Centrifugal pump health check

[vanuta]

Hello,
This is with regards to Centrifugal pump operations and maintenance. We have a few Centrifugal pumps in our plant that pumps chemicals, heavy density fluids, viscous fluids etc.. How do we constantly ensure that the pump is in good condition? Is there any kind of predictive maintenance tool to constantly monitor the health of the centrifugal pump? Is there any International standards pertaining to health check of Centrifugal pumps ( e.g API,)? Is there any procedure that can be shared?

The other issue is, sometimes the pump behaves well when tested in water and on that assumption, we start to run using some viscous fluid and it does not match the performance. Is there a way, we can check that the pump capability is not good while testing with water?
Is there some kind of non-invasive method we can do to check that the volute and the impeller has not worn out instead of opening up the pump to check these parameters. Is there an international standard mentioning about the tolerance of the Volutes and impellers ( such that beyond certain corrosion, the pump properties will change) or should it come from the manufacturer of the pump?

Any form of help is very much appreciated.

 

[Artisi]

Usual first checks would be vibration check during operation, flow / head and power checks against new condition.
Are you expecting the pumps to perform the same as water performance when pumping viscous fluid - it's not going to happen.
Check for worn internals is the same as first comment above.

It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. (Sherlock Holmes - A Scandal in Bohemia.)

 

[asifraza0]

Vanuta:

I agree with Artisi, check for vibrations. This is an early detection of bearing failure before any catastrophic failure could happen. There are several companies who specializes in vibration monitoring and they can install accelerometers on the pumps to monitor axial displacement and also velocity. Just search on google
Another check you can do is to make sure that the pump is running on curve and closer to BEP. You can prevent many problems by making sure the pump is riding close to BEP
Araza

Asif Raza

 

[LittleInch]

Vibration and temperature are a good indicator if they change over time.

High accuracy monitoring of performance in terms of head difference, flow and temperature in and out versus the pump curves.

For viscous fluid - how viscous is "viscous"? - Much above 200cP and a lot of pumps start to struggle unless specifically designed. There are tables and calculations which allow you to vary the pump curve in water versus viscosity -

see

http://www.mcnallyinstitute.com/14-html/14-04.htm

or type "pump curve viscosity correction" into the search engine of your choice.

The pump vendor can be your friend in specific instances, but are really trying to sell you either regular service visits or new impellors....

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[mk3223]

Performing a flow test may provide you the pump condition if it meets the original design condition. And then, you can decide if the pump needs to be shutdown and open up for inspection.