Conkey Andrew P. - Troubleshooting rotating machinery: including centrifugal pumps and compressors, reciprocating pumps and compressors, fans, steam turbines, electric motors, and more

Troubleshooting Rotating Machinery

Scrivener Publishing
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Beverly, MA 01915-6106

Publishers at Scrivener
Martin Scrivener ()
Phillip Carmical ()

Copyright 2016 by Scrivener Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

Co-published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey, and Scrivener Publishing LLC, Salem, Massachusetts.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN 978-1-119-29413-9

The authors would like to dedicate this book to their wives, Elaine Perez and April Conkey, for all their help and encouragement.

Preface

Troubleshooting is part science and part art. Simple troubleshooting tables or decision trees are rarely effective in solving complex, real-world machine problems. For this reason, the authors wanted to offer a novel way to attack machinery issues that can adversely affect the reliability and efficiency of your plant processes. The methodology presented in this book is not a rigid cookbook approach but rather a flexible and dynamic process aimed at exploring process plant machines holistically in order to understand and narrow down the true nature of the problem. Throughout this book, the term process machinery will be used to refer to rotating machinery commonly encountered in processing plants, such as centrifugal pumps and compressors, reciprocating pumps and compressors, fans, steam turbines, and electric motors.

Our first book in this series, Is My Machine OK? deals, in large part, with assessing process machinery in the field. This guide takes the assessment process to the next level by helping operators, mechanics, managers, and machinery professionals better troubleshoot process machinery in-situ, i.e., in the field. To cover the topic of troubleshooting, the authors will cover the following topics in this book:

• What field troubleshooting means and entails
• How to use this guide as a complement to Is My Machine OK?
• Using the who, what, when, where, why troubleshooting methodology
• How to use cause maps to investigate possible causes
• Real-world case studies
• How to use machine-specific troubleshooting tables

To be successful, the troubleshooter must be persistent, open-minded and disciplined. Once field data is collected, an unbiased, logical approach to the finding is required to hone in on the most probable source of an observed symptom (or symptoms). Without a comprehensive and logical analysis of the findings, the investigator is only guessing, which wastes valuable time and resources. We hope those reading and using this guide will fully utilize the ideas and concepts presented to minimize maintenance cost and risk levels associated with machinery ownership.

Robert X. Perez and Andy P. Conkey

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following individuals for their help in reviewing this book and improving its contents with many useful suggestions. This book would not have been possible without their contributions, inspiration and support:

Ken Atkins, Engineering Dynamics
David Lawhon, Shell Oil
Julian LeBleu, Machinery Consultant
Carol Conkey, Copy Editor

Process machines are critical to the profitability of processes. Safe, efficient and reliable machines are required to maintain dependable manufacturing processes that can create saleable, on-spec product on time, and at the desired production rate. As the wards of process machinery, we wish to keep our equipment in serviceable condition.

One of the most challenging aspects of a machinery professional or operators job is deciding whether an operating machine should be shut down due to a perceived problem or be allowed to keep operating and at what level of operation. If he or she wrongly recommends a repair be conducted, the remaining useful machine life is wasted, but if he or she is right, they can save the organization from severe consequences, such as product releases, fires, costly secondary machine damage, etc. This economic balancing act is at the heart of all machinery assessments.

The primary purpose of this guide is to help operators and machinery professionals troubleshoot machines that are in a process service and operating at design process conditions. The reader may ask: What is the difference between field troubleshooting and other analysis methods such as a root cause analysis, failure analysis, and a root cause failure analysis?

Consider the following definitions:

Field troubleshooting is a process of determining the cause of an apparent machine problem, i.e., symptom, while it is still operating at actual process conditions. Troubleshooting efforts tend to focus on a specific machine or subsystem, using a proven body of historical knowledge. The body of knowledge may be in the form of troubleshooting tables and matrices or manufacturers information. Keep in mind that process machinery can only truly be tested and evaluated in service and under full load, i.e.,