SES System Efficiency Service
KSB SupremeServ ME
KSB SupremeServ services all kinds of pumps, valves, compressors and mechanical seals to ensure their flawless operation
The SES System Efficiency Service identifies pressure surges as the cause of damage.
The process flow of a reactor's cooling water circulation has been disrupted by two significant pump failures. However, high sample rate measurements of the pumps have provided valuable information on the root cause of the problem.
The challenge:
Detecting the cause of pump failures
Two mag-drive pumps are used in the secondary circuit for cooling tasks in the chemical processes of a reactor. These pumps circulate water at temperatures exceeding 200 °F between the reactor and multiple heat exchangers during single-pump operation. Steam is introduced into the cooling circuit to speed up the fluid temperature increase after a product change in the reactor. The process control system has already comprehensively measured and monitored the entire system process.
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The solution:
SES System Efficiency Service identifies pressure surges as the cause
During plant operation, the mag-drive pumps failed multiple times in a brief period. Both pumps exhibited signs of rubbing contact in the pump casing and destroyed plain bearings. These symptoms indicate that large forces were acting on the pump rotor, which is not expected during normal pump operation after such a short operating time. The process data displayed by the plant operator did not indicate any irregularities in the system's operation.
Only after conducting a comprehensive damage analysis of the pumps using high sample rate measurements in the potentially explosive atmosphere of zone 1, pressure surges were discovered. The speed at which these pressure surges propagate in the system is in the millisecond range, which could not be detected by the existing process control system. As a result, this effect remained invisible to the operating personnel due to technical limitations.
The result:
SES detects pressure surges in the millisecond range
KSB's measurements indicated that pressure surges only occurred during specific times when steam was introduced to increase the fluid temperature. Armed with this knowledge, it became possible to collaborate with the plant operator and define measures to prevent pressure surges from happening in the future.