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Pump Automation 1

EEENGRX

Electrical
Sep 11, 2021
81
I have a self primer pump that requires to manually fill up the primer case with prime water to enable it pick up prime and start pumping and avoid damaging the mechanical seal.The pump is used for a sump that i need to automate based on the sump level.i plan to add a foot valve. do you think this will be sufficient to hold prime or it will just reduce the time it takes to prime the pump?what are the various options for shutdown protection or elert to the control room if the pump does not pick up prime for any reason whatsoever? will aan amp monitor at the bucket work? or a solenoid valve on a timer for the priming water which will be activated by the motor starting, per start and close after a set period of time.allauggestions are highly welcome as i want to go with the best possible option as well as less complicated
 
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I suggested an automatic prime each start, whether it is needed or not.
Based on experience with a self priming pump that frequently lost its prime when there was no water available at the suction.
I had a 5 gallon bucket, a hose to the priming port, and a shutoff valve.
I would prime manually and when the pump started, leave the valve open until the backflow refilled the bucket.
Note. #1. This was a domestic supply from a supply system that often was out of water.
Note #2. If the Original Poster says that he is losing prime, I won't argue that point. I have had the same issue with at least one model of self priming pump. Over a lot of years I have seen two instances of a supposed self priming pump losing prime when there was no water available on the suction side.
So the pump motor is already wired to DCS and there is a Radar Level transmitter to monitor Sump Level. I think I can just program the start and stop of Motor directly in the DCS instead of going through a longer route. Once I can have the pump primed automatically whenever the motor stops based on low level. I simply have to go one more step to handle the amp protection. What do you think?
 
I simply have to go one more step to handle the amp protection. What do you think?
Are you meaning current monitoring to detect loss of prime?
If you can do that in software with the existing hardware, go ahead.
 
The details so far -

there is a distributed control system (dcs) factory system made by someone to monitor at least one sensor
there is a radar level sensor to measure sump level
there is no indication of what sensor/system causes the pump to operate
the pump is new and barely used
the pump either does or doesn't maintain prime
either way, the pump is going to be force-primed to avoid some amount of seal wear
nothing can be done to replace the pump

note that the amperage will be low if the pump fails to prime or if the inlet to the pump becomes blocked but the motor will tend to overheat

How far along is this problem statement and what important details remain missing?

Is there a functional flow-chart diagramming the dependencies and state transitions that are required?
 

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