Application of Advance Technology & Design Methodology
Abrasive Wear
in
Water Injection Pump
DESIGN: Diffuser-Type Barrel Pump
SERVICE: 8000 hp Water Injection Pump
(4000 PSI AT 5400 RPM)
LOCATION: Offshore Platform
PROBLEM: Pump MTBR was only 6 months
/ 11/13/20241
Abrasive Wear on Pump Component Before Upgrade
Abrasive wear seen on diffuser vane tips Erosion seen on radial slot swirl breaks
and grooves in drum liner
Material loss in
stage casings
Abrasive wear seen on impeller vanes Abrasive wear seen on balance drum at Abrasive wear seen on mechanical seal
the location of liner grooves bore - up to 5mm deep
Split ring
location damage
/ 11/13/20242
Reduction of Performance Due to Abrasive Wear
3400 100
Original
Performance
3000 80
head [ f t ]
2600 60
ef f i ci ency [ %]
2200
Degraded 40
Performance
1500
power [ B HP]
1800 20 1000
500
0 0
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
f l o w [ USGPM ]
/ 11/13/20243
Wear mechanism in pumps
no wear
3-body
lower concentration
B B
full concentration
particle erosion
A A A
Velocities
A
A: high
B B
B: medium to high
C
C: high
(90° impact, jet)
/ 11/13/20244
Market Leading Sulzer Technology
SUME®PUMP Coating Range
• Initially a solution for Produced Water Injection
Pumps.
• Has become a standard for all abrasive duties, and
increasingly used for ‘clean’ duties.
• Available exclusively to Sulzer Pumps.
Erosion-corrosion tests at different velocities
material loss in um/48
60.0
40.0
hours
20 m/s
20.0 40 m/s
0.0
Duplex SUME®PUM SUME®PUM
Colmonoy 6 Colmonoy 5 Stellite 6
Ferralium P SA60 P SH30
20 m/s 28.0 11.5 5.0 2.4 0.8 0.4
40 m/s 24.2 38.6 22.9 5.3 1.3 0.9
material
/ 11/13/20245
Design changes - impeller
HVOF
Impeller vanes coated in
HVOF to reduce
abrasive wear
New square split ring design
❑ Split ring HVOF coated
❑ Ring large enough to fully New radius at hub & shroud
cover impeller keyway corner, HVOF coated to
counteract high particle
velocity wear
/ 11/13/20246
Wear Ring Design – Previous Versus New
previous new
Stationary wear ring
Exposed edges of Radius on wear ring
coatings are
damaged by particle
Particles more
impacts
closely follow the
fluid streamline
Impeller
HVOF Coating
Particles impact edges
and surfaces
❑ Sharp edges cause flow streamlines to contract ❑ Radius ensures smoother flow, reducing erosion
❑ Localised erosion occurs downstream ❑ Resultant drop in efficiency is un-measurable
/ 11/13/20247
Design Changes – Stage Casing and Diffuser Combined
HVOF coating was applied on the
contacting surfaces
HVOF coating was applied on the
diffuser inlet vanes
/ 11/13/20248
Design Changes – Balance Drum Liner
Liner bore HVOF coated
Face of liner
turned to aid
flow of
particles
Face and swirl Grooves removed to reduce
break HVOF abrasive wear on Balance Drum
coated
Design changes
❑ Swirl break design changed to reduce abrasive wear
❑ Face of liner turned to change particle flow direction
❑ Grooves removed from liner bore New radial slot swirl
➢ Lateral Rotordynamic Analysis break design
➢ Shaft Stress Analysis
/ 11/13/202411
Design changes – Balance Drum Liner
❑ Swirl break design changed to reduce abrasive
wear
❑ Face of liner turned to incorporate a recess in
order to change particle flow direction
Particle flow from new
face design
Particle flow in new swirl
break. Swirl Breaks
designed to smooth flow
radially before entering
balance labyrinth
Back shroud
HVOF coated
/ 11/13/202412
Summary of design changes
❑ Impeller ❑ Delivery cover / Suction cover
➢ New coating profile
➢ New top hat sleeve – Spares item
➢ Radius at back shroud
➢ Vanes coated in HVOF ❑ Balance Drum
➢ Split ring design ➢ Return to parallel fit design
❑ Balance Drum Liner
❑ Stationary wear rings
➢ New face & radial slot swirl break design –
➢ Corner radius HVOF
❑ Stage casings & Diffusers ➢ Grooves removed from liner bore
➢ Lateral analysis performed
➢ Coated in HVOF
➢ Shaft stress analysis performed
➢ Diffuser vanes coated in
HVOF
/ 11/13/202413
Result of Upgrade
Result
Pump now achieves over 2
years MTBR
Benefit
Significant maintanence
cost reduction
/ 11/13/202414
Thank You For Your Attention
/ 11/13/202415
