Pump action

Modern age pumps come in all shapes and sizes, from the humble to the colossal, the manual to the engine powered. Their roles in the industry are equally varied – from pumping oil and gas along pipelines to cutting steel with extremely high-pressure water jets.

 

What cannot be disputed is their importance in both the upstream and downstream sectors; they are involved in nearly every stage of the process. They are used to extract the product from the field – via injection and MOL (Main Oil Line) pumps, transport raw products to refineries or ports and pump substances around during the refining process.

The global pump market is currently in the midst of an unprecedented boom – the oil and gas industry being a major force behind such growth.

According to market researcher McIlvaine Company, the world market for industrial pumps was US$29 billion in 2006, and is expected to grow to $52 billion by 2010. Growth in the Middle East is equally substantial, presenting a major challenge for manufacturers as they struggle to keep up with demand and deliver pumps on time.

“At the moment we are seeing a really overheated supply chain. If you had asked me for an estimated production time, even 18 months ago, we would have said a medium sized injection pump of five megawatts would take 40-45 weeks, but the same equipment now takes about 60-65 weeks to produce due to the overextended state of the market,” explains Andrew Ferrie, general manager, Sulzer Pumps Middle East.

Sulzer are a leading manufacturer of large scale industrial pumps, including seawater injection pumps. They boast the largest injection pump in the world – a 27 megawatt pump based in Baku, Azerbaijan. They also have the world’s highest pressure pump named Thunder Horse – capable of 13,881 psi (pounds per square inch). Relatively new to the region, the company set up a sales office in 2004 and now has expanded to three separate facilities with over 40 staff.

Pumping up production

Pump manufacturers are struggling to increase operations to meet the high demand. Such problems are compounded by the current high prices of raw materials and the lack of skilled engineers. Many companies have reservations about using the Far East, but the region is becoming an increasingly viable alternative due to the possibilties it offers for cheaper manufacturing.

“We are now building what we call ‘superfactories’, which will be modern state-of-the-art factories in India and in China. The factory in India will predominantly support our Middle Eastern business. We chose to go to India because it was more controllable and we could find the skilled base there to do it,” says Ferrie.

“From what I’ve seen, in 2004 we had no chance of using India, as our clients would not accept this. Now the tables have turned to such an extent that our customers are actually pushing us to develop the Indian facility since there are not enough pump vendors to meet demand,” he adds.

This dichotomy between the need to build more pumps and the lack of cheap resources and staff to build them is felt throughout the industry. Often the company will look to source raw materials from further afield, to build more facilities and to train their own staff in order to meet the targets.

The most important factor, both for them and their customers, is that the product is still of the highest quality and delivered in the required time.

Peter Barr, director of sales and service, Flowserve Gulf, echoes this sentiment by describing the need to get the balance right between cost effectiveness and quality assurance. “We have existing facilities in India and China, but there are only certain clients to whom this is acceptable.
 

However, it is becoming a much more common option for end-users, but only if they have an OEM [Original Equipment Manufacturer] who they can trust and who takes the responsibility in terms of the warranty and maintenance.”

Flowserve Gulf are the one of the largest industrial pump providers in the region, with a strong base in the Middle East and new facilities currently being built in Dubai and Saudi Arabia – due to come on line before the end of the year.

The company, based out of Dallas, USA, has a $3.2 billion turnover for its pump division and employs close to 200 people in the region. “For a refinery, we are the only pump company that could provide every single service on that refinery bar about 1 %, which is a very niche type of product,” says Barr.

An interesting new quandary thrown into the arena is the increasing power of the NOCs (National Oil Companies) in the industry, and how the service providers go about building relationships with them. Firms such as Sulzer and Flowserve must start to form alliances with these companies in order to set specifications and conditions to get the best out of the products, and to ensure the current lack of skilled engineers for many of the NOCs does not hinder operations.

Pump partnerships

Building alliances and partnerships with their customers is crucial for the major pump suppliers, if they wish to get the best possible service provision. The policy is by providing the customer with constant support they are adding value to their business, by looking at how they conduct their operation and improving reliability and inventory management, what Barr describes as an “integrated strategy”.

“We decided to get into alliance deals with our clients where it is absolutely a partnership – what we call the ‘lifecycle advantage scheme’. We want to be involved because we believe we know how to run and maintain these products probably better than anyone else and because the customer needs to have that sustainability – they want to keep pumping and producing and we want to come in and make sure that they can do that,” says Barr.

This alliance will usually include engineers who will be able visit the pump sites and the use of predictive maintenance technologies. “What we try to provide is a healthcare package which comes in alliance with the customer.

Our approach is we contact the end-ser for an alliance agreement, where we look at doing preventive maintenance, we will actually have regular visits to site, we will look at the hours the pump is operating and we will tell them if something is not right, says Ferrie.

Techno-Pump

Advancements in the actual technology of the pump itself have not changed considerably over recent years. The improvements have been made largely in the materials used to fabricate the machines and the introduction of automated machines, which essentially do not need any manual operation or monitoring.

“The technologies of pumps have not changed that significantly, but there have been more and continual advancements in material technology. We can now make a pump lighter and the walls thinner because the tensile strengths of the materials are far higher than they used to be, and we can handle more abrasiveness, such as sand, in the fluid,” explains Barr.

Automated pumps or ‘smart pumps’ will also bring more reliability and improved service to the industry, but have yet to become a popular choice, something which baffles Ferrie.

“We actually haven’t been that successful in selling smart pumps to the market and we can’t see why. The smart pumps would do everything, avoiding any fatigue and preventing ultimate failure, and they will tell you if there is something not right thanks to the smart box.”

“Customers feel it is too new for them and unknown – they would prefer to have men onsite watching the pump. What we say is the guy can stand there all day, but he can’t tell if the temperature significantly increases – a smart box can,” explains Ferrie.

It seems inevitable that smart pumps will become more popular as customers discover the benefits they provide. How long this will take is unknown. The pumps industry, for the foreseeable future, will continue to expand and develop regardless of this due to the massive demand in the oil and gas industry.

“At the moment we are riding the wave, and it just gets bigger and bigger – we don’t see it diminishing any time soon. We are constantly recruiting and we want to build the infrastructure to go with it. It’s non-stop,” concludes Ferrie.

Diaphragm Pumps for sour gas re-injection

LEWA’s successful diaphragm pumps are suitable for fluids that may endanger the environment, are toxic, sensitive, highly viscous or abrasive. They are inherently safe against upset conditions as overload and cavitations and even operator errors.
 

Since the environmental and safety impact of leakages – even small fugitive emissions – are especially critical with highly toxic H2S (hydrogen sulphide) and sour gas, leak free diaphragm pumps found acceptance in sour gas re-injection as well.

Diaphragm pumps offer an optimal solution regarding economic and ecological process requirements. It becomes clear that hermetically tight diaphragm pumps have decisive technical advantages, in comparison to plunger pumps, when critical and dangerous liquefied gases have to be handled at high pressures.

In Abu Dhabi, the gas frequently contains 30% H2S. A growing challenge is the reduction of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which is produced from sour hydrocarbon pools and CO2 from different major single sources. More and more operators are

turning to sour gas waste management by re-injecting it into deep geological formations.

Waterjet pumps

Specialist waterjet pump manufacturer AWE (Asia Waterjet Equipment) and sales and rental provider Hydroflow, supply the oil and gas industry with high-pressure waterjet pumps. Thanks to the extremely high-pressures created, the water can be used for multiple tasks which would otherwise require much more aggressive and severe treatments.

“There are not many contractors for such products in the region in the oil and gas industry, so we do the specialist jobs ourselves. The High pressure pumps that we use for high-pressure water jetting activities are built by AWE here in the region.

Our machines are working from 6,000 psi for high flow rates of 220 litres a minute, to 40,000 psi at 45 litres a minute for more abrasive tasks,” says Paul Dann, general manager, Hydroflow.

The applications of the high pressure waterjet pumps AWE and Hydroflow supply vary. They can be used for surface preparation, internal pipe flushing, tube and tube bundle cleaning, tank cleaning, cold cutting (cutting metal without heat), concrete demolition and floor cleaning.

“The technology has been there for a long time now, but there are not enough specialists doing it in this region. It is almost like we are stuck in the Stone Age because the practices that are accepted here are still not in line with European standards,” explains Rajiv Rajgopal, regional sales manager, AWE.

Hydroflow has expanded considerably over the last five years, from having just four machines in 2003, to currently 22.

The improving technology of the pumps has seen ever increasing pressures, and the introduction of automated accessories and robotic equipment which has increased quality and production with added safety for the operators.

“The trend is everyone is pushing for more pressure, with 40,000 now the benchmark. Now they are looking at 50,000 psi pumps, whether that will be effective or necessary is debatable. When you start going up in pressure, you start coming down in flow, it all depends on the individual project and what has to be done,” adds Rajgopal.

“We use automatic machines that will work at a high volume and clean the bundle tubes both internally and externally right the way through, returning the cooling product going through. This is done at 95% efficiency, so when it’s been working at 65% efficiency for the last five years, then a lot of money’s at stake,” says Dann.

The two firms will continue working together to improve their specialist service to the industry, developing the understanding of what the technology can provide and the value it could add along the way.

“That’s one of the challenges, getting the awareness of these products here so that they are willing to invest in equipment and specialist services once they see the benefits and quality of work completed by professionals,” says Rajgopal.