High Pressure, Solids-Tolerant Vertical Canned Motor Pump for Reactor Circulation

Chemical Facility Relies on Hayward Tyler’s Chemical Slurry Pump Solution

The chemical facility in Louisiana is dedicated to the production of nitroalkanes and their derivatives. These chemical products are used as additives in coatings, pharmaceuticals, metalworking, water treatment, oil and gas, and other applications. The production of the specialty chemical IPHA requires a chemical reactor process that includes a circulation loop. This high-pressure circulation process is a batch operation with 3-5 starts/stops per day. During normal operation, the process fluid contains 1% or less of solids but in other situations content can reach 8%, such as a start sequence where solids may have accumulated.

After initially providing a canned motor retrofit to a competitor’s existing pump, Hayward Tyler worked with the customer and a reputable mechanical seal manufacturer to develop a complete pump and motor solution for handling the troublesome process fluid. To prevent the process fluid from entering the rotor chamber, the motor is isolated from the pumped fluid by a single mechanical seal. The system features auxiliary pressurization, lubrication, and cooling unit. The unit operates with demineralized water as its fluid medium to cool the motor and lubricate the bearings. The rotor chamber is pressurized to approximately 50 psig above the pump discharge pressure. By incorporating this feature, any seal leakage will be from the rotor chamber to the pump casing, thus preventing the process fluid from entering the motor. Additionally, an expeller complete with pump-out vanes was included to keep solids from entering the mechanical seal cavity. The expeller and pump impeller were supplied in abrasion-resistant cast chromium iron material. Removable casing liners were also designed and supplied in the same material for increased protection of the pump casings. After 20 years of reliable operation, Hayward Tyler replaced the first-generation units with new units of higher capacity to keep up with the facility’s increased production. All of the same, successful product features were included in the most recent supply, as well as Hayward Tyler’s latest condition monitoring system.