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The famous Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr. Carl Jung is often quoted as saying, What you resist persists. I
always took it to mean that because I had problems with calculus in college, I would always be in professional positions that
would require me to be proficient in the subject. I was painfully correct.
If you do not set goals and face these situations, the things that you resist will persist by repeatedly popping up, typically at
the most inopportune times. In this new year, I propose we work on items on this resist list of common damage-causing
issues for pumps.
1. NPSHA Mystery
The subject that requires the most attention is understanding net positive suction head available (NPSHA). Some people
resist learning about it because the name and subject can be difficult and confusing. Others believe they know all about the
concept, but their calculations and applications prove otherwise. Their pumps consequently cavitate, incurring expensive
damage and downtime.
The resisting category also includes anyone who thinks that NPSHA is purely a function of suction pressure, suction energy
and/or static height (submergence), as in having a flooded suction. I propose that the subject is really not that difficult. There
are numerous sources of information and instruction on this topic. Pumps & Systems has published many articles on the
subjectseveral in the last couple of years. A good starting place is my Pumps & Systems column from August 2015 titled
Rethinking NPSH (read it here).
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Just as someone should not drive a car down the interstate in first gear, end users should not operate a pump near the
shutoff point. Helpful options include variable speed operation, trimming the impeller, installing a different size pump or a
different model pump, and/or changing something on the system that could be as easy as installing a three-way control valve
or an orifice.
I observed a situation where pipe strain was the suspected root cause of bearing and seal issues. After we instructed the
mechanics to remove the pump foundation bolts, the 3,200-pound pump was lifted several inches by the piping. For those
who are not sure, that is an example of severe pipe strain.
Another way to check is to place dial indicators on the coupling in the horizontal and vertical planes, then unbolt either suction
or discharge piping. If the dial indicators show more than 0.002 inches of movement, there is too much pipe strain. Repeat for
the other flange. The coupling should have inserts/spacers removed.
5. Alignment
The alignment of the driver to the pump is critical. No matter how well the pump was aligned in the manufacturers facility, the
alignment was lost the second the pump was transported. If you aligned the pump when it was set in place, it was likely lost
when you connected the piping.
Required submergence is the vertical distancefrom the fluid surface to the pump inletrequired to prevent fluid vortexing
and fluid rotation (swirling and or pre-swirl). Vortexing will introduce unwanted air and non-condensable gases, which can
cause pump damage and reduce pump performance.
A centrifugal pump is not a compressor, and performance is significantly affected when pumping dual and/or multi-phase
fluids (gas and air entrainment in the fluid). There are simple formulas and charts to calculate how much submergence is
required. For more on this topic, see my April 2016 Pumps & Systems article titled Guidelines for Submergence & Air
Entrainment.
8. Driving Blind
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You cannot manage (or repair) what you do not measure. Use gauges or pressure transducers on all pumps. Gauges will
measure pump performance and display the differential pressure across the pump. That information, along with knowledge of
the pump and system curves, will provide details about the equipments health.
The differential pressure across the pump is key to knowing where the pump is on its operating curve. Knowing where the
pump is on the curve is critical for managing the pumps health. Converting the pumps differential pressure to head will
provide a location on the curve. Convert pressure to head by multiplying the differential pressure by 2.31 and divide the
product by the specific gravity. Compare your results to the manufacturers performance curve.
For example, during an NPSHA calculation involving a steam condenser, you will likely have a case where there is 28.42
inches of mercury (inches Hg) of vacuum. Even with this high vacuum, there is still 1.5 inches Hg of (absolute) pressure in
that vessel. The pressure of 1.5 inches Hg converts to 1.71 feet of absolute head.
For background: A perfect vacuum is about 29.92 inches Hg. The difference is how much pressure still exists in the vessel
(29.92 28.42 = 1.5 inches Hg). The 1.5 inches Hg (multiply by 1.139 to convert) is equal to 1.71 feet.
Most pump problems are on the suction side of the pump. Think of the whole system as three separate systems: the suction
system, the pump itself and the discharge side of the system.
If the suction side of the system adequately provides fluid energy to the pump, then the pump, if properly selected, will handle
most of the issues that occur on the discharge side of the system.
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