![Typical process pump.
Courtesy of SULZER Co.
MTBF and reduce MTFR.” The other important part of
the challenge is the fulfi llment of customer requirements
for after-sales services in time and up to expectations.
This requires a combination of using state of the
art design software and manufacturing techniques,
deploying qualifi ed crews and repair facilities all around
the globe. Still there is a felt need to optimize the
whole process to deliver the pump and services at a
competitive price to maximize the market share, all the
more because the number of competitors had increased
in the last two decades notably in the emerging
economies such as China, India and Far East markets.
In the past, everyone seemed to be concerned about
data such as MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), and
when asked if this was still a hot topic, he replied that it
depends. “Every individual plant has its own management
philosophy regarding the asset maintenance. As you
know the modern plants. which are more dependent on
automation (also called total management philosophy)
generally prefer a no-man, long term uninterrupted
operation, so the dependence on modern machinery
health monitoring techniques and statistics analysis
(such as MTBF, MTFR, Availability & Reliability records)
in fault detection is high, compared to conventional
plants which still use the old ways in performing the
Mohammed prepares Standard Work Procedure
[SWP] for maintenance of units at both client fi eld and
factory workshop to ensure achieving the assigned
jobs in compliance of both company, client safety
and quality policies. He also troubleshoots the male
functioning units and sets a fi nal economical solution
of the problem with aid of Root Cause Failure Analysis
techniques. “As an average you can say my time is split:
35% offi ce work (behind desk) and 65% at site practicing
with crew, which I most prefer.
In my prospective experience is a matter of accumulated
hands on skills and knowledge shared thru discussions
with other people in the same career. I used to have
discussions with work colleagues when I used to do
job as maintenance engineer at oil & gas facilities. Also
I fi nd discussions are with professionals on the web
forums where we share our experience and try to solve
the issues related to pumps or other rotating equipment
another source to gain more knowledge.
Now as OEM specialist, the main developments for
design concern performance improvement, mechanical
design or environmental issues improvement and this is
mainly the responsibility of either the R&D department
or technical support.”
Meanwhile fi eld service and work shop team is in
direct contact with the customer during installation,
commissioning and after-sales services which includes
another types of troubles which sometimes need
innovative solution. Mohammed says most of the
problems are concerning mechanical issues (high
vibrations or pre-mature failures), making almost
an average of 50% of the request calls that come in.
Others include seal performance improvement of
25% share (considered also as environmental issue
when hydrocarbon and toxics are involved). “From my
prospect the most challenge facing the pump industry
is the increased demand for a hyper frame pumps
with high standards performance, and less required
maintenance and reliability records to increase the
Typical System arrangement to a pump or Motor
with rolling element bearings.
Courtesy of API.
www.pumpengineer.net 3](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/fieldfeature1-140826091813-phpapp02/85/Field-feature-1-2-320.jpg)
Field feature[1]
- 1. Field Feature Quality service in the fifi eld at Elliott Company Mohammed Khalil Described by colleagues as a “very dedicated and ambitious engineer who could always be counted on no matter how enormous the task”, Mohammed Khalil is Field Service Engineer (FSE) at Elliott Group. His job is to supervise all the activities related to turbo machinery and pump installation, commissioning and maintenance in both planned and emergency shut downs. Pump Engineer caught up with him in Bahrain where he is currently based. By Andrew Peers Pump Engineer, June 2013 2
- 2. Typical process pump. Courtesy of SULZER Co. MTBF and reduce MTFR.” The other important part of the challenge is the fulfi llment of customer requirements for after-sales services in time and up to expectations. This requires a combination of using state of the art design software and manufacturing techniques, deploying qualifi ed crews and repair facilities all around the globe. Still there is a felt need to optimize the whole process to deliver the pump and services at a competitive price to maximize the market share, all the more because the number of competitors had increased in the last two decades notably in the emerging economies such as China, India and Far East markets. In the past, everyone seemed to be concerned about data such as MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), and when asked if this was still a hot topic, he replied that it depends. “Every individual plant has its own management philosophy regarding the asset maintenance. As you know the modern plants. which are more dependent on automation (also called total management philosophy) generally prefer a no-man, long term uninterrupted operation, so the dependence on modern machinery health monitoring techniques and statistics analysis (such as MTBF, MTFR, Availability & Reliability records) in fault detection is high, compared to conventional plants which still use the old ways in performing the Mohammed prepares Standard Work Procedure [SWP] for maintenance of units at both client fi eld and factory workshop to ensure achieving the assigned jobs in compliance of both company, client safety and quality policies. He also troubleshoots the male functioning units and sets a fi nal economical solution of the problem with aid of Root Cause Failure Analysis techniques. “As an average you can say my time is split: 35% offi ce work (behind desk) and 65% at site practicing with crew, which I most prefer. In my prospective experience is a matter of accumulated hands on skills and knowledge shared thru discussions with other people in the same career. I used to have discussions with work colleagues when I used to do job as maintenance engineer at oil & gas facilities. Also I fi nd discussions are with professionals on the web forums where we share our experience and try to solve the issues related to pumps or other rotating equipment another source to gain more knowledge. Now as OEM specialist, the main developments for design concern performance improvement, mechanical design or environmental issues improvement and this is mainly the responsibility of either the R&D department or technical support.” Meanwhile fi eld service and work shop team is in direct contact with the customer during installation, commissioning and after-sales services which includes another types of troubles which sometimes need innovative solution. Mohammed says most of the problems are concerning mechanical issues (high vibrations or pre-mature failures), making almost an average of 50% of the request calls that come in. Others include seal performance improvement of 25% share (considered also as environmental issue when hydrocarbon and toxics are involved). “From my prospect the most challenge facing the pump industry is the increased demand for a hyper frame pumps with high standards performance, and less required maintenance and reliability records to increase the Typical System arrangement to a pump or Motor with rolling element bearings. Courtesy of API. www.pumpengineer.net 3
- 3. Typical transferring pump. Courtesy of SULZER Co. required maintenance which include hiring personnel crew. Time remains the most cost-eff ective variable but the maintenance crew has an accumulated experience so they can detect the problem quickly. Each approach has its own benefi ts and disadvantages. The fi rst one benefi ts from low overhead and running costs compared to conventional ones, but on other hand, the capital cost in modern plants is higher if compared to old ones.” Mohammed gave some common tips for running your machine safely in both cases including: • Maintain a precision level of balancing and alignment for your pump to reduce the pump’s power use and also increase the life-time for such parts as seals and bearings which could be aff ected by over stressing. • Maintain a proper record of pump health conditions such as lubricant analysis or noise and vibration level measurements, to assure early detection of any faults signs before severe damage occurs. • Maintain a proper log for the pump after every maintenance performed as a history record for your machine, which helps in setting your requirements for spares or future repairs where existing problems could not be solved in time. “The more critical the pump is to the process, the more monitoring techniques should be deployed to the pump. This is applicable even for modern plants where it’s unwise, very costly and consumes many working hours to apply all of these techniques to the whole machine fl eet in the plant. The common on-line monitoring techniques being applied are vibration and temperature monitoring, used for almost all critical and mega frame pumps (i.e feed pumps for boilers & furnaces, critical transfer pumps or product pumps as in ethylene and ammonia plants). Portable vibration analysis techniques are more common to process pumps where it’s not economical to provide on-line monitoring instruments for such pumps. Another common technique is the thermal imaging technique which is also very helpful diagnostic tool for pump condition. Power consumption analysis is more common in turbo machine applications (i.e., centrifugal compressors in gas or petrochemicals plants) than in process pump applications, but for large pumping stations (either water or transferring applications) it’s being applied for mega frame pumps using turbo drive pri-movers (steam/gas turbines), gas engines or high voltage electric motors. Lubricant analysis (such as oil and particle analysis) is also applicable for critical applications with large amounts of lubrication. For other applications such as common process pumps, it’s more economical just to maintain replacing the lubricant Typical Installations of Radial Bearing Temperature Sensors. Courtesy of API. Pump Engineer, June 2013 4
- 4. on frequent intervals and to keep the records of the visual condition of the lubricant upon replacement as an indicator of any existing problems within the pump. Improving pump performance is a matter of maintaining or restoring the internal pump components’ profi le (i.e., impellers, volute or diff users) and maintaining strict internal clearances up to original condition or common established standards (i.e., API, ASME or ANSI). I asked Mohammed if he had have any framework agreements within then whole group. He said that it depended on the nature of the project being handled. Commonly for large projects involving either train or multiple trains extensions or revamping end user will go for EPC provider to do all the sizing, bedding and procurement then it comes to the manufacturer. For other cases such as simple train or individual machine revamping or replacement, he said that the end user engineering department will take responsibility for setting the specifi cations and contract terms with the vendor. Mohammed’s work experience started as Rotating Equipment Maintenance Engineer for two diff erent oil refi neries (one was old fashioned and the other was considered as modern) plus one modern polyethylene plant. Two years as Pump Assembly Shop Engineer was followed by a change to Field Service Engineer for the Elliott Group. Mohammed considers training important and EBARA Corporation (holding company for the Elliott Group) aff ords apprenticeship programs for individuals at manufacturing plants. There is also training being aff orded to customers upon request either at situ or vendor facility. Mohammed said it would be good to improve the maintenance quality by providing high standard tools and proper training for individuals performing maintenance, and to improve the monitoring systems to the current state of art systems available. “From my prospective, I feel great satisfaction when I go home after a working day, having taken part in solving a problem or developing a solution that was successful in terms of saving money for my employer, whilst maintaining the asset in proper condition for production. More or less, it’s the joy of feeling being helpful to others.” Elliott supplies and services turbo machinery for the full spectrum of oil and gas, refi ning, LNG, petrochemical and other process and power applications. Their global service network routinely installs, overhauls, repairs, upgrades and re-rates machines from any manufacturer. Field services include: • Assistance to analyze and diagnose problems and take corrective action. • Technical direction of routine maintenance to keep turbo machinery running more effi ciently and for longer periods. • Technical opinions and repair recommendations • Technical direction and assistance for new installations and startups. • Project manager services to coordinate all phases of outage service work including major overhaul, inspection, outage and maintenance support and relocation and installation services. www.pumpengineer.net 5