Pumps designed to enhance oil industry performance
Don Horne
Diaphragm pump technology is inherently accurate and can help to prevent potential leaks. Its use can reduce the costs of injection chemicals and increase pumping efficiency in high flow, high pressure applications. SPX FLOW has worked to further adapt this technology to address the increasing pressure on offshore space and weight constraints.
From its Bran+Luebbe (B+L) brand, SPX FLOW offers the NOVAPLEX Vector process triplex diaphragm pump. It harnesses the proven B+L diaphragm pump head design in a configuration that reduces installation footprint by arranging pump heads in three dimensions. Not only does this pump offer a compact solution, the arrangement of the heads reduces the number of crankshaft bearings from six to two, compared with B+L traditional Triplex Pumps. This use of fewer moving parts increases reliability of the pump as well as reducing maintenance overheads.
The diaphragm technology in the NOVAPLEX Vector pump is designed to prevent leaks of dangerous or hazardous chemicals. The pump is ideal for a range of duties including high pressure injection and fluid transfer on services including water, methanol, glycol and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) polymer. It is available with a choice of diaphragm materials to suit application needs with PTFE diaphragms handling pressures up to 400 bar and metal diaphragms pressures up to 1000 bar.
Also within its range of diaphragm pumps, the SPX FLOW B+L double-acting double diaphragm pump head has proved a popular choice, particularly for offshore applications. It generates the capacity of equivalent duplex pumps using only a simplex pump, which reduces weight, footprint and maintenance required for an installation.
Multi-stage pumps
The SPX FLOW ClydeUnion Pumps (CUP) brand is known for its provision of reliable, long life pumping solutions. From this range, its CUP-BB3 and CUP-BB5HP pumps, both comply with the latest editions of API 610 standards.
Meeting the needs of heavy duty, medium and high-pressure applications, the flexible CUP-BB3 axially split, multi-stage, double volute heavy-duty pumps offer high speed service, superb reliability and efficiency in applications varying from standard water, oil and chemical flows through to advanced water flood and boiler feed processes.
Designed for longer wear life and low static deflection, the CUP-BB5HP are heavy-duty multi-stage, radially split barrel pumps available with inline or back-to-back impeller arrangements. As well as offering high speed and reliability, the range includes clever features such as a pioneering Shear Ring cartridge locking system which enables rapid withdrawal of all the pump internals as a cartridge without disturbing pump alignment or pipework. These pumps are well-proven in areas such as produced water/seawater injection, flow line displacement and main oil line applications.
Positive displacement twin screw pumps
For rotary positive displacement pumps, the SPX FLOW Plenty Mirrlees range incorporates a wide array of screw and vane pumps ideal for the pumping of heavy viscous liquids such as the Twinro W750 rotary twin screw pump, which is designed for high flow transfer of viscous and non viscous liquids in accordance with the requirements of API 676 3rd edition. It is ideal for a wide range of applications including ship bunkering, bilge and ballast, process/tank transfer and terminal distribution.
The W750 pump construction is based around a fabricated casing and replaceable sleeve in which the screws rotate. The screw form and shaft are of one-piece construction to maximize accuracy and reduce deflection even at high discharge pressure. The precisely machined, accurate screw profile ensures high volumetric efficiency and low running costs. The screwset is designed so that the screws intermesh without metallic contact, making the pump suitable for non-lubricating duties. The hydraulic balance of the unit further provides a smooth axial pulse free flow, producing low noise, low vibration operation.
To help ensure safety, an integral, full flow relief valve is available if required for pump protection with rapid opening, damped closing and no destructive pressure surges. For complete loading or unloading of tanks, the W750 can further handle dry start and stop for a limited period.
