The saying ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ certainly applies in the case of centrifugal, chemical and borehole pumps. Even a small unnoticed leak or vibration can cause costly repairs down the track and shorten the pump’s life cycle and performance.
Here are five ways to ensure you are optimizing the life cycle of your system.
Schedule regular maintenance
The simplest tip of all is to arrange periodic maintenance services for your pumps with a specialist team. With this, you can set the task and be at peace knowing that your pump is operating at peak performance. Any arising problems will be identified before they escalate to larger repairs, plus any savings in operating costs can quickly cover the service fee.
Stock main spare parts for remote sites
The last thing you need in a remote location is having the entire site on shutdown because you need to wait for a replacement seal or part to be delivered. You may consider keeping spares of the most common products at hand If your pump system is critical for your day-to-day operations and your supplier not near.
Perform Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis
Making the right equipment or control system changes at the right time can improve energy consumption by anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent. The below formula is typically calculated over 10 years and used to assess the lifetime costs of a pump system and when is best to upgrade:
LCC = Cic + Cin + Ce + Co + Cm + Cs + Cenv + Cd
Where:
Cic = the initial purchase cost of the system
Cin = the cost of installation and commissioning
Ce = energy costs
Co = operating costs
Cm = maintenance costs
Cs = downtime costs
Cenv = environmental costs
Cd = the cost of decommissioning and disposal
Choose quality seals and bearings.
Even one low quality seal can lead to contamination in your bearings, pressure leakages or a reduction in lubrication within the system. To ensure pressure and power consumption are correctly maintained, attention to the quality and cleanliness of seals and bearings is important.
Keep a maintenance and repair record.
Keeping a detailed record of a pump’s service and repair history can help to maximize its lifetime of performance and minimize any unnecessary costs.
