INDUSTRY NEWS
Celeros Flow Technology Injects New Life into 40 Year Old SAGD Pump to Increase Heavy Oil Production for Customer
Celeros Flow Technology has injected new life into a heritage pump for a Canadian heavy oil recovery customer, enabling them to increase production. The pump – a Mather & Platt BB5 – was more than 40 years old and had been subject to numerous post-installation alterations.
Heavy oil deposits are extremely viscous and require the injection of high pressure, high temperature steam to improve fluidity and allow the oil to be pumped to the surface. In order to boost extraction on this project, the customer needed to increase water temperatures from 90° C to 140° C. However, there were concerns that the existing pump may not be able to deliver this requirement. Nozzle loads were a particular concern. They turned to Celeros Flow Technology brand ClydeUnion Pumps, their preferred supplier of some 20 years, for assistance.
Mather & Platt is one of several heritage pump brands for which Celeros Flow Technology offers full lifecycle support. Their aftermarket engineering team undertook a thorough examination of the quadragenarian Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) boiler feed water pump used in the heavy oil extraction process. The investigation revealed that the pump had suffered a number of seal failures over time that had damaged the stuffing box and affected operational efficiency. There had also been no maintenance interventions for decades – but the pump had never actually failed.
Says Mike Golds, Global Upgrade and Rerate Programme Manager for ClydeUnion Pumps: “It is testament to the quality of the original pump
The existing heavy oil SAGD pump, pictured before its overhaul by Celeros Flow Technology.
that it had continued to operate in such harsh conditions and with no regular maintenance over such a long period of time. More importantly, it gave us confidence that a thorough overhaul could achieve the desired improvement in performance, saving the customer the cost and lost production time that can be associated with sourcing and installing a new unit.”
Celeros Flow Technology overhauled the SAGD pump and performed a mechanical seal upgrade and Plan 23 seal flush to optimize pump performance. In addition, finite element analysis was undertaken to confirm that the nozzle loads would withstand the desired temperature increase. As a result, the pump is now capable of delivering steam at the higher temperatures required. The seal upgrades ensure it meets the latest specifications.
Concludes Mike Golds: “We are really pleased with the outcome of the SAGD pump upgrade. It has not only achieved the desired production increase for the customer, but also provided a more sustainable and
cost-effective solution than total pump replacement. Using modern engineering and analysis, we have been able to give the existing pump a new lease of life and ensure it will continue to perform well for many more years.”
May 2022
www.sosmagazine.biz 19
The upgraded pump back in situ and ready to give many more years of service.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
