PUMPInsight

News on Pump Technology, Systems and Services

Second Quarter 2007

Multiphase Pump Upgrading

Located in the south eastern section of Venezuela, in the area of Zuata, is the largest population of Flowserve
Multiphase Twin Screw Pumps in the world. This field consists of 322 wells and most have demonstrated an
increased level of water, gas and sand, which causes changes in the viscosity of the product, as well as a
reduction of the pump volumetric efficiency, which can lead to lower production.
Since the middle of 2005, Flowserve and the customer have
been working together to find a solution that would reduce
the harmful effects produced by the well deterioration.
Some of the primary changes implemented were:
Increased the pump rotating speed from 930 to 1100
RPM in a first stage and then from 1100 to 1200 RPM
in a second stage.
Reduced the clearance between the casing and the screw
rotor to reduce slip effect.
Increased the wear area hardness with a tungsten carbide
overlay on the screw tips and the inner casing bore. This
was done to mitigate the wear caused by the combination of sand and velocity.
The pilot witnessed test was performed at the Flowserve
Brantford Facility in Canada. With the positive testing
results, the customer agreed to modify the speed of the
installed pump. By making this change they are now able to
generate 20% more heavy oil. In addition, this upgrade
enhanced the pumps ability to handle the sand in the oil
which lead to improved pump reliability.

Multiphase pump installation

(As found)

Multiphase Pump Repair

(As Shipped)

The Flowserve Barcelona service center in Venezuela has

become one of the few facilities in the world with experience in repairing and upgrading this critical equipment. To
date, seventeen pumps have been upgraded and repaired,
producing excellent results for the customer and demonstrating Flowserves ability to deliver Total Solutions to the
Oil and Gas industry.

Andrs Gonzalez
Service Center Manager

Sergio Ramos
Technical Services Engineer
Barcelona Service Center

Editorial team

Multiphase Pump Installation

Tim Wotring
VP engineering & Technology
twotring@flowserve.com

Emily Cegelski
Marketing Manager
ecegelski@flowserve.com

Rianne van Wetten

Marketing Assistant
Technical Services EMA

Richard Tran
Director Technical Services
North America
rtran@flowserve.com

Mike Daugherty
Marketing Communications Manager
mdaugherty@flowserve.com

Flowserve BV
P.O. Box 25
4870 AA Etten-Leur
The Netherlands
tel.: +31.76.5028299
fax: +31.76.5028310
rwetten@flowserve.com

Layout Kreateam Communicatie bv, Wouw

Print Altorffer Drukkerijen, Roosendaal

Experience In Motion

PUMPInsight Second Quarter 2007

Life-Cycle Cost Improvement by Retrofitting Joule Thomson Valves

with Cryogenic Expanders in Existing LNG Plants
In nearly all LNG plants, the liquefaction of the gas is achieved by the Carnot process. Low-pressure streams,
after this liquefaction process, are achieved typically using Joule Thomson (JT) valves. In such JT valves, the
expansion takes place at constant enthalpy and the stream energy is dissipated as heat. While in many cases,
constant enthalpy expansion can result in slightly reduced temperatures, in typical cryogenic applications, the
temperature rises slightly ( 1 C). When the liquid stream is expanded down to the pressure suitable for storage
and transfer to the shipping vessel, a large quantity of the liquid is flashed off. This is a significant source of
reduced LNG throughput for the plant.

The use of cryogenic expanders instead of the JT valve

provides significant benefit to the plant. The expansion
process in the expander is nearly isentropic and in all cases
the decrease in pressure is accompanied by a decrease in
temperature ( 1 C). Since this process is very efficient,
(modern expanders achieve isentropic efficiencies on the
order of 85% - 88%), very little heat goes into the process
stream and the NLG plant can process more LNG. Also,
the quantity of gas flashed off at the final pressure is
significantly smaller than when a JT valve is used. This
contributes also to an increase in the amount of LNG liquid
that can be put into the storage tank.
Further, if an expander is used on the mixed refrigerant
stream, the increase in the volume of liquid entering the
main heat exchanger after expansion leads to a greater
vaporization effect producing a further increase in the LNG
production for the same refrigeration compressor power.
These effects on the LNG stream and the mixed refrigerant
stream typically lead to 2% to 6% increase in LNG throughput for the same compressor power.
A side benefit of the expander is that there is also a
considerable quantity of electric power generated by the
expanders that can be put back into the grid. However, the
economic value of this power generation is generally not
considered to be significant in the economic justification.
Figure 1
Flowserve TKW Expander

A further point to be noticed is

that the Flowserve expander utilizes an external generator. Since
this component is under ambient
conditions, the losses are simply
dissipated to the atmosphere. In
contrast, other expander system
uses an internal generator. In
this case, the generator losses
have to be carried away by the
process fluid itself thereby
reducing the process value of
Figure 2
the expander. This additional loss Malaysia Expander
can easily exceed 5%, certainly for
liquid filled submerged generators.

Figure 3. Extra LNG production in US$ for a one train LNG facility and a
8-train LNG facility by retrofitting JT valves with a cryogenic turbine.

Flowserve has the capabilities and experience to perform

turn-key engineering and implementations for installing
cryogenic expanders in an existing LNG plant.

Jan Verhoeven
Director worldwide Technical Services

flowserve.com

PUMPInsight Second Quarter 2007

Elevated Temperature Service-Metallurgical Problems Associated

With Age
Many pumps are used in elevated temperature service, with operating temperatures in some cases as high as
370 or 425 C (700 or 800 F). These pumps may be in service for twenty years or longer. Flowserve is often asked
to repair or refurbish pumps that have been in elevated temperature service for many years. On a number of
occasions, metallurgical examinations have identified micro-structural changes that have important implications
for the further life of the component. This article will discuss some of these findings, and how they influence decisions to repair or replace some of these pumps that have accumulated many hours in high temperature service.
Metallurgical Changes Over Time
All of the materials commonly used in pumps have some
maximum temperature limit above which they are not
acceptable for use. This temperature limit may be dictated
by loss of mechanical properties and/or by metallurgical
changes that alter the engineering properties of the material.
Martensitic stainless steels are susceptible to micro-structural changes at elevated temperature, and these changes
can adversely affect the engineering properties. In theory,
martensitic (ie. 12 or 13% chrome steels) can be used to at
least 400 or 425 C (750 or 800 F, indefinitely, since the
ASME Code allows their use, and provides allowable stresses at these temperatures. In practice, however, it must be
recognized that a martensitic structure is not an equilibrium
structure. This means that, over long periods of time, the
microstructure will, at elevated temperature, slowly change
to an equilibrium structure. The following example is typical.
A martensitic stainless steel pump was found to have
corrosion, and cracking on the impeller and the diffuser.
The pump had been in naphtha service. The pump was
probably thirty years old, and had previously been in hydrotreater charge service, at 232 C (450 F). Metallurgical
examination showed the impeller and diffuser had considerable variation in hardness from one location to another. The
microstructures were characterized by heavy carbide precipitation in grain boundaries, Figure 1. One of the many
cracks in the diffuser is also seen in this photo. A normal
martensitic
microstructure is
shown, for comparison, in Figure 2.

Fig. 1: Degraded martensitic structure with

precipitated carbides

flowserve.com

The degraded
microstructure is the
result of very long
exposure at elevated
temperature. The pre-

cise temperatures and

times are not known,
as is usually the case
with these old pumps.
The operating temperature almost certainly
did not exceed 450 C
(800 F). The degraded
microstructure is more
Fig. 2: Normal martensitic structure
prone to both corrosion,
and cracking than a normal microstructure. Thermal fatigue
may also play a role in the extensive cracking.

Conclusions
Materials used in pumps do not have infinite life when used
in high temperature service. Microstructural changes occur
slowly, over long periods of time. Non-equilibrium structures, such as martensite, will gradually degrade, and
return to the equilibrium structure. Grain growth may also
occur. These changes correlate with a slow deterioration in
mechanical properties.
Customers should understand that the cumulative effects of
heat, thermal cycling, and stress take a toll. Microstructural
changes, which are not readily apparent, eventually promote several types of degradation, including cracking and
loss of corrosion resistance. Flowserve Technical Services
offers a full metallurgical review of old castings to verify
whether these castings can be repaired or have to be
renewed depending on the level of material degradation.

Colin McCaul
Senior Metallurgist

PUMPInsight Second Quarter 2007

The Flowserve Energy Management Program

To Help Reducing Your Pump Life Cycle Cost
Global competition, increasing energy costs, environmental legislation and European Directives (in 2020 the
economy will use 20% less energy than used in 2006) are driving industry to seek energy reduction opportunities
and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As part of our Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) initiatives, Flowserve is
advocating a system based approach focusing on operation, maintenance, repair and downtime costs. The TCO
can be significantly impacted when reduced energy cost, improved pump reliability and optimized pump operating regimes are realized.
More specifically, pumps are the single largest user of electricity in industry in the European Union, consuming 160
TWhpa of electricity and accounting for 79 Mton CO2 emissions. Therefore, pumps, being high energy consumers,
have a high profile with the European Commission (EC).
Industrial gas and electricity prices have more than doubled
in the last 3 years and under the Kyoto Protocol, the EU
has agreed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by
8 percent between 2008 and 2012 relative to 1990 levels.

There is a significant energy saving potential associated

with pumping systems; however, limited measures and
only small steps have been implemented to realize these
savings. While some energy savings may be achieved
through improvements affecting the pump, still greater
savings will be accomplished through measures that affect
the whole pumping system; however energy management
consulting and assessment services organizations (ESCOs)
while capable of identifying energy consuming equipment,
typically lack the engineering and technical skills to fully
analyze pumping systems, and the ability to engineer
mechanical/hydraulic design changes that will maximize
energy savings.
Flowserve recognizes that optimization of a clients pumps
and systems relies on accurate operating data being available for the existing installations. Unfortunately, lack of
instrumentation, the indeterminate condition of pumps and
loss of historical data often means that this information is
not available. To overcome these problems, Flowserves

USA and Canada

Flowserve Corporation
Pump Division
5215 North OConnor Blvd.
Suite 2300
Irving, Texas 75039-5421 USA
Telephone: 1 972 443 6500
Telefax: 1 972 443 6800

Europe, Middle East, Africa

Flowserve Corporation
Pump Division
Via Rossini 90/92
20033 Desio (Milan), Italy
Telephone: 39 0362 6121
Telefax: 39 0362 303396

dedicated Energy Management Team is equipped with an

extensive array of hardware to be able to field performance
test pumps and determine system resistance curves. This
includes: Robertson Thermometric Test Equipment; special
torque meters, vibration analyzer (Pruftechnik Vibscanner);
ultrasonic flow meter, data loggers, together with a full
compliment of instruments and tools for full system analysis. Flowserve has also special system software WANDA
v3.5 - An advanced validated program for the simulation of
stationary and non stationary flow of arbitrary layout pump
systems.
Flowserve engineers have been selected, trained and are
fully qualified in the process of conducting site surveys to
identify opportunities as described above. This process is a
step by step approach involving: initial screening, system
survey, pump / system testing, data presentation, data
analysis, recommendations and report.
To date Flowserve has completed Energy Management
Surveys for steel manufacturers, water authorities, and
power stations including site performance testing of critical
equipment leading to identification of value added energy
saving opportunities.
For more information on the Flowserve Energy Management Program please contact: in Europe - Ian Gray, Peter
Irlam, Ray Sheldon. In North America - William Adams,
Barry Erickson.

Latin America and

Caribbean
Flowserve Corporation
Pump Division
6840 Wynnwood Lane
Houston, Texas 77008 USA
Telephone: 1 713 803 4434
Telefax: 1 713 803 4497

Asia Pacific
Flowserve Pte. Ltd.
Pump Division
200 Pandan Loop #06-03/04
Pantech 21
Singapore 128388
Telephone: 65 6775 3003
Telefax: 65 6779 4607

To find the Flowserve associate or representative with the expertise you need, visit http://www.flowserve.com/ContactLocator
Bulletin PI-07-02 Printed in The Netherlands. June 2007.
Flowserve Corporation

flowserve.com