Overcoming Pump Project Challenges

For example, when dealing with slurry containing particles, an ordinary clean water pump was mistakenly selected (the impeller material is not wear-resistant), and the flow rate plummeted after 1 month of operation due to severe impeller wear;

When transporting high-viscosity media (such as syrup and resin), the attenuation of viscosity on head was not considered, and a standard centrifugal pump was selected, and the actual flow rate was only 60% of the design value, which could not meet the production demand.

In extreme environments (such as high temperature working conditions in the desert of the Middle East and extremely cold regions in Northern Europe), seals or lubricants that can withstand high and low temperatures are not selected, resulting in seal leakage and bearing lock-up during pump operation.

The pumps purchased by EU customers did not pass the CE certification (such as the safety protection requirements in the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC), or the energy efficiency did not meet the standards (ERP Directive required the energy efficiency level of pumps), and the goods were detained by the customs due to non-compliance with the standards after arriving at the port, and the project was forced to be postponed.

The process pumps purchased by customers in the U.S. oil and gas industry did not meet API 610 (petrochemical pump standard), and could not pass the owner's acceptance due to materials (such as wrong selection of low-temperature steel) or vibration limits, so they needed to rework and replace parts,and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional rectification.

Food industry customers started production in Southeast Asian countries, and the lack of hygienic certifications (e.g., 3-A, FDA) for pumps led to products being stopped by local regulators due to "equipment contamination risks".

The uncertainty of international logistics and spare parts supply oftenmakes customers passive.The delivery time of large industrial pumps purchased by South American customers was delayed from 3 months to 6 months due to maritime congestion (such as the low water level of the Panama Canal), and the equipment was delayed after the completion of the project's civil construction, and the factory commissioning plan was shelved, resulting in a loss of tens of thousands of dollars per day.

After the slurry pump impeller of the African mining customer wears out, because the supplier has no spare parts inventory in the local area, it takes 4 weeks (including customs clearance) to transfer goods from China.

The European customer's chemical pump mechanical seal leaked and urgently needed to be replaced,but the supplier's spare parts code did not match the local common standard (such as DIN), resulting in an extension of the repair interval to 2 weeks.

When installing a horizontal centrifugal pump for a customer in the Middle East, due to the unleveled foundation and uneven fastening of the anchor bolts, the vibration value exceeded the standard during operation (up to 15mm/s, far exceeding the standard 4.5mm/s), and the bearing burned and the coupling broke after 3 months.

When the Southeast Asian customer debugged the inverter centrifugal pump, the frequency was not adjusted according to the medium viscosity, and the default was set according to the clear water parameter, resulting in the pump running in the "overload zone" for a long time, the motor insulation layer aging, and the burnout twice within 6 months.

When installing a sanitary rotary lobe pump in a North American food factory, the residue of the reverse installation of the sealing ring (without paying attention to the food-grade orientation mark) caused the material to residue bacteria, the product sampling inspection was unqualified, and the entire batch of goods was scrapped.

The irrigation pump of an Australian farm customer was not cleaned regularly due to impeller scaling (water source contains high calcium and magnesium ions), and the flow rate dropped by 30%, but it was mistaken for a motor failure.

The magnetic pump of the Eastern European chemical plant was selected due to the "no shaft seal" characteristic, but the customer was not aware of the "magnetic coupler demagnetization risk", and after 6 months, the magnetic failure occurred, and the medium leaked (although there was no shaft seal but the inner magnet was worn), resulting in the workshop being stopped for 3 days.

The slurry pump in the African gold mine was frequently blocked, and the customer could not judge whether it was "insufficient impeller overflow area" or "inlet pipeline leakage", and the supplier had to send engineers from China to travel (15 days round trip), during which the downtime loss exceeded one million dollars.

In order to reduce the budget, the Indian customer purchased a low-cost cast iron centrifugal pump (instead of stainless steel) to treat weakly corrosive wastewater,with an initial purchase cost of 30% lower, but after 6 months, the pump casing was corroded and perforated, and the maintenance + production stoppage loss far exceeded the price difference.

The South American customer chose a pump with an energy efficiency rating of IE2 (which did not meet the local IE3 mandatory standard), but was punished by the regulatory authorities the following year with an additional "energy efficiency fine" and a long-term operating electricity bill that was 40% higher than expected.