SIMPLE SOLUTION CURES REPEAT PUMP SHAFT BREAKAGES AT OIL REFINERY
Case Study
SIMPLE SOLUTION CURES REPEAT PUMP SHAFT BREAKAGES AT OIL REFINERY
Cause of premature failures identified.
Solution required no modification to pump.
Improved MTBR.
SIMPLE SOLUTION CURES REPEAT PUMP SHAFT BREAKAGES AT OIL REFINERY
Case Study
CHALLENGE
A US oil refinery was experiencing issues with a barrel pump. They asked ClydeUnion Pumps to perform an upgrade and investigate the cause of numerous shaft breakages in the location of the thrust collar.
SOLUTION
Thrust shaft breakages can occur for a number of reasons: improper shaft design, excessive thrust loading, excessive runout of the shaft and/or thrust collar, or poor materials specification. In this instance, the intrinsic design was the root cause. The internal levelling washer had seized, forcing the thrust collar to cycle the shaft until it failed.
ClydeUnion Pumps swapped out the thrust bearing with one that has greater thrust pad flexibility, enabling the thrust collar to operate correctly. As the replacement had the same design envelope as the original, there was no need for further modification.
OUTCOMES
The cause of the shaft breakages has been identified. A simple solution has been implemented that will improve Mean Time Between Repairs (MTBR) in future.
