DUTY & FLUID
Vapour Vacuum Pump
Fuel Vapour
OEM & Designation
Edwards
SHR22500
Materials
Cast Iron
The Challenge
The Vacuum pump suffered catastrophic failure on a large UK refinery, classed as a high HPI incident as pumped medium is fuel vapour. Our client wanted a workable solution to prevent future failures that also could be rolled out to other Vacuum pumps on site. The Client also advised mechanical seal sleeve issues with these pumps.
The Solution
Route cause of failure, identified as poorly cast impellers causing huge imbalance within pump, with multiple counter weights fitted. Sample impellers were reverse engineered and manufactured by Pinnacle Re-Tec to a much tighter casting tolerance ISO 8062 CT11-14. Additional material was also cast to centre of impeller hub to act as vane support.
O-ring grooves were machined into casing sections as an additional ‘preventative’ measure to prevent fuel vapour leak.
To improve sealing arrangement of the mechanical seal sleeve, a new key way was machined in shaft. A new mechanical seal sleeve was reverse engineered and manufactured to incorporate an o-ring groove in front of new key way location.
The Result & Benefits
Pinnacle Re-Tec has provided our refinery client with a “one-stop-shop” pump repair, incorporating reverse engineering and in-house manufacturing of all required parts, including upgrades to impeller design, mechanical seal sleeve and pump casing. The client has incorporated these pump design upgrades into other Vapour Vac pumps on the refinery, thus reducing HSE risk.
The Completed Vapour Vacuum Pump
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