Utilization of customized hydraulics to elongate pump life and lower life cycle costs

摘要

This paper describes the development, production and (field) testing of a centrifugal pump according to a rapid precision casting production process with a customized hydraulic design for a customer in chemical industry. The pump is replacing a standard mass production pump and saves 15% on energy consumption. Pump hydraulic design optimization, including full CFD calculations, can, with today's computer capabilities, be performed in days rather than weeks. By automating this process, a complete CAD design, based on a customer specified duty point, can be realized within short lead times, with a predicted performance within a narrow band of the tested values. Rapid prototyping technologies directly use digital CAD files and provide accurate geometrical representation and acceptable surface finish for utilization of these technologies for pattern making in a precision casting process to generate pump hydraulic parts. The benefits of a pump with a custom made hydraulic are primarily significant savings on energy and maintenance, which can be realized at the expense of a higher initial purchase price. Since the engineering of a custom made optimized hydraulic is automated fiercely and progress in rapid manufacturing in terms of quality and cost reduction is progressing steadily, pay back time of these additional investment costs can be brought back to some 2-3 years and expected to decrease further, particularly in the light of continuously rising energy prices. Utilizing described innovative technologies, pump industry has promising new opportunities in lowering life cycle costs.