Maintenance & Reliability
Think power pumps are self-priming? Think again!
Think power pumps are self-priming? Think again!
HP Reliability: Understanding periodic pump switching and parallel operation
Many process plants have "identical" centrifugal pumps installed in a given service. Most of these were probably intended as spare equipment. They would be started up in the event the primary pump ha..
Case 53: Electrical faults can cause shaft and gear failures
This technique allows transient torques in geared units to be determined
HP Reliability: Feedback from a pump person
In early 2009, we responded to a reader's request for data; he wanted to use it in a site-wide benchmarking project for pumpf reliability. The reader was employed at a company location that encompasse..
Design and implement an effective equipment integrity management system
Consider this "integrity-only-specific" innovative methodology
HP Reliability: Modern pumps have stiffer shafts
Some multistage centrifugal pumps are designed with relatively slender shafts and operate at speeds above the so-called rotor critical. When that is the case and as the pump comes up to operating spee..
Smart motor lubrication saves energy
Many decades of experience confirm the success of oil mist for rolling-element bearings in the operating speed and size ranges found in motors for process pumps. For the past 40 years, empirical data ..
Case 52: Problems with a blocked-in centrifugal pump
The potential for overheating is one of many concerns
HP Reliability: Electric motors and mechanical efficiency
Reliability-focused readers know quite a bit about oil mist and many use plantwide oil mist systems for their process pumps and electric motor drivers. In fact, some major grassroots olefins plants us..
Estimate water hammer loads in steam piping
The problem is more complicated because of the two-phase flow
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