Take Care Of Your Pumps And They'll Take Care Of You

By Jim DeLee, Sr. Member Technical Staff, Fluid Components International

The old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care” may have been coined by process and plant engineers tired of repairing or replacing pumps. Pumps are often the most under-serviced pieces of equipment in process automation when it comes to maintenance and prevention best practices. Unfortunately, nothing moves without the humble pump, and a process becomes inefficient when they don’t operate properly or completely shutdown. Many times the pump manufacturer is seen to be the problem, when in fact the process or the surrounding equipment configuration is the cause.

Engineers and technicians looking to optimizing their process for productive operation can start with the pump, and protecting the pump against common hazards. Pump protection improves end-product or batch quality, reduces material costs, eliminates waste, and lowers maintenance costs. Taking good care of your pump delivers a positive payback. Here are some simple strategies that can be employed — starting with an analysis of process media flow rates.