Revitalising pumps for new duty and efficiency enhancement

Customer	Water Utilities Major
Location	Southeast Spain
Industry	Water desalination
Key Services	OEM-X Line Retrofit Sulzer EfficiencyPlus

EFFICIENCY INCREASED BY

10+ %

ENERGY REDUCED FOR 5 PUMPS

5 MW

CARBON REDUCTION PER YEAR

2345 tonnes

OPEX CUT

1 million Euros

A plan was devised to revive a redundant desalination plant in Spain which was mothballed for 12 years.

High energy costs was the key pain-point making it unsustainable.
The plant will used to irrigate 3000 hectares of agricultural land.
However, the high-pressure pumps would need to be re-engineered to achieve optimum efficiency in the new application.
The high pressure pumps are the single largest consumers of energy.
The strategy was to reduce the number of filtration stages which consequentially lower the demand on the pumps.
Flowrate had to be revised as well for the five BB3 axially split pumps.
A tender was released to re-engineer the pumps for optimum hydraulic performance at almost half the original flowrate.
We beat the competition, inclusive of the OEM with our comprehensive technical offer.
The efficiency guarantee proposed by Sulzer proved to be the differentiator along with our impeccable record for retrofitting pumps.

Gallery

Repairs were required to be made on existing pumps for cracks, incompatible casing volute surface and leakages etc.
The proposed hydraulic re-rate promised a 10% efficiency gain.
With no engineering drawings available, this project drew on Sulzer’s reverse engineering capabilities.
A new rotor which was reverse engineered was manufactured for the pump.
It was engineered to ensure interchangeability with existing mechanical seals, bearing assemblies and coupling.
Pump casings were also modified slightly to improve longevity and hydraulic performance of the pump.
Rigorous performance tests were conducted to prove operational readiness at intended duty and efficiency.

OEM-X Line
Outages and downtime are costly. Even worse, rotating machinery and pumps face numerous specific challenges, many of which are hard to isolate. Choosing the right supplier is vital when you factor in high maintenance levels and running costs of critical equipment.
Retrofit
Retrofitting your critical assets with the latest technology will maximize performance, minimize costs, and improve reliability.

All 5 pumps will operate at their best efficiency point (BEP) with less energy required.
The cost savings help defray costs invested for the new solar plant which powers the facility.
If the pumps were not retrofitted, operating at the new duty point would require a larger solar array.
The retrofitted pumps each consume almost 1MW less than its original state.
This equates to 5MW of power savings and 2345 tonnes of carbon reduction per year.
The operational expenses cut was substantial at around 1 million EUROs.
With this successful implementation in place, the plant opted for Sulzer to supply spares for the pumps’ remaining lifecycle requirements.
Sulzer’s technical expertise supported the plant’s goals on bolstering the local agricultural industry.
It will provide drinking water for the local population as well as 20 cubic hectometres of water per year to the surrounding area.
With this water, 3’000 hectares could be irrigated, which is the equivalent of 10% of the irrigable area of the entire province of Almería, or 60% of the irrigable area of Níjar.