Celeros Flow Technology has injected new life right into a heritage pump for a Canadian heavy oil restoration buyer, enabling them to extend production. Moneyback – a Mather & Platt BB5 – was greater than forty years old and had been topic to numerous post-installation alterations.
Heavy oil deposits are extremely viscous and require the injection of high stress, excessive temperature steam to improve fluidity and permit the oil to be pumped to the surface. In order to spice up extraction on this challenge, the customer needed to increase water temperatures from 90° C to 140° C. However, there were concerns that the prevailing pump might not have the ability to ship this requirement. Nozzle masses had been a selected concern. They turned to Celeros Flow Technology model ClydeUnion Pumps, their preferred supplier of some 20 years, for help.
Mather & Platt is one of a quantity of heritage pump brands for which Celeros Flow Technology provides full lifecycle support1. Their aftermarket engineering group undertook a thorough examination of the quadragenarian Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) boiler feed water pump used within the heavy oil extraction course of. Factors revealed that the pump had suffered a quantity of seal failures over time that had damaged the stuffing box and affected operational efficiency. There had also been no upkeep interventions for many years – however the pump had by no means actually failed.
Says Mike Golds, Global Upgrade and Rerate Programme Manager for ClydeUnion Pumps: “It is testomony to the standard of the original pump that it had continued to operate in such harsh conditions and with no regular upkeep over such an extended period of time. More importantly, it gave us confidence that a thorough overhaul could achieve the desired enchancment in performance, saving the client the cost and lost manufacturing time that might be related to sourcing and putting in a brand new unit.”
Celeros Flow Technology overhauled the SAGD pump and performed a mechanical seal improve and Plan 23 seal flush to optimize pump performance. In addition, finite component analysis was undertaken to substantiate that the nozzle masses would stand up to the desired temperature increase. As a outcome, the pump is now capable of delivering steam at the larger temperatures required. The seal upgrades ensure it meets the newest specs.
Concludes Mike Golds: “We are actually happy with the finish result of the SAGD pump improve. It has not solely achieved the specified production enhance for the client, but additionally supplied a more sustainable and cost-effective answer than complete pump replacement. Using trendy engineering and evaluation, we now have been capable of give the present pump a brand new lease of life and guarantee it will proceed to carry out well for lots of extra years.”
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