PUMP MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES

Pump Maintenance is an art and science in itself. Antico Pumps aims to share valuable information on proper installation, maintenance and operation in regards to pumping equipment.

PUMP MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES

Pump Maintenance is an art and science in itself. The pump industry is empowered with skilled veterans who possess prolific knowledge on Pump maintenance procedures and its intricacies. However, these veterans are fast approaching their retirement age and once they retire, there will be a dearth of experts having proficiency in pump maintenance that include proper pump installation, maintenance and operation. And with shrinking maintenance budgets in recessionary periods, this issue of extinction of learned and experienced personnel for pump maintenance poses critical threats. Properly trained maintenance experts understand the complex functioning of pumps and can resolve emerging issues with their knowledge. Their quick and efficient problem solving capability can cut down the maintenance time and improve the pump performance. Antico Pumps aims to share valuable information on proper installation, maintenance and operation in regards to pumping equipment.

PUMP INSTALLATION
Installation of the pumps is the most crucial step that determines the performance and maintenance requirements of the pump over a longer period. A properly installed pump gives years of high performance with hassle-free operations while a poorly installed pump will require frequent maintenance in otherwise unwarranted repairs thus incurring substantial loss of time and money. A properly installed pump brings in reliability and reduces the maintenance costs. In the initial stage of installation process, the baseplate must be precisely leveled and grouted. This will ensure that there is no trapping of air and a rigid foundation is laid for the pump installation. A properly

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PUMP MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES

leveled baseplate will also minimize the vibrations during pump operation, which will ultimately ease out the working of bearings due to minimal pounding. Subsequently, this will extend the life of bearings. After the baseplate is leveled, the pump should be mounted on it with proper alignment and only then, piping should be run to the pump. By executing these steps, piping loads on the pump are minimized. Piping loads can severely affect pump and its operations. Thermal as well Static piping load can lead to severe distortion of casing that will render the pump almost useless and motor out the alignment. It will also put in additional radial loads on the bearings, ultimately shortening their life. Once the process of piping is complete, the alignment should be rechecked to ascertain that static loads do not alter the alignment.

PUMP INSPECTION
It has to mentioned that most of the pumps used are lubricated by oil and the pump manufacturers do not export the pumps with oil installed in the bearing frames. Oil is added just prior to the initialization of pump operation. Oil should be replaced after the first 200 hours of operation or every 3 months thereafter. The maintenance manual of the pump will provide authentic information on selection of oil type, its viscosity and grade. Use of correct oil will smoothen the pump operation and will not allow the bearings to burn our quickly. In the second part of the series of blogs aimed to share information on pump maintenance, we analyze the critical step of Inspection in Pump Maintenance procedures.Most maintenance departments invest a lot of time and efforts to refurbish the pump, in case if it fails to perform due to technical inaccuracies. This procedure forms an important part of the total pump maintenance process.

INSPECTION
There are times when the pump stops functioning due to various factors. The Inspection step begins by fully dismantling the entire pump unit and examining each of the components. The major

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PUMP MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES

components that undergo primary inspection are Pump Casing, Impeller, Stuffing Box Cover/Seal Chamber, Shaft, Sleeve, Frame and Thrust Bearing Housing.

CASING & STUFFING BOX

Casing & Stuffing Box are prone to cracks, excessive wear and pitting, for which they should be examined first. There should be immediate replacement or repairing if there are cracks, localized wear or grooving in excess of 3.2mm (0.125 inches), or pitting in excess of 3.2mm (0.125 inches) deep. The gasket surface also needs to be inspected for any irregularities.

IMPELLER
Due to constant pounding, the impeller also undergoes wear and tear damages. The impeller should be replaced if following problems are detected. 1. Cracks and damage to vanes 2. Alteration in the face of impeller (open design only) in excess of 0.031 inches (0.8mm) 3. Grooving or pitting in excess of 0.062 inches (1.6 mm) 4. Impeller has back pump-out vanes The impeller should be also checked for grooving, pitting, and general wear.

FRAME ADAPTER
As a part of routine inspection steps, the frame adapter should also be examined for cracks or corrosion. In frame adapter components like machine bores, turned fits and gasket surface need to primarily checked. These components should be clean and free from any dust or debris.

SHAFT SLEEVE
Shaft Sleeve should also be verified for any cracks or wear along the sleeve outside diameter, especially if there is packed pump arrangement. Any wear greater than 0.062 inches (0.002 mm) can be critical and the sleeve should be replaced on instant basis. The inside diameter of the sleeve also needs to be checked to ensure a

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PUMP MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES

proper seat on the shaft. Excess tolerance between the shaft and sleeve, especially when using mechanical seals, can lead to premature seal failure. The shaft sleeve should be inspected for straightness. In this case, the run-out threshold limit should act as a deciding factor for further use of shaft sleeve. Also, any shaft with undersized bearing fit should be replaced. There are many repercussions of undersized bearing as they can lead to loose bearings, increased loads, raised vibrations that can possibly cause premature seal, bearing and coupling failure.

THRUST BEARING
Lastly, the thrust bearing needs to be examined for any corrosion or physical damages such as cracks and pitting. Also, the bearing bore should conform to the manufacturers designed tolerance levels. The Housing should be replaced if there are any alterations or enlargement outside the tolerance range. A bearing housing with inappropriate size fits can lead to early bearing failure.

PUMP REASSEMBLY
After the initial process of cleaning and inspection of pump components, it is time to reassemble the pump unit. During reassembly, care should be taken so that the various components remain clean and no debris should build up. Dust particles or any other foreign material that gets into the bearing block can lead to disastrous bearing failure. Until recently, lip seals and deflectors were used by and large to seal the bearing block. Lip seals offer several benefits as they can be conveniently installed and are relatively inexpensive. However, these seals have a very limited life of 2000 hours and wear out the shaft gradually. Wearing of shaft and seal means ineffective sealing of bearing block thus allowing dust particles and debris to enter. This contamination of the lubricant then becomes the sole cause of bearing failure. In most of the contemporary pump designs, a specific labyrinth style oil seal is used that is non-contacting and provides effective sealing of

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PUMP MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES

the bearing block. Since this labyrinth seal is non-contacting, it is not prone to wear therefore, can be reused during reassembly. These labyrinth seals are also compatible with older pump designs and can be retrofitted easily. Ideally, lip seals should be replaced with labyrinth design oil seals to extend the pump life and provide a better operating environment for the bearings. During the reassembly, it is essential to perform various runout checks to ensure OEM rebuild quality. The results of the following checks will indicate whether or not appropriate reassembly techniques were used and whether or not the various components used are correct.

CHECK LIST
The following checks are based on an end suction pump horizontal pump design. First, once the bearing block has been assembled, three specific readings should be taken. Secure the dial indicator to the bearing block and position it on the end of the shaft. Refer Figure I. Check the shaft endplay. It should be within OEM guidelines. If assembled properly, this is determined by the bearings internal clearances. The second check is shaft/sleeve runout. The sleeve will have to be mounted along with the impeller to hold it in place. Secure the dial indicator to the bearing block and check the runout on the shaft/sleeve. See Figure II. If this reading is outside OEM limits, it indicates that the shaft is bent or the sleeve is worn.

Figure A: Measuring Shaft Endplay

Figure B: Checking Shaft / Sleeve Runout

Figure C: Checking Frame Face Runout

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PUMP MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES

Once completed, remove the impeller, and sleeve secure the dial indicator to the shaft and sweep the bearing block face. See Figure III. Impeller Balancing Any discussion on effective pump maintenance and pump life would not be complete without discussing impeller balancing. All impellers should be balanced to ISO 1940 G6.3 as a minimum. A balanced impeller will reduce vibration and lends smooth operating pump. This in turn, reduces the loads on the bearings imparting extended service life. It must be noted that balancing the impeller does not account for hydraulically induced vibrations. Depending on the pumps operating point, the hydraulically induced vibrations may far exceed those caused by the mechanical unbalance. On completion of impeller balancing, we can proceed for final pump assembly. Reinstall the pump back pullout assembly. Check the lubrication level and the pump is ready to restart. Although bearings and seals were mentioned above, they were not covered in detail. For specific details on bearing or seal maintenance, contact your local supplier or the manufacturer. They may offer you several simple ideas which will improve reliability of the component. Chemical industries have several pump installations; in case a maintenance procedure of such a nature is implemented, then it significantly improves pump life resulting in lower Mean Time Between Failures (MTBFs). Lower MTBFs will translate in improved plant production yielding healthy dividends.

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