Engineering determined the new hydraulic design for the rerated pump, which required modifications to the casing and new impellers.

 

The end user chose to have the new impellers manufactured out of CA6NM using investment casting, which provides a smoother surface finish to slightly increase the impeller efficiency. Hydro Parts Solutions drove the project from casting package design through final machining, with the impellers being cast and finish-machined within 6 weeks.

The new pump design was successfully tested at Hydro’s performance test lab, validating the new hydraulics. The custom performance will help the midstream end user achieve their desired system flow with maximum reliability and minimum energy usage.

Explore Hydro Parts Solutions’ design process in this video case study.

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Engineering is at the Heart of Hydro Inc.’s Aftermarket Services

Hydro Inc. has a strong engineering capability and an expansive global reach in the pump industry, especially in aftermarket services. Pump Engineer had the pleasure of speaking with George Harris, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Hydro Inc., where he discussed the company’s recent research initiatives, reliability support for customers, customized designs and the significance of upgrades and health audits.

Written by: Deirdre Morgan
Publisher: Pump Engineer / December 2016

“We were very fortunate that early in the company’s development we had the good fortune to work closely with Dr. Elemer Makay, a foremost consultant to the power generation industry and a specialist in troubleshooting multi-stage, high energy pumps”, states Harris. “Engineering combined with meticulous observation and analysis in the field were key to his troubleshooting process. As a result of his training over a twenty year period, engineering became the focus and strength of Hydro Inc.’s aftermarket services”.

According to Hydraulic Institute statistics, 85% of the critical pumps in industries, such as power, refineries and pipelines, are custom designed for the specific application intended. In order to properly rebuild, upgrade or troubleshoot these installations requires a solid aftermarket engineering capability and experience. Not only must the engineer understand pump fundamentals, but also the application and system in which the pump is being used, as well as the changes that may have occurred in plant operating conditions since the pump was originally installed.

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Advanced Engineering Boosts Reliability in Boiler Feed Pump

This approach incorporated reverse engineering, design verification and casting simulation to address equipment failure.

Written by: Dr. Gary Dyson and Jesse Stinson (Hydro, Inc.)
Publisher: Pumps & Systems / December 2015

 

Pump technology requires the extensive use of castings to form the complex shapes needed to guide process fluids through the machine. The shape of these passages is crucial to the machine’s performance.

Pump designers spend extensive time designing and optimizing the shapes of these passages to optimize the machine’s efficiency. Unfortunately, casting processes cannot always represent the pump engineer’s true design intent, and the manufacturing processes have a direct impact on the machine’s reliability and design integrity. Designers take these processes into account when proposing their designs, but sometimes the deficiencies of the casting process become apparent after a major equipment failure.

One example involved determining the root cause behind the first-stage failure of a Worthington 12-WCND-166 six-stage boiler feed pump. The pump exhibited high vibration and performance degradation, and it was taken out of service. The inspection determined that a crack had resulted from a welded core plug. Continue reading