Mechanical Technology March 2015

⎪

Pump systems, pipes, valves and seals

⎪

Mechanical Technology — March 2015

and head, this is a problem for the cool-

ing system manufacturer. Something is

out of control.

Suggested action:

Make them solve the

problem. Contact the tower manufacturer

and the pump company. Get a lawyer

and threaten a malpractice lawsuit if

you must.

Scenario 2:

If your relatively new cooling

water system is out of warranty and the

pumps never properly delivered head

and flow, then it’s your problem but it

is easy to fix.

Suggested action:

Contract a pump

specialist in your city and work with

him. Or, read Chapter 8 of my pump

book, which shows you how to trace

the energy through a pipe system. It will

show you where energy is consumed in

the pipe system.

Scenario 3:

If your cooling water system

has been functioning correctly for many

years, and suddenly has new demands on

it, such as increased load or production,

or newly installed process devices that

consume energy, then you may be able

to upgrade your existing main pumps, or

consider the booster pumps as proposed.

Suggested Action:

Decide if you need

more head or more flow, or more head

and more flow to meet the new demands

on the system. Get quotes on a pump

upgrade. Get quotes on larger pumps. Get

quotes on higher speed drives. Compare

the cost and installation of the booster

pumps to the cost and installation of the

other options and choose the most cost-

effective solution.

Scenario 4:

If your existing cooling water

system has performed correctly for a

number of years, but has mysteriously

stopped functioning correctly, you must

locate that mystery and correct it. It’s not

really a mystery. The mystery will reveal

itself with some well-placed pressure

gauges and a clip-on flow meter.

Suggested Action:

Contact a local pump

specialist, or me or read Chapter 8 of my

book. Start with the pump (performance

curve, gauges, flow meter) and confirm

that the pump is either correct or incor-

ATEX product and service range extended

ollowing recent ATEX certification of the

LabTecta bearing protection product

range, AESSEAL has announced ATEX certi-

fication of all its standard mechanical seals.

The products are certified to comply with

ATEX directive 94/9/EC, and are backed by

an ATEX assessment and support service

included at no additional charge to the cus-

tomer. ATEX is the certification that allows

product installation in environments with

potentially explosive atmospheres. It is ex-

tensively specified in applications throughout

South Africa and Europe.

Compliance was achieved after consider-

able investment in developing the necessary

technical expertise, experience and know-

how to assess

ATEX applications

and ensure com-

pliance with this

standard as well

as ISO 29001.

AESSEAL is actively involved with various

industry bodies to ensure that the mechani-

cal seal industry properly advises its users in

hazardous area applications. The AESSEAL

range of mechanical seals and seal sup-

port systems is suitable for a wide range

of industries including oil and gas, mining,

water and wastewater, power generation,

pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and food and

beverage.

rect. This is relatively easy and fast. If

the problem is not in the pump, it is in

the system.

The pump will do what the system

makes it do. The energy (head) designed

into the pump should be the same as

(or very close to) the energy contained

in the system.

Installing booster pumps may be the

correct route to solve this pump or system

problem. But the performance curves of

the main cooling tower pumps with the

system curve and the duty coordinates,

along with sufficient suction pressure

must all be established before boosting

pump pressure.