mud pump repair free sample
Created specifically for drilling equipment inspectors and others in the oil and gas industry, the Oil Rig Mud Pump Inspection app allows you to easily document the status and safety of your oil rigs using just a mobile device. Quickly resolve any damage or needed maintenance with photos and GPS locations and sync to the cloud for easy access. The app is completely customizable to fit your inspection needs and works even without an internet signal.Try Template
I’ve run into several instances of insufficient suction stabilization on rigs where a “standpipe” is installed off the suction manifold. The thought behind this design was to create a gas-over-fluid column for the reciprocating pump and eliminate cavitation.
When the standpipe is installed on the suction manifold’s deadhead side, there’s little opportunity to get fluid into all the cylinders to prevent cavitation. Also, the reciprocating pump and charge pump are not isolated.
The suction stabilizer’s compressible feature is designed to absorb the negative energies and promote smooth fluid flow. As a result, pump isolation is achieved between the charge pump and the reciprocating pump.
The isolation eliminates pump chatter, and because the reciprocating pump’s negative energies never reach the charge pump, the pump’s expendable life is extended.
Investing in suction stabilizers will ensure your pumps operate consistently and efficiently. They can also prevent most challenges related to pressure surges or pulsations in the most difficult piping environments.
Cavitation is an undesirable condition that reduces pump efficiency and leads to excessive wear and damage to pump components. Factors that can contribute to cavitation, such as fluid velocity and pressure, can sometimes be attributed to an inadequate mud system design and/or the diminishing performance of the mud pump’s feed system.
When a mud pump has entered full cavitation, rig crews and field service technicians will see the equipment shaking and hear the pump “knocking,” which typically sounds like marbles and stones being thrown around inside the equipment. However, the process of cavitation starts long before audible signs reveal themselves – hence the name “the silent killer.”
Mild cavitation begins to occur when the mud pump is starved for fluid. While the pump itself may not be making noise, damage is still being done to the internal components of the fluid end. In the early stages, cavitation can damage a pump’s module, piston and valve assembly.
The imperceptible but intense shock waves generated by cavitation travel directly from the fluid end to the pump’s power end, causing premature vibrational damage to the crosshead slides. The vibrations are then passed onto the shaft, bull gear and into the main bearings.
If not corrected, the vibrations caused by cavitation will work their way directly to critical power end components, which will result in the premature failure of the mud pump. A busted mud pump means expensive downtime and repair costs.
To stop cavitation before it starts, install and tune high-speed pressure sensors on the mud suction line set to sound an alarm if the pressure falls below 30 psi.
Although the pump may not be knocking loudly when cavitation first presents, regular inspections by a properly trained field technician may be able to detect moderate vibrations and slight knocking sounds.
Gardner Denver offers Pump University, a mobile classroom that travels to facilities and/or drilling rigs and trains rig crews on best practices for pumping equipment maintenance.
Program participants have found that, by improving their maintenance skills, they have extended the life of fluid end expendables on their sites. They have also reported decreases in both production and repair costs, as well as reductions in workplace hazards.
Severe cavitation will drastically decrease module life and will eventually lead to catastrophic pump failure. Along with downtime and repair costs, the failure of the drilling pump can also cause damage to the suction and discharge piping.
When a mud pump has entered full cavitation, rig crews and field service technicians will see the equipment shaking and hear the pump ‘knocking’… However, the process of cavitation starts long before audible signs reveal themselves – hence the name ‘the silent killer.’In 2017, a leading North American drilling contractor was encountering chronic mud system issues on multiple rigs. The contractor engaged in more than 25 premature module washes in one year and suffered a major power-end failure.
Gardner Denver’s engineering team spent time on the contractor’s rigs, observing the pumps during operation and surveying the mud system’s design and configuration.
The engineering team discovered that the suction systems were undersized, feed lines were too small and there was no dampening on the suction side of the pump.
Following the implementation of these recommendations, the contractor saw significant performance improvements from the drilling pumps. Consumables life was extended significantly, and module washes were reduced by nearly 85%.
Although pump age does not affect its susceptibility to cavitation, the age of the rig can. An older rig’s mud systems may not be equipped for the way pumps are run today – at maximum horsepower.
The 2,200-hp mud pump for offshore applications is a single-acting reciprocating triplex mud pump designed for high fluid flow rates, even at low operating speeds, and with a long stroke design. These features reduce the number of load reversals in critical components and increase the life of fluid end parts.
The pump’s critical components are strategically placed to make maintenance and inspection far easier and safer. The two-piece, quick-release piston rod lets you remove the piston without disturbing the liner, minimizing downtime when you’re replacing fluid parts.
Specifically designed for drilling companies and others in the oil and gas industry, the easy to use drilling rig inspections app makes it easy to log information about the drill rigs, including details about the drill rigs operators, miles logged and well numbers. The inspection form app covers everything from the mud pump areas and mud mixing area to the mud tanks and pits, making it easy to identify areas where preventative maintenance is needed. The drilling rig equipment checklist also covers health and safety issues, including the availability of PPE equipment, emergency response and preparedness processes, and other critical elements of the drilling process and drill press equipment.
Our repair network spans over 13 repair centers in 7 states, all connected and operating under the process control procedures of the Tencarva Quality Repair System. Shared expertise, documentation procedures and a strict methodology ensure your repair is handled with the utmost care and precision. Our efforts to continually improve have led us to a fine-tuned systematic approach to solving equipment repair.
For your industrial pump repair service needs, we offer complete rotating equipment installation, repair, and rebuild. At the heart of Tencarva’s extensive repair services are experienced, factory-trained professional mechanics. Together with full engineering support and a comprehensive quality control program, these skilled technicians will increase your up-time and reduce your downtime leading to optimal operating costs.
Laser alignment is offered by all of our Tencarva Quality Repair Facilities. All technicians are factory trained on laser alignment to ensure your equipment is free from vibration issues which uncorrected will lead rotating equipment to catastrophic failure.
The Submersible Repair Shop in Virginia operates in a 1,200 square-foot area of the warehouse’s 4,000 square-foot service area. We have the ability to test and run pump motors from 115 volts to 460 volts, and up to 100 horsepower.
In many cases it’s most convenient for our customers to have our repair and maintenance crews on site. We have successfully launched long-term ‘start ups’ consisting of over 1000 pumps or equipment. We also offer on-site maintenance crews who are permanently collocated in your plant. We provide the staff, training, equipment, and management as a service.
If you run a mud rig, you have probably figured out that the mud pump is the heart of the rig. Without it, drilling stops. Keeping your pump in good shape is key to productivity. There are some tricks I have learned over the years to keeping a pump running well.
First, you need a baseline to know how well your pump is doing. When it’s freshly rebuilt, it will be at the top efficiency. An easy way to establish this efficiency is to pump through an orifice at a known rate with a known fluid. When I rig up, I hook my water truck to my pump and pump through my mixing hopper at idle. My hopper has a ½-inch nozzle in it, so at idle I see about 80 psi on the pump when it’s fresh. Since I’m pumping clear water at a known rate, I do this on every job.
As time goes on and I drill more hole, and the pump wears, I start seeing a decrease in my initial pressure — 75, then 70, then 65, etc. This tells me I better order parts. Funny thing is, I don’t usually notice it when drilling. After all, I am running it a lot faster, and it’s hard to tell the difference in a few gallons a minute until it really goes south. This method has saved me quite a bit on parts over the years. When the swabs wear they start to leak. This bypass pushes mud around the swab, against the liners, greatly accelerating wear. By changing the swab at the first sign of bypass, I am able to get at least three sets of swabs before I have to change liners. This saves money.
Before I figured this out, I would sometimes have to run swabs to complete failure. (I was just a hand then, so it wasn’t my rig.) When I tore the pump down to put in swabs, lo-and-behold, the liners were cut so badly that they had to be changed too. That is false economy. Clean mud helps too. A desander will pay for itself in pump parts quicker than you think, and make a better hole to boot. Pump rods and packing last longer if they are washed and lubricated. In the oilfield, we use a petroleum-based lube, but that it not a good idea in the water well business. I generally use water and dish soap. Sometimes it tends to foam too much, so I add a few tablets of an over the counter, anti-gas product, like Di-Gel or Gas-Ex, to cut the foaming.
Maintenance on the gear end of your pump is important, too. Maintenance is WAY cheaper than repair. The first, and most important, thing is clean oil. On a duplex pump, there is a packing gland called an oil-stop on the gear end of the rod. This is often overlooked because the pump pumps just as well with a bad oil-stop. But as soon as the fluid end packing starts leaking, it pumps mud and abrasive sand into the gear end. This is a recipe for disaster. Eventually, all gear ends start knocking. The driller should notice this, and start planning. A lot of times, a driller will change the oil and go to a higher viscosity oil, thinking this will help cushion the knock. Wrong. Most smaller duplex pumps are splash lubricated. Thicker oil does not splash as well, and actually starves the bearings of lubrication and accelerates wear. I use 85W90 in my pumps. A thicker 90W140 weight wears them out a lot quicker. You can improve the “climbing” ability of the oil with an additive, like Lucas, if you want. That seems to help.
Outside the pump, but still an important part of the system, is the pop-off, or pressure relief valve. When you plug the bit, or your brother-in-law closes the discharge valve on a running pump, something has to give. Without a good, tested pop-off, the part that fails will be hard to fix, expensive and probably hurt somebody. Pop-off valve are easily overlooked. If you pump cement through your rig pump, it should be a standard part of the cleanup procedure. Remove the shear pin and wash through the valve. In the old days, these valves were made to use a common nail as the shear pin, but now nails come in so many grades that they are no longer a reliable tool. Rated shear pins are available for this. In no case should you ever run an Allen wrench! They are hardened steel and will hurt somebody or destroy your pump.
One last thing that helps pump maintenance is a good pulsation dampener. It should be close to the pump discharge, properly sized and drained after every job. Bet you never thought of that one. If your pump discharge goes straight to the standpipe, when you finish the job your standpipe is still full of fluid. Eventually the pulsation dampener will water-log and become useless. This is hard on the gear end of the pump. Open a valve that drains it at the end of every job. It’ll make your pump run smoother and longer.
Metering The Interconnection Customer shall be responsible for the Connecting Transmission Owner’s reasonable and necessary cost for the purchase, installation, operation, maintenance, testing, repair, and replacement of metering and data acquisition equipment specified in Attachments 2 and 3 of this Agreement. The Interconnection Customer’s metering (and data acquisition, as required) equipment shall conform to applicable industry rules and Operating Requirements.
Mystique Mud pump Coolant and Lubricant extends mud pump liner and piston life and provides internal lubrication and extra cooling to the coolant system of mud pumps. It extends the life of all liners, even ceramic. Mystique will not cause corrosion or rusting of iron, and is safe with all alloys. Recommened dilution rate of 12.5%. (25 gallons will treat a 200-gallon system.) For use on closed systems.
Pump systems play an integral role in the success of any horizontal directional drilling (HDD) project. Charged with circulating drilling fluid — most commonly referred to as mud — throughout the bore path, the mud pump and fluid have several important functions; most notably to facilitate the removal of spoil while helping maintain the integrity of the bore. There is a science to determining the amount and composition of mud needed for effectively maintaining the bore path, a formula that will vary depending on bore diameter, soil conditions and process. All pump systems are composed of the same basic components; a power source, pistons, suction and discharge valves and liners.
Most HDD contractors are acutely aware of the importance of maintaining their drills and the role of the pump in completing a bore successfully, yet they may be remiss in keeping the mud pump in tip-top condition. This column is intended to help HDD contractors better maintain their drilling fluid pump systems, identify potential issues most commonly overlooked, and offer tips for periodic maintenance that will keep pumps operating efficiently and effectively.
Typically, it is up to the drill operator to keep an eye on the pump. On big pipeline operations, it is common to have a mud engineer onsite to handle the pump and drilling fluid. It’s important that HDD operators keep a steady eye on the mud pump and inspect all components for wear. Everything except the crank is considered a wear part and needs to be replaced on a consistent basis. The most obvious indication that it’s time to replace wear parts is a drop in the efficiency of the pump. Likely, the first and most frequent wear points originate with suction and discharge valves. After valves have experienced significant wear, reductions in water flow to and from the bore path will occur. Another primary indication will be fluid leaks near the pistons.
Part wear depends on multiple conditions, such as the job, soil conditions and the fluid mix. The fluid mix has the most impact on the pump. Most of the time, it is the contractor or project owner that determines the fluid composition. Depending on the jobsite location, the EPA may specify the mix. The quality of bentonite is very important. Using poor quality bentonite affects the efficiency of the pump and also can cause wear, leading to replacing parts sooner.
Another variable that HDD contractors often find surprising is water quality. Given that water can vary depending on its source, operators should examine the water source for HDD projects. Water extracted from a creek or river, for example, is likely to contain particles of mud, sand or clay. While often not visible, these components cause additional wear on pump parts by creating additional resistance and friction. In other cases, depending on the location of the stream, water from streams or creeks may actually be cleaner than the nearby fire hydrant. Other factors that contribute to wear are the particle size of the cuttings and speed of the pump.
As mentioned above, poor quality bentonite is a common problem that causes pump inefficiency, but it’s not the sole culprit. Approximately 70 percent of the mistakes in the field are from poor quality mud; however, lack of general maintenance will cause poor performance. Here are general maintenance items for the mud pump during a drilling operation.
These inspection and maintenance tips are universal for any HDD and mud pump, regardless of manufacturer, capacity or size. Diligence on the job and using high-quality drilling fluid will ensure that you get the most out of your drill’s mud pump.
Tod Michael and Jamie Malekare trenchless specialists with Vermeer Corp. Ronald Lowe is a product specialist with Pentair, Industrial Pump Division. Michael and Lowe are both members of the Drillmaster Advisory Board. All reports are review by the Drillmaster Advisory Board: Lowe; Michael; Richard Levings, Ditch Witch; Frank Canon, Baroid Industrial Drilling Products; and Trevor Young, Tulsa Rig Iron.