เกจแรงดัน has injected new life right into a heritage pump for a Canadian heavy oil recovery buyer, enabling them to increase production. The pump – a Mather & Platt BB5 – was more than forty years previous and had been subject to numerous post-installation alterations.
Heavy oil deposits are extraordinarily viscous and require the injection of high strain, excessive temperature steam to enhance fluidity and allow the oil to be pumped to the surface. In order to boost extraction on this challenge, the client wanted to extend water temperatures from 90° C to 140° C. However, there have been considerations that the present pump could not have the ability to ship this requirement. Nozzle masses were a selected concern. They turned to Celeros Flow Technology model ClydeUnion Pumps, their most well-liked provider of some 20 years, for assistance.
Mather & Platt is considered one of several heritage pump brands for which Celeros Flow Technology offers full lifecycle support1. Their aftermarket engineering team undertook an intensive examination of the quadragenarian Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) boiler feed water pump used in the heavy oil extraction course of. The investigation revealed that the pump had suffered a variety of seal failures over time that had damaged the stuffing box and affected operational efficiency. There had additionally been no maintenance interventions for many years – but the pump had never truly failed.
Says Mike Golds, Global Upgrade and Rerate Programme Manager for ClydeUnion Pumps: “It is testomony to the standard of the unique pump that it had continued to function in such harsh conditions and with no common upkeep over such a protracted period of time. More importantly, it gave us confidence that a thorough overhaul might obtain the desired enchancment in performance, saving the shopper the cost and misplaced manufacturing time that could be associated with sourcing and putting in a brand new unit.”
Celeros Flow Technology overhauled the SAGD pump and performed a mechanical seal upgrade and Plan 23 seal flush to optimize pump efficiency. In addition, finite element analysis was undertaken to substantiate that the nozzle loads would face up to the specified temperature improve. As a outcome, the pump is now able to delivering steam on the greater temperatures required. The seal upgrades guarantee it meets the latest specifications.
Concludes Mike Golds: “We are actually happy with the outcome of the SAGD pump upgrade. It has not solely achieved the specified manufacturing improve for the client, but additionally offered a more sustainable and cost-effective solution than total pump alternative. Using trendy engineering and analysis, we now have been capable of give the prevailing pump a new lease of life and guarantee it’s going to proceed to carry out well for so much of extra years.”
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