Celeros Flow Technology has injected new life into a heritage pump for a Canadian heavy oil restoration customer, enabling them to extend manufacturing. The pump – a Mather & Platt BB5 – was more than forty years old and had been topic to quite a few post-installation alterations.
Heavy oil deposits are extraordinarily viscous and require the injection of high pressure, excessive temperature steam to enhance fluidity and allow the oil to be pumped to the floor. In order to boost extraction on this venture, the client wanted to increase water temperatures from 90° C to 140° C. However, there have been concerns that the existing pump may not be able to ship this requirement. Nozzle loads were a particular concern. They turned to Celeros Flow Technology model ClydeUnion Pumps, their preferred provider of some 20 years, for help.
Mather & Platt is considered one of several heritage pump brands for which Celeros Flow Technology offers full lifecycle support1. Their aftermarket engineering group undertook an intensive examination of the quadragenarian Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) boiler feed water pump used within the heavy oil extraction process. The investigation revealed that the pump had suffered a number of seal failures over time that had broken the stuffing field and affected operational efficiency. There had additionally been no maintenance interventions for many years – but the pump had never actually failed.
Says Mike Golds, Global Upgrade and Rerate Programme Manager for ClydeUnion Pumps: “It is testomony to the standard of the original pump that it had continued to function in such harsh circumstances and with no common maintenance over such a long time period. More importantly, it gave us confidence that a thorough overhaul could obtain the specified enchancment in efficiency, saving the client the price and lost manufacturing time that might be related to sourcing and putting in a new unit.”
Celeros Flow Technology overhauled the SAGD pump and performed a mechanical seal upgrade and Plan 23 seal flush to optimize pump performance. In addition, finite element evaluation was undertaken to substantiate that the nozzle masses would stand up to the desired temperature improve. As Eye-opening , the pump is now able to delivering steam at the greater temperatures required. The seal upgrades guarantee it meets the most recent specs.
Concludes Mike Golds: “We are actually pleased with the result of the SAGD pump improve. It has not solely achieved the desired manufacturing enhance for the customer, but in addition provided a extra sustainable and cost-effective answer than whole pump replacement. Using trendy engineering and evaluation, we now have been capable of give the prevailing pump a new lease of life and ensure it’s going to continue to carry out well for many more years.”
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