Petrochemical Machinery Insights

In this Book

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Your Agitator Just Failed—What Now?
• Alignment Choices have Consequences
• Pump Alignment Reduces Power Demand
• Alignment Specifics Contribute to Effective Asset Management
• Dealing with Asset Management and Life Extension
• Picking the Right Oil Viscosity for Your Machines
• Bearing Styles and Configurations
• Optimized Lubricant Application for Rolling Element Bearings
• Pump Bearings and Allowable Temperatures
• Ranking Bearings and Lube Application Methods for Process Pumps and Drivers
• Bearing Housing Protector Seals and the Value of Reducing Lube Oil Contamination Risk
• Modern Blowers Can Be Reliable
• Positive Displacement Blowers with Bearings using Both Pure and Purge Oil Mist Lubrication
• Upgrade Your Compressor Antisurge Control Valves
• Consider Single-Point Responsibility for Compressors
• Toroidal Chamber Rotary Compressors
• Vent Gas Compressor Selection
• Consider Innovative Cooling Tower Fan Motor and Drive Technology
• Coupling Types and Styles
• Advances in Dry Gas Seal Technology for Compressors
• Three- to Eight-Stage Integral Gear-Driven Centrifugal Process Gas Compressor Overview
• Monitoring Electric Motor Vibration and Optimizing Motor Bearing Lubricant Application
• Electric Motors and Mechanical Efficiency
• Smart Motor Lubrication Saves Energy
• Oil Mist and Electric Motor Windings
• Consider Pregrouted Pump Baseplates and New Grout Systems
• Field Erection and Installation Specifications for Special Purpose Machinery—How Detailed Should They Be?
• How Pump Installation Differs from the Way Pumps Were Shipped to Your Plant
• Assessing Advances in Gasket Designs
• Sealing Gearboxes against Water Intrusion
• Why Bearing Housing Protector Seals are Needed
• Grounding Ring Technology for Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)
• Innovations That are Duplications of Effort
• Process Innovations That Pose Dangers
• Involve Innovators in Fluid Machinery Upgrading
• Resolving Grease Lubrication Controversies
• Purposeful Grease Specifications Essential to Saving Money
• Lubrication Misunderstood
• How High-Performance Oils and Greases Extend the Application Range for Sealed Bearings
• Auditing Your Lubrication Practices
• Lubricating Slow-Speed Rolling Element Bearings
• How the Best Lubricant Providers Add Value
• Expansion Chamber Sizing
• No Fast Path to Maintenance Brilliance
• Maintenance Best Practices Involving Pumps
• Confused about Reliability-Centered Maintenance?
• Use Selective PM and PdM for Your Compressors
• Substantive Change Needed
• Was That a Failure or “Just a Repair”?
• How Small Deviations Compromise Reliability in Pumps
• Deviations Add up to Become Exponential Failure Risks in Compressors
• Management's Role in Achieving and Sustaining Reliability Focus
• First Priority—Pick the Ripe, Low-Hanging Fruit
• Delegating Responsibility Brings Benefits
• Challenges Facing Managers in Industry
• Organizing for Continuous Improvement
• Managing Our Time
• How Flawed Reward Systems Cost You Dearly
• High-Performance Polymeric Wear Materials
• FRMP and High-Pressure Fluoropolymer Throttle Bushings
• Consider Casting Salvaging Methods
• Straightening Carbon Steel Shafts
• Reconciling Requirements in API-682 Dual-Seal Design Configurations
• More about Pumping Ring Designs for Dual Mechanical Seals
• Unusual Flush Plans for Mechanical Seals
• Cost Savings with Advantageous Mechanical Seals and API Seal Flush Plans
• Consider Mutually Beneficial Strategic Mechanical Seal Partnerships Only
• Repetitive Pump Seal Failures Can Cause Disasters
• Diamond-Coated Seal Face Technology
• Converting from Gland Packing in a Boiler Feed Pump—A Case Study
• Competent Repair Shops and Some Upgrade Options That Extend Pump Uptime
• Upgrading as an Aftermarket Parts Alternative for Process Pumps
• Non-OEM “Billet-to-Final-Test” Capabilities
• Repurposing Major Process Pumps
• How to Capture and Apply More Pump Expertise
• Spare Parts Availability and the Need for Non-OEM Options
• Oil-Mist Systems for Plant-Wide Lubrication of General Purpose Machinery
• Oil Mist as a Preservation Strategy and What to Do if No Oil-Mist Preservation Was in Place
• Closed Oil-Mist Systems and an Update on Maintenance Cost Avoidance
• Oil-Mist Lubrication Reliability Statistics
• Grooved and other Oil Rings—Claims and Counterclaims
• When Not to Use Oil Rings
• The Operator's Role in Achieving Equipment Reliability
• Consider Procedure Cards, Technical Books, and Maintenance Conferences
• Reassess Your Pump Start-up and Shutdown Procedures
• Pump Switching—What's Best Practice?
• More than Procedures are Needed
• Organizing to Be Reliability-Focused
• Ten Sure Steps to Substandard Reliability Performance
• How to Turn ODR-OPPM into a Worthwhile Initiative
• Reliability Implementation is an Organizational Issue
• Counting Interventions Instead of MTBF—An Organizational Issue
• Thinking Independently—An Organizational Issue
• More about Unreliability, Global Procurement, and You
• Upgrading Fan Bearings
• Configure Pump Suction Piping Carefully
• Pump Suction Strainer Issues
• Flexible Connectors for Pumps—Points and Counterpoints
• Pipe Supports and Spring Hangers
• Remembering Flixborough
• Reliability Professionals and How They are Perceived by others
• Suction Specific Speed Choices have Consequences
• One Pump Fire per 1000 Pump Repairs
• Not Ready for 29-Year-Old Pump Packing
• Understanding Filter Beta Ratio and Beta Efficiency
• Why Breaking the Cycle of Process Pump Repairs is Important
• Periodic Switching—Caution with Parallel Operation of Pumps
• Consider Disk-like Impellers for Viscous Fluids
• Why Pump Shaft Failures Happen
• Consider Recessed Impeller Pumps
• Auditing Vertical Pump Mechanical Reliability
• Upgrading the Mechanical Design of Vertical Multistage Centrifugal Pumps in Low-Temperature Service
• Recognizing the Pitfalls of Pumping at Part Load or in Parallel
• Buying Better Pumps
• Reciprocating Compressors with Floating Pistons
• Upgrading Compressor Piston Rods
• Gaining Flexibility with Special Liners for Reciprocating Compressor Cylinders
• Interpreting API Standard 618 for Reciprocating Compressors
• Upgrade Kits and Service Bulletins
• Reliable Because of Up-Front Investment in “MQA”
• Buy from Knowledgeable and Cooperative Pump Vendors
• Selection of Better Equipment Starts with Understanding Available Upgrade Options
• Unreliability, Engineers, and Lawyers
• How to Trim-Cut Closed Pump Impellers
• Equipment Life Extension Involves Upgrades
• Top Ways to Improve Pump Life
• Reasonable Pump Life Assessed from Published Statistics and Proprietary Consulting Access
• How to Improve Equipment Repair Quality
• Notes from a Consulting Assignment
• Consider the Most Effective Approach to Data Collection
• Why Users Must Update Design Contractors' Understanding
• What to Consider When It's No Longer Safe to Work at Your Workplace
• When Does a Good Practice Become a Bad Practice
• Avoiding Failures of Three-Dimensional Compressor Impellers
• Repetitive Pump Seal Failures Can Cause Disasters
• How Can Remaining Run-Length Potential Be Determined?
• Machinery Quality Assessment (MQA) Needed on Twin-Screw Compressors
• Standards and Disclaimers
• Expanding the Scope of Industry Specifications—Include Installation Specifications in Addenda
• Selecting Steam Turbines in a “Lean” Environment
• Steam Turbine Overspeed Protection Retrofits
• Consider Bearing Protection for Small Steam Turbines
• Consider “Water Washing” for Steam Turbines
• Steam Trap Technology Worth Understanding
• Pump Suction Strainers
• Consider Suspended Access Scaffolding
• Finding Answers to Library and Training Dilemmas
• Attend User Symposia for Continuous Improvement
• Fact-Checking after Attending Reliability Conferences
• Why Continuing Education Budgets are Dropped First
• Early Data Collection Facilitates Future Analysis
• Studying the Best-of-Class Training and Organizing Lineup
• Membership in Technical Societies
• Leaders Allocate Time for Technology Updates
• Acquire a Marketable Skill
• A Turboexpander Overview
• Factors Often Overlooked in V-Belt Applications
• Machine Condition Inspection Systems
• Field-Installed Vibration Amplitudes for Centrifugal Pumps
• Vibration Limits—Similar but no Consensus
• Vibration Limits for Gas Turbines
• Asset Condition Monitoring with Ultrasound
• Justification for Machine Condition Monitoring
• Consider Amended Warranties
• Consider the Destructive Force of Water Hammer
• Despite Gaining “Insights”, Industry Will Always Face Challenges
• Glossary