Retrofit upgrades can be performed on virtually any piece of equipment regardless of age or original manufacturer.
 
Benefits of retrofits:

• Improved reliability & performance
• Material Upgrade
• Re-engineering possibilities
• Reduced operating cost
• Maximized revenue generation

Improved reliability & performance

Equipment in critical applications often needs relatively high levels of maintenance or suffer from poor reliability. A retrofit to match duty requirements will increase component life, while reducing maintenance costs. This optimization reduces the risk of unplanned outages, improving the availability of the entire system. A single unscheduled outage can cost as much or more than a complete retrofit.

Material upgrade

The materials used to create pump components are instrumental in their durability and when an application changes it may be necessary to upgrade these. For example, the operator of a gas processing plant needed to upgrade two amine pumps to have 316L stainless steel casings to reduce corrosion in the pumps. In this case, the customer wanted to retain the impeller and driveshaft and upgrade the casings. Sulzer, as the pump original equipment manufacturer (OEM) was able to create these custom casings using the original design drawings and its extensive manufacturing facilities.

The new stainless steel casings were delivered a week ahead of schedule and Sulzer also provided technical support in reassembling all of the pump components so that they could be installed and commissioned. By retaining the original dimensions, the customer was able to keep the stock of pump spares, such as seals, bearings and impellers, minimizing the costs associated with the retrofit project.

Re-engineering possibilities

The retrofit service is OEM-agnostic, Sulzer’s reverse engineering expertise enables it to not only manufacture exact replica parts but also optimize them for each application. Even heavily worn or eroded components can be remade as new using hybrid engineering, which combines additive manufacturing and precision machining, to rebuild existing parts back to their original dimensions.

Reduced operating costs

Improving your equipment's efficiency is crucial to minimizing operational costs. The overall cost of running your equipment throughout its service life is many times higher than the initial capital expense. Improvements in hydraulic design allow equipment to be retrofitted with our custom hydraulics, therefore reducing power consumption and overall cost of ownership.

Maximized revenue generation

When operating conditions demand more from your equipment, a retrofit is a cost-effective answer to increasing throughput without the expense and time required to install new equipment. A retrofit has the additional benefit of maintaining existing piping and foundation arrangements, thus further reducing downtime and costs.