Lawmakers in Washington are talking about it. Operations teams are thinking about it, and CFOs are losing sleep because of it. A plant’s energy costs are on multiple stakeholders’ minds.
Plant managers especially want to increase uptime and throughput without sacrificing goals for reduced production costs. These two competing issues can be dealt with simultaneously, but not through piecemeal efforts. A systems approach to pump system efficiency is required to accomplish both.
The motor industry, represented by the National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association (NEMA), continues to expand motor scope and improve electric motors. Since the early days of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), the electric motor has played a key role in providing a catalyst of energy savings options.
Automatic optimization for pump design is a primary focus for many companies. Efficiency levels for several turbomachinery applications have been maturing in recent years. The introduction of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the design process led to some significant improvement in performance, but further improvements are increasingly more difficult to achieve.
Certain topics continue to surface during recent expert discussions on energy efficiency in machines and plants. The topics include variable frequency drives (VFDs) for optimum drive solutions and increasing efficiency in low-voltage induction motors. However, low-voltage controls rarely enter the debate—which is an injustice. Low-voltage controls can increase energy efficiency in three primary ways:
In many pump applications, pressure gauges are not used to monitor the equipment and process flow. The operator has no idea if the pump is functioning as designed or as needed for the application. Before long, the pump may become a high-maintenance item. Why do so many pumps operate without proper monitoring?
Hallett Materials Boonville sand mine is located in the city of West Des Moines, Iowa. West Des Moines is a small rural area located in Dallas County that is known for its historical ties to the Boone family. The area is one of Hallet Materials locations for producing a full line of pure sand and gravel products.
Producing energy savings within an industrial plant is a high priority for plant management. Reliability engineers focus on extending the mean time between repairs (MTBR), but they may often overlook the potential energy savings that can be generated if a full engineering study is performed as part of their root cause failure analysis (RCFA). This is especially true with regard to pumps since they are peppered throughout many facilities.
When a newly-repaired pump performs poorly, good troubleshooting procedures can help eliminate a number of possibilities—including problems with the fluid being pumped (the pumpage) or with the pipes, fittings or vessels that are connected to the pump (the system). A savvy technician with a basic understanding of pump curves and performance parameters can quickly narrow the possibilities—especially those associated with the pump.
Making a correct braided pump packing selection can be a confusing and daunting task. Every manufacturer has its own engineering specifications and features that the user must consider when making these decisions. What criteria should the end users include when making this choice, and how can they get the maximum performance from their packing?
Q. What considerations should be made when selecting the proper boiler feed pumps for a typical 400-megawatt, combined-cycle power plant?
A. The operating range of the plant compared to the operating range of the pump, as well as reliability considerations and first cost, will determine how many pumps are required. Large thermal power stations typically have two or three installed 50 percent boiler feedwater pumps.