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BOILERS, PUMPS & VALVES T
he global industrial pumps market was valued at USD 60.21 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9 per cent through to 2028. Pumps are used in
water supply processes to move fluids throughout the pipe runs within a building, or series of buildings. The impeller within the pump creates regular pulses that can be transmitted through the water column within the pipework. The frequency of the pulses is determined by the pump speed and the design of the mechanism. These pulsations can sometimes coincide with the natural frequency of sections of pipework. Should this occur, it causes the pipework at that location to resonate and introduces noise and vibration into the building structure which in turn can cause disturbances throughout the building. In high precision Blue Chip companies for instance, these disturbances can affect production output by increasing failure rates in the production of expensive microchips. If pumps are not isolated properly, resonances in the pipework can also lead to the fatigue of joints within pipe runs, increasing the risk of failure and the release of fluids into the building environment. If a serious leak occurs, it’s possible that the whole plant room may need to shut down, leading to costly maintenance works or major safety concerns. From damage to equipment to severe injury — the repercussions could be huge. To ensure that vibration caused by pumping
applications is unable to pass into the main building structure, the disturbing forces should be isolated at source using suitable vibration control products. Mason UK is often called upon to provide retrofit support for vibration isolation projects that have gone wrong. But how do you ensure the vibration isolation is right in critical pump applications the first- time round?
DO NOT COMPROMISE ON QUALITY The key to effectively isolating pump equipment is to isolate the vibration producing equipment at source from the main building structure. This would normally involve a combination of inertia bases, flexible pipe connectors and acoustic hangers. The first step involves isolating the pump
from the building structure. The usual procedure for reducing structure borne noise and vibration levels is for the pump to be installed on concrete inertia bases mounted on high deflection spring mounts. The inertia base provides an air gap between the equipment and the structure, and the springs are normally selected to provide at least 95 per cent isolation efficiency from the main disturbing frequency of the pump. The second step is to provide flexible pipe
connectors or expansion joints at the inlet and outlet joints of the pumps. The main
VIBRATION ISOLATION FOR PUMPING SYSTEMS
Low-price acoustic products may have their appeal, however if they are not correctly engineered the consequences of failure could be devastating. In hazardous industries where safety is of the utmost importance, getting the vibration isolation right from the outset is paramount. Here Steve Hart, director at industrial vibration control specialist Mason UK, discusses the key considerations for effective pump isolation.
misconception is that these connectors accommodate differential movement and misalignments between pumps and the adjacent pipe work. While this is true to some extent, the main benefit of flexible pipe connectors is to interrupt the vibration pulses within the fluid created by the pump. When the pulses hit the arched construction of the connector the regular frequency of these pulses is changed into random patterns. With
random frequencies passing through the fluid, there is no opportunity for coinciding resonances between fluid and pipework. For piping systems, we recommend opting
for flexible pipe connectors and acoustic hangers. To suspend the piping, you will need to use durable hangers. The selection of which will depend on load, frequency and other system specifications. Some applications require the flexible pipe
36 JUNE 2024 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS
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