OPTIMIZING CONDENSATE PUMPS

CONTRIBUTING RE.ENGINEER

Keith Lapeyrouse

Process Reliability Solutions, www.prs-llc.com

CHALLENGE

​It’s amazing how pesky condensate pumps can be. But think about it. They are the least important part of a project typically bought at the lowest cost by the least experienced member of the team. Forty years ago, I was working at a chemical plant and it had 3 low pressure (L.P.) condensate return systems that was costing the plant $22K per year in maintenance.

SOLUTION

Let me describe the three different systems:

• The 1st L.P. Condensate Return System was 20 years old. It had a ground mounted supply tank with dual condensate pumps (perhaps they expected unreliability). Each of the condensate pumps were center mounted (meaning two seals per pump). It failed often and cost $22K per year in Maintenance.

• The second was 10 years old. The reservoir was about 4' above the tank. It had a single condensate pump center mounted (meaning two seals). The extra NPSHa from the elevated reservoir really helped. It only failed twice per year and cost 7K per year in Maintenance.