Avoid costly pump failures over Christmas

London - With a cold snap expected and the Christmas shutdown imminent, it’s time to protect your pumping assets, warns Peter Staddon, managing director of The Pump Company (TPC), based in Crawley, West Sussex. He has issued seasonal advice on how to prevent the New Year start up from being marred and avoid costly problems over the winter months.
 
When frozen water is present in a pump it increases in volume by up to 9% and the forces generated can be dramatic enough to fracture the pump casing, says Staddon. While pumping liquids at lower than average temperatures does not present a problem on its own, you must compensate for the fact that a decrease in flowrate will be realised.
 
Another thing to take into account is the different freezing points of various liquids. It is, therefore,important to check the bearing lubrication. At lower temperatures the viscosity of lubricant oil decreases; this can cause a problem with bearings running hotter and potentially failing.    

Therefore Staddon advises: “If the plant is to be shut down over Christmas, drain pumps and lines to prevent standing fluids from freezing. Use lagging or trace heating on the pump and pipes, but, remember to leave sufficient air flow around the motor to aid ventilation. Check that automatic start /stop controls are isolated as you don’t want to start a frozen pump.”