Rapid pump upgrade delivers improved efficiency

31 January, 2023

Two-week turnaround

Once the shutdown was in place, Sulzer’s field service team started the process of removing the original pumps and installing the replacements. The drop-in design enabled this process and the commissioning to be completed in just two weeks, to the great satisfaction of the plant’s operations team.

Although some additional lubrication piping was required, the remainder of the surrounding infrastructure was unchanged. This contrasted with the proposal from the OEM that would have required considerable changes to the base plate as well as the suction and discharge pipework. In terms of investment, Sulzer’s solution was 50% of the amount required for a new pump replacement from the OEM.

Sulzer’s turnkey solution also included a training package for the operations and maintenance teams that involved both hands-on and theoretical learning that would help maintain optimum performance for the new pumps. However, of greater importance to the power plant was the timeframe in which the project was completed. Achieving the project delivery within the shutdown period was of crucial commercial importance.

Reliability for the future

The custom pumps from Sulzer have been in operation for two years and periodic vibration measurements have consistently returned values of just 2 mm/s – well within the acceptable range and a considerable improvement on the original pumps. Furthermore, the efficiency of the pumps has been greatly improved, thanks to the modern hydraulic design and precision manufacturing.

As with all the other Sulzer pumps in the company’s portfolio, there is full product lifecycle support that includes expert servicing and just-in-time parts supply, which minimises the spares inventory for the facility. The new boiler feed pumps have ensured uninterrupted operational continuity for the power plant and allowed the maintenance team to focus efforts on other areas in need of optimisation.

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