Page 14 - Industrial_Technology_Extra_16th_November_2020_Classical

PUMP SYSTEMS...

Selections that impact true

asset cost in pump systems

As the total cost of ownership of pumping systems comes under greater focus,
Harvinder Bhabra, head of segment fertilizers, metals, mining and chemical process

industries at Sulzer, looks at the typical method of calculating the cost and suggests
other considerations that should be made to assess, and manage, an accurate figure

umps have been used for the transfer of
fluids for centuries, starting from the early
Egyptian shadoof and Greek
PArchimedean screw through to the highly
engineered designs we now use. There are many
types of pumps in use today, mainly classified
between rotodynamic, positive displacement and
other special designs.
Over time, as industry processes became ever
more sophisticated, the specifications for the
various pump types demanded innovative pump
manufacturing techniques and advanced features to
keep pace. Some of these include hydraulic the industry, the transactional purchase and sale of
profiling, CAD/CAM, computational fluid dynamics, pumping equipment was primarily based on the
finite element analysis and 3D printing. Most recent capital cost of the equipment and availability was
developments come with the advent of the Internet the secondary factor, provided there was
of Things (loT) and the collection of pump operating compliance with the relevant specifications.
data and condition monitoring. lnstant visibility of a However, as processes required increasingly
pump's performance provides a reduced risk of higher throughputs, pump sizes became larger, and
unplanned downtime caused by a failure. the cost of the energy needed to run them became
This article is based primarily on rotodynamic very noticeable. As an example, pumps used for
centrifugal pumps, but some elements may also absorber recycle applications in the power industry
apply to other types of pumps. increased in size as process flow rates went from
Each sector or process has developed general 2'000 m3/h in the mid-1970s to over 15'000 m3/h
industry- as well as process- or customer-specific in the 2000s, and motor powers increased from
specifications to suit its requirements. Regardless of ~250 kW to 1'000 kW and upwards.

November 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA • p14