Progressing Cavity Pump Maintenance Space

[hondashadow1100vt]

I am working on a construction project with some small progressing cavity pumps. The electrical contractor installed conduits in the footprint where the maintenance technician must stand (i.e., just beyond the stator pull clearance on the discharge side of the pump) in order to remove the stator from the rotor. It has been proposed that since these pumps are small that maybe the normal PC pump stator pull clear area is not as critical as it normally is for the labor intensive rotor-stator change out. I am looking for information on how to clearly describe/quantify/illustrate the level of effort involved in removing a stator from one of these pumps. I am especially interested in worst case scenarios. I do not want to install a pump that will be a problem for the end user. Thank you in advance for any feedback that you may be able to offer!

 

[DubMac]

You absolutely must talk to the manufacturer about this; don't waste your time elsewhere.
We know nothing about your installation, but as a side note, remember these pumps can be installed vertically to help save footprint.

 

[bimr]

I would contact the manufacturer and have a service engineer come out to the construction site and inspect the pumps. The service engineer should be there anyway for the startup. The service engineer familiar with the pumps will be able to provide you with the best opinion.

 

[TenPenny]

Many of the plants around here change out the whole pump, then do the rotor/stator changeout in the shop. You say 'since these pumps are small', so that's what I'd do.

When you say 'small', what do you mean?

 

[hondashadow1100vt]

DubMac: Installation (horizontal) is completed therefore vertical installation is not an option in this instance. Interesting thought though about the vertical installation possibilities. I have admittedly only first hand seen vertical install of a PC pump done in one installation (i.e., spin the pump backwards with suction through the normal discharge and discharge through the normal suction flange) -- the installation resulted in elevated maintenance needs.

DubMac and Bimr: Good points. The manufacturer should be consulted.

TenPenny: The pumps are 3 HP (TYP of 3) and 15 HP (TYP of 2); roughly 3-ft and 5-ft long respectively. I suspect that you are right with respect to the smaller pumps in that they may be able to be swapped out with a functional pump while the pump in need of maintenance can be worked on in a shop where the conditions are more conducive. The larger pump is expected to be more of a headache.

Anybody else out there have any data/studies/references related to the effort (e.g., time, materials, forces, tools involved) in performing a rotor stator swap out for a conventional horizontal installation of a 3 and 15 HP PC pump?

 

[SNORGY]

I have always favored the Seepex Smart Stator design where the stator is accessible and replaceable from the side so you don't have to pull stuff out through the end. You still need end clearance for the rotor, but less often.

 

[DubMac]

Regarding elevated maintenance on vertical installation....must have been installed improperly or just not a good service for a PC pump. The Pc pump doesn't care about it's orientation. One of the biggest marketing pushes (successful) has been replacing sucker rod pumps in oilwells and rotating the sucker rod string with a PC pump on the bottom, rather than reciprocating the rods up and down on the traditional pumpjack seen rocking back and forth in oilfields all over the world.

Just food for thought.