Pump safeties

[blackwed]

What are some of the considerations that go into deciding what safety instrumentation might be a good idea to add to an existing pumping system. How do you decide if a pump warrants a vibration switch? How much or little should pump redundancy be a factor in deciding if a bearing temp alarm is needed? You get my drift, just looking for some rules of thumb. BTW, we're moving jet fuel here with centrifugal pumps, around 150-200 psi. Pumps are started and stopped frequently.

 

[ilan7]

BlackWed
My opinion that it all according to the pump size and how critical it at the system.
For large pumps (over 500KW) we give all the respect - Temperature measurment at the bearings and at the motor bearing and stator. As delivery time of large motor and pump is few months, consider stor a spare one.
As the pump is getting smaller, fewer protection items are installed, and the operator is asked only to monitor (manually) vibration level (Weekly or so) and observe un-normal noises every shift.
As you mentioned you pump jet fuel, attention need to be put on the pump seal, and gas detector must be install at the pump area.
You also mentioned the pump is not new but run for years assume with no protection - I would add only WARNINGS and no automatic shut down to avoid falt shut down after installing new protection ystem. If that happaned, usually the new protection is disassemble or disactive.

 

[shobi]

Beside usual safety instrumentation I would also consider an Automatic Recirculation Valve. This valve protects centrifugal pumps from damages that may occur during low-flow operations. Minimum flow protection is accomplished with an automatic, modulating bypass that assures smooth pump operation between the minimum and maximum flow point on the pump curve. This will definitely need some pipe modification.

Since you are pumping jet fuel, I would also suggest to install a fire detection system at more that one angle.