Furmanite Australia has successfully completed a specialist precision machining project involving fitting numerous pumps with thermal switches or RTDs, demanding high level precision on-site machining, drilling and tapping expertise, at an Australian alumina refinery. The project, which represented valuable time and cost savings, followed the success of a similar substantial project undertaken by Furmanite at another alumina refinery in Western Australia.
The heat sensors were required on various Warman pumps to monitor any excessive internal heat build-up that could otherwise have safety implications.
Ninety pumps, ranging in size from 450mm to 1700mm inches diameter, were worked on in all areas of the refinery. A number of these were situated in hazardous areas, involving specific safety precautions, and/or were located at height, requiring scaffold access.
Isolating, dismantling and removing all the pumps to a workshop to carry out the work to fit the sensors would have involved considerable time and logistical issues, as well as the cost of lost production, particularly given the size and locations of many of them, so Furmanite’s ability to undertake the work in-situ represented significant time and cost savings.
Absolute accuracy in drilling was critical, to precisely 0.5mm from the inside of the pump lining. Furmanite achieved this by using purpose-designed brackets fitted on to the pump external casing, with an angle and sine bracket design to exactly the correct angle and location for each pump. In each case a pilot hole was precisely drilled into the outer casing of the pump, at varying angles for each according to its discharge orientation and pump profile, to allow the electrical sensor to be screwed into the casing perpendicular to the inner casing.
The entire project was undertaken in considerably less time than would have been involved had the pumps had to be removed to a workshop, while still ensuring the absolute accuracy normally associated with workshop machining was achieved.
Furmanite Australia national sales manager Michael Pearson said that the work had replicated the success of an earlier similar project at another refinery, and pointed out that the project was typical of Furmanite’s ability to apply its experience, expertise and technology to develop solutions to meet specific requirements. “Our remit is to help customers keep their assets working and earning efficiently, and this is one example of that in action,” he said.
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