Additional snapshot…….some articles good for young engineer and experience engineer as refresher…

The following two snapshots show PUMP CAVITATION is BAD !!!

Snapshot below : Two identical impellers with the impeller on the left has been subjected to cavitation. Metal has worn away at the edge and in the eye of the impeller. A hole has actually been worn through the impeller at the 1:00 O'Clock position and a crescent is completely gone at 9: O’clock position.

Can you imagine the consequence if operator is standing around this area when it happen….

DO NOT UNDER-ESTIMATE THE CONSEQUENCE OF CAVITATION !!!

REFRESHER CORNER
Following are some document links…

Detecting Cavitation in Centrifugal Pumps
A research paper studied online detection and monitoring of cavitation in centrifugal pump. Useful for plant operator in predicting the performance of pump and to avoid catastrophic failure of centrifugal pump…

Protect Your Pump
GOOD SELECTION – PROPER INSTALLATION – REGULAR MAINTENANCE
There are many opportunities to protect your pump. The best pump protection is selecting the right pump for the application. The next best pump protection is proper installation. And the easiest pump protection is regular maintenance…

Inlet conditions check-list
A good article for plant operator and start-up profession. Inadequate inlet conditions can cause serious malfunctions in the best designed pump. Surprisingly the simplest of things can cause the most severe problems or go unnoticed to the unfamiliar or untrained eye. REVIEW THIS CHECK-LIST BEFORE OPERATION OF ANY SYSTEM……

Pump training
A good brief for new engineer and refresh for experienced engineer……

Pump cavitation caused by entrained gas
A case study presents troubleshooting an FCC main fractionator revamp including the LCO pump around (PA) pump that was cavitating due to entrained gas. Pump cavitation and column flooding caused reduced column removal, decreased column capacity, degraded fractionation, lower-than-design unit capacity and high endpoint gasoline. The short-term remedy and longer-term modification to correct the root cause are discussed.

JoeWong