Maintenance Minders

Asset Management
Systems
Ian Robbins, Flowserve Corporation

Data and life cycle management technology helps refineries maintain equipment
and reduce the total cost of ownership.

T Asset Management
ypically, 90 percent of the
total life cycle cost (LCC) of Programs
a ow management system A new asset management program
is accumulated after the equipment is available that is an evolution of
is purchased, installed and operating the traditional pump equipment
as desired for the designed process manufacturers capabilities and goes
parameters. beyond simply selling equipment, to
Rotating equipment manu- include a suite of resources and tools
facturers now oer a comprehen- designed to relieve these stresses and
sive suite of services and solutions reduce the total asset life cycle costs
designed to provide plant operators (LCC). hese programs will:
with unprecedented value and cost Improve equipment reliability
savings throughout the life span of and performance
the ow management system. Reduce energy consumption
his approach to high-value Manage inventories
asset management has already been Reliably assist with maintaining
embraced by the aircraft industry process equipment
(commercial and freight airlines).
Many of the worlds leading jet Modern asset management
engine manufacturers now oer programs are designed to address
power by the hour arrangements. these issues, while allowing facilities
Power by the hour is capable of to allocate funds for planned main-
monitoring jet engines while in tenance spending and remove the
ight. he jet engine manufacturers Figure 1. The original reactor ebullating pump uncertainty from operating budgets.
developed this technology to provide location Middle East, installed in 1966 he visibility gained into the actual
real-time diagnostic and prognos- operating conditions in the plant combined with the exper-
tic analyses. his enhances the availability factor of the jet tise brought to bear through the program result in ecien-
engine and at the same time reduces the total LCC. cies and maximized uptime.
he business and operational challenges within modern Asset optimization solutions are tailored to address any
process plants are numerous and not unlike the challenges combination of issues according to customer priorities and
faced by the airline industry today. Process plant operators business strategies.
face the pressures of increasing productivity and maximiz- Asset optimization solutions will assist with:
ing the return on investment this is seemingly at odds with Increasing plant availability and output
the everyday realities of decreasing plant operating budgets, Developing and enhancing workforce knowledge
rising energy costs and increasing operational costs. Improving the safety and environmental issues

68 APRIL 2011 www.pump-zone.com PUMPS & SYSTEMS

The Ebullated Bed Process
he ebullated bed process is a highly ecient way of handling
petroleum bottoms and other heavy hydrocarbons for puri-
cation or conversion to distillate. his process is categorized
as a hydrogen addition process versus delayed coking, which
is known as a carbon removal process and is inherently less
ecient than hydrogen addition processes.
he processes feature high yields and high removal of
contaminants in a safe, reliable, easy-to-operate plant with a
low investment. Two companies design, engineer and license
the ebullated bed processChevron Lummus Global (CLG)
with the LC-Finer process and Axens with the H-Oil process.
Both these processes rely on the reactor ebullating pump
to continuously recirculate the hydrocarbon liquid feed, cata-
lyst and hydrogen within the reactor vessel.
he reactor ebullating pump technology was developed
more than 50 years ago. he original pump (see Figure 1) was
an external pump installed and supported by the suction and
discharge pipes. his pump is still operating today in a Middle
East renery. In addition to this original installation, 15 other
reneries globally use more than 60 reactor ebullating pumps
in ebullated bed processes. All systems are operating 24/7/365.
Both of the ebullated bed process designs require that the
reactor ebullating pump be un-spared. It must operate at high
suction and ultra high temperatures. Typical reactor tempera-
tures and pressures range up to 900 degrees F (480 degrees circle 151 on card or go to psfreeinfo.com
C) and 3,200 psig (220 barg). Because of this unique envi-
ronment, a pump of ultra high reliability was designed. he
type primary reactor (PR) pump comprises of a pump, vari-
able frequency drive, electric motor and heat exchanger and is
enclosed within a forged alloy steel housing with an externally
mounted, high-pressure clean oil injection system.

Critical Processes Ideal for Asset

Management Programs
he new asset management program, which can be used with
a reactor ebullating pump system, currently operates at two
reneries that have ebullated bed hydrocrackers. he new pro-
gram is also now standard on all new H-Oil and LC-Finer
projects that incorporate the reactor ebullating pump system.
he program includes 24/7/365 remote monitoring of
the reactor ebullating pumps using a communication system.
See Figure 2.
his program provides monitoring and life-cycle man-
agement to optimize asset availability. he technology incor-
porates an advanced algorithm that uses the acquired signals
from the pump and system to provide alarms, which notify
of any problems with the thrust bearing safety factor, motor
winding, temperature or motor slip.
In addition, the algorithm can provide data on the cata-
lyst fraction and gas fraction in the pump suction and within
the reactor vessel. An additional benet is the systems ability
to provide guidance on the remaining life of electric motor
windings, thrust bearing and the pump components following
circle 154 on card or go to psfreeinfo.com
PUMPS & SYSTEMS www.pump-zone.com APRIL 2011 69
 Maintenance Minders

upset conditions and to

avoid unnecessary plant
shutdowns.
Using the data pro-
vided by the monitor-
ing equipment, further
detailed analysis can be
carried out by the manu-
facturers asset manage-
ment specialist and the
reneries reliability and
maintenance engineers.
his includes the ability
to determine the causes of
alarms.
For example if the
thrust bearing safety
factor alarm is activated,
the possible causes are
the injection oil viscosity
is out of design specica-
tion or the thrust bearing
is under or overloaded.
he secondary indicators
that can also be viewed on
the technology advantage
Figure 2. Remote monitoring system architecture
communication platform
are that the:
Pump speed is too high
he system also has an additional feature that allows for
Injection oil temperature is too high
advanced process diagnostics with the ability to diagnose:
Apparent liquid density is too high
Carryover eventsSolids in the catalyst bed enter the suction
Injection oil ow rate too high
of the pump and impeller, causing an obstruction in the ow.
Catalyst bed compressionhe catalyst bed becomes lled
he data historian that is part of the platform will then
with solids causing a dead-head condition within the reactor
enable a root cause analysis from the creation of trend data.
vessel.
he platform has the ability to construct trend tables for single
Impeller jamLarge solids in the system lodge in the
events or multiple events and also to build trend tables that
impeller inlet causing it to stall.
compare time-based key parameters against each other.
Gas holdupshe catalyst bed partially
lls with trapped gasses, reducing the ow through
the unit.

Key performance indicators and operating data

are displayed using the technology advantage com-
municationplatform. he system can send SMS,
email or telephone alerts to warn renery opera-
tors of potential issues. he alerts are also capable of
being sent to and seen on mobile handheld devices.
he system allows secure, 24/7/365 access to these
alerts. See Figure 3.
he knowledge gained through the imple-
mentation of the asset management technology for
reactor ebullating pump systems provides the ebul-
lated bed process plant operator with the real-time
Figure 3. Technology advantage platform screen shot
health of the ebullating pump system. his will help

70 APRIL 2011 www.pump-zone.com PUMPS & SYSTEMS

prevent any unplanned outages. Since the ebullated bed pro- maintenance, minimizing emergency shutdowns, downtime
cess operates with un-spared pumps, this is critical. A single and operating budgets while maximizing production and
unplanned outage could result in a process shutdown for 10 to equipment availability, system visibility and the eciency of
14 days. Losses can be in the millions of dollars. maintenance resources. Combined with expert knowledge and
In addition, knowing the current state of the health of the industry experience, asset management programs are a power-
reactor ebullating pump system allows the plant operator to ful way to impact the bottom line.
schedule shutdowns more eciently. he pump remaining
life indicator provides a continuous P&S
countdown in days, hours or weeks.
he algorithm within the program
constantly updates this countdown
based on an analysis of the contribut-
ing events. he algorithm is updated
continuously with knowledge acquired
through the monitoring of all the con-
nected systems. Updates can be remotely
uploaded to the program.
hrough the application of
advanced technologies and with the
cooperation of product and industry
experts, he programs users can proac-
tively manage every facet of equipment
life cycle costs. In doing so, process plant
operators can look beyond traditional
equipment and aftermarket purchase
agreements for alternative, value-based
business relationships that focus on per-
formance and results.

Bottom-Line Results
Highly ecient oil conversion technolo-
gies such as the ebullated bed process
increase the reners ability to produce
saleable products more eectively. To
also realize maximum LCC reduction,
oil reners should institute comprehen-
sive asset management programs. hese
programs must include the latest tech-
nology in equipment monitoring and
diagnosis, inventory management and
data availability.
hese programs enable facili-
ties to evolve from reactive planned
maintenance to strategic predictive

Ian Robbins
is director,
Flowserve
Corporation,
Flow Solutions
Group. He can
be reached at irobbins@flowserve.
com or 403-830-3970.
circle 133 on card or go to psfreeinfo.com
PUMPS & SYSTEMS www.pump-zone.com APRIL 2011 71