A client on a Central Station project contacted us with concerns about a leaking seal on the suction side of their pump.
We investigated this leakage and its cause, and found that it was related to flushing:
Challenge:
With foreign particles and score marks observed on the pump’s mechanical seals, it was clear that premature damage to the seals was the cause of this leakage.
The rubber seal had deformed on the rotary due to exposure to the debris and impurities that are expunged during the flushing process. Below is an image of the water that was removed from the system during flushing:
It was determined that, despite the flushing process occurring with a lower pressure level than what the seals are rated to, it was the impurities within the water supply that wore away at the seal, causing the score damage seen below in addition to wearing away at the rubber seal:
Our Checks:
Masterflow’s technicians went to site in order to perform the following process:
1. Draining water from all pumps
2. Pulling pumps from their casing.
3. Cleaning the inside of the casings and inspecting the rags. In this case, all condenser water pumps had metal debris, proving flushing to be the cause of the issue. The below image is of the rag used to clean out the pump casing:
Solution:
Once the cause was identified, our technicians replaced the worn mechanical seals with new units on all pumps. All pumps were then static tested, and are now functional, with new seals that only have clean fluids to deal with.
It is recommended you utilise a temporary flushing rig and in instances where this isnt feasible, be sure to engage Masterflow to replace the seals once flushing is complete, to preserve the pump warranty and protect against premature seal leaks.