2/27/2017 PumpSafety:FlirtingwithDisasterChemicalEngineering

AUTOMATION & CONTROL PDF

PUMP SAFETY: FLIRTING WITH DISASTER

By Robert X. Perez | December 1, 2016

Be vigilant about parallel pumping conditions that can lead to catastrophic failures

During my career, I have seen several massive centrifugal pump failures caused by pump users attempting to operate pumps in parallel without the proper
equipment review, procedural review or instrumentation. Parallel pump operation happens when two centrifugal pumps are installed side by side with common
suction and discharge headers (Figures 1 and 2). In an ideal scenario, if both pumps have essentially identical head ow characteristics, then each pump should
contribute equally to the total ow going into the discharge header, barring any unexpected line restrictions. However, problems often arise when operators
assume that both that the pumps are identical in head, and that ow characteristics and ows will remain similar throughout the pumps lifetimes.

Figure 1. When parallel pumps are installed and operated in parallel, individual pump ows are additive, but
pump heads are not. Problems often arise when operators assume the pumps are identical in head and ow
characteristics and that ows will remain similar throughout the pumps lifetimes

OPERATING PARALLEL PUMPS

Lets look at a case (Figure 2) where, due to manufacturing and assembly dierences, the rst pump delivers 300 gal/min and the second pump delivers 315
gal/min. The total ow is 615 gal/min, which means that the rst pump is delivering 48.8% of the total ow and the second pump is delivering 51.2% of the
total ow.

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If these pumps have best eciency point (BEP) ows of 400 gal/min, then the rst pump is running at 75% of its BEP ow, and the second pump is operating
at 78.8% of its BEP ow. This example probably represents a typical situation in which pumps provide similar head ow characteristics to the job at hand.

When centrifugal pumps are operated in parallel, individual pump ows are additive, while pump heads are not. After studying Figure 3, the reader will surmise
that, when operated in parallel, individual pump ows add to the right of the head-ow curves while the head that each pumps experiences remains the same.
For example, as shown in Figure 3, at a value of about 288 ft of head, each pump delivers about 400 gal/min, yielding a total combined ow of 800 gal/min.
Remember that this example assumes identical pumps are piped in parallel which is rarely the case in the real world.

Figure 3. Shown here are performance curves where pump head is plotted against ow for a single centrifugal
pump, and for two identical centrifugal pumps operating in parallel

Now, lets look at a situation where one of the pumps operating in parallel has some wear. For example, Figure 4 shows the pump curves for a healthy and a
worn pump on a single plot. For simplication, the pump curves have been linearized. As seen in Figure 4, the worn pump produces less head at all ows. As the
wear becomes more and more severe, there will be a ow value where the healthy pump will completely overcome the worn pump and cause its ow to drop to
zero.

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Figure 4. The blue line represents a linearized form of a healthy centrifugal pump curve, and the red line
represents a linearized form of a pump curve for of a worn centrifugal pump

A zero-ow condition occurs because, even at shut-in ow conditions, the weaker pump can no longer generate sucient head pressure to overcome the
discharge header pressure and open its discharge check valve. It goes without saying that zero ow is very bad for centrifugal pumps.

It has been well-documented in the literature that operating centrifugal pumps at low-ow conditions relative to their BEP can lead to excessive vibration,
pressure pulsations, accelerated bearing and seal wear, and rapid internal heating. We also know that prolonged operation of centrifugal pumps at very low or
zero ow can lead to rapid catastrophic failures, which can result in expensive pump repairs, product releases and res.

THE PUMP-SHUTOFF TRIANGLE

Looking at the upper left of the two curves in Figure 5, one can imagine a triangle comprised of the healthy pump curve, a horizontal line that intersects the
pump head axis at the location of the worn pump shut-o head ( H so), and the pump head axis (the ordinate). The orange oval shown in Figure 5 highlights a
closeup of the low-ow regions of the performance curves.

Figure 5. The pump-shuto triangle is constructed using the linearized curve for the healthy centrifugal
pump, the linearized pump curve for the worn pump and the ordinate

By observation, the slope of the healthy pump curve can be written as follows:

(1)

Here we assume the pump curve is fairly at and can be reasonably estimated by a straight line, where:

m = slope of the healthy pumps head ow curve (linearized)

H BEP = Head at the best eciency ow

H so = Head at shut-o

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Q BEP = Flow at BEP

By inspection, we can write the following relationship to dene the pump shut-o triangle:

(2)

H * so = Head at shuto of the degraded pump

Q so= Flow of the healthy pump that will produce the head required to shut o the degraded pump

Setting these two equations equal to the slope m, we arrive at the following:

(3)

If we solve the new relationship for Q so /Q BEP we get:

(4)

The term Q so /Q BEP is the ow ratio that will result in the shuto of the degraded pump.

We will run through a few examples to better understand the value of this new equation.

Example 1. Lets assume that one of the pumps is 100% healthy and the sister pump has degraded to the point where it is producing only 90% of its original
head. After doing some research, you nd that the ratio of the head at BEP and shut-o head ( H BEP /H so) is 0.8. If we plug this information into the Q so /Q BEP
equation we get the following:

(5)

The result means that for this set of conditions we can expect the weaker pump to experience a shuto condition when the healthier pump reaches a ow
of 50% of its BEP.

Example 2. Now, lets assume that one of the pumps is 100% healthy and the sister pump has degraded to the point where it is producing only 95% of its
original head. After doing some research, you determine that the ratio of the head at BEP and shuto head ( H BEP /H so) is 0.85. If we plug this information into
the Q so /Q BEP equation we get the following:

(6)

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In this example, we see that we can drop the ow on the healthy pump down to 33.3% of the BEP ow before a shuto ow conditions is experienced.

Example 3. Finally, lets assume that one of the pumps is 100% healthy and the sister pump has degraded to the point where it is producing only 95% of its
original head. After doing some research, you nd that the ratio of the head at BEP and shuto head ( H BEP /H SO) is 0.7. The reader will notice that the Q SO /Q
BEP ratio is much lower in this example, which means that this pump curve has a higher head rise to shuto. If we plug this information into the Q so /Q BEP
equation we get:

(7)*

Notice that when there is a larger head to rise to shuto, a lower healthy pump ow can be tolerated before a shuto condition is reached. The converse to
this statement is that pumps with at head-ow curves are much more sensitive to ow imbalance when internal wear occurs.

*Editors note: The value for HBEP/HSO is stated earlier as 0.7 and not as 0.75. When 0.7 is used in this equation, the value of QSO/QBEP is 0.167 and not 0.20

RECOMMENDATIONS

When multiple pumps are run in parallel, there is a very real likelihood of experiencing imbalanced ows during the course of their operation. Pump
manufacturing dierences, internal pump wear, large swings in process conditions, internal pluggage and asymmetrical piping designs can all contribute to
unbalanced pump ows. No matter how hard you try, there will always be a possibility that a laggard pump could one day crash if performance degradation goes
unnoticed before a shut-in condition occurs. The safest philosophy is to assume there will always be some level of pump ow imbalance, so operators should
continuously monitor individual pump ows as a means of avoiding catastrophic low-ow conditions.

Here are some guidelines for designing parallel pump installations:

Always try to install parallel pumps with similar head-ow characteristics. Running dissimilar pumps in parallel is asking for trouble

Ensure that the associated pump piping is symmetrical so that ows are better balanced

Never operate pumps in parallel that were not designed for such operation

Parallel pumps should have dedicated owmeters installed on each pump. Flowmeters installed to measure the total pump ow in parallel applications are
useful for process control, but can mislead you into thinking that everything is normal. Each pump needs to have a healthy ow at all times

Use owmeters to provide low-ow shutdowns on each pump for protection. As a general rule of thumb, shutdowns can be set at about 30% of BEP ow

Install ow-imbalance alarms on each pump to provide alerts about ow dierences. Activate an alarm whenever a ow dierence of greater than 10%
between individual pump ows occurs

Set low-ow alarms on each pump at 40 to 50% of BEP ow

Designate one pump as the lead pump and one as the lagging pump, so that if ows are essentially equal and total ow drops for some reason, the lagging
pump will be shut down and the lead pump will continue running

Dont be talked into using power meters or current meters to indicate ow. The relationship between power and ow varies based on the pumps
hydraulic design and may not provide an accurate indication of ow

In variable-frequency drive (VFD) installations, always operate all of the pumps running in parallel at the same speed to ensure that they are generating
approximately the same head

A PLC (programmable logic controller) can be used to switch pumps o and on based on the current process demand, or to alert operators when pumps
should be started or shut down based on the process requirements

The thoughtful design and careful installation of a parallel pumping system (Figure 6) will greatly increase the chances of reliable operation for years.
Remember to train operators to treat parallel pumps with extra care and to keep an eye out for signs of early trouble, such as increased vibration or pressure
pulsation levels. Plant personnel are the eyes and ears of your organization. n

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Figure 6. Centrifugal pump failures are often caused by pump users attempting to operate pumps in parallel
without the proper equipment review, procedural review or instrumentation

REFERENCES

1. Perez, Robert X., and Conkey, Andrew P., Troubleshooting Rotating Machinery, Including Centrifugal Pumps and Compressors, Reciprocating
Pumps, and Compressors, Fans, Steam Turbines, Electric Motors, and More, Scrivener Publishing, 2016.

2. Perez, Robert X., and Lawhon, David W., Operators Guide to General Purpose Steam Turbines, Scrivener Publishing, 2016.

AUTHOR

Robert X. Perez is currently employed by a pipeline company in San Antonio, Tex. (Email: rxperez@pumpcalcs.com; Phone: 210-262-3298). He
has more than 30 years of rotating equipment experience in the petrochemical industry. He earned a B.S.M.E. degree from Texas A&M University
(College Station), a M.S.M.E. degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Texas. Perez
served as an adjunct professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, where he developed and taught the Engineering Technology Rotating
Equipment course. Perez has authored four books (including Ref. 1 and 2), and coauthored four books in the eld of machinery reliability. Perez
has also written numerous machinery reliability articles for technical conferences and magazines.

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