Pump upgrade aims to reduce total cost of ownership

With this in mind, the company has introduced Allmind, which provides a variable speed drive for pumps, claimed to enable reduced energy consumption by as much as 50%, and intelligent diagnostics, allowing the concept of condition monitoring to be applied to pumps, increasing reliability and cutting maintenance costs.

“Our primary goal”, says Christian Martin, director, product management commercial marine at Colfax, “is to provide clients with a competitive edge by offering cost-effective equipment. We keep abreast of technological developments and continually optimize and adjust the performance of our systems to maximise energy efficiency.”

Allmind features variable speed drive control to enable the speed of the pump to be adjusted to match actual demand on a continuous basis. An integrated PID controller and intelligent algorithms control the speed of the pump according to target parameters such as volume, pressure, or net positive suction head (NPSH) ratio with a simple frequency converter.

The Allmind condition monitoring module has the ability to maximise system availability by providing component-specific information. This measurement of the health of a pump by routine monitoring and analysis of data helps avoid unplanned downtime. It detects early phases of damage to mechanical seals through continuous leakage monitoring. The vibration analysis module monitors mechanical oscillations and continuously compares them to threshold values, thus detecting imbalance and thwarting any operational damage. The vibration analysis module also monitors bearing condition. Further Allmind is capable of detecting unusual levels of motor load.

“Regulating the flow rate over a wide range without harming the pump, Allmind’s variable speed drive application lowers total energy consumption, improves reliability and decreases maintenance costs. Reduced pump speeds also lower overall system vibration and can reduce noise levels,” says Mr Martin.

“The majority of a pump’s lifetime and vessel requirements are much lower than the system design point. Reducing pump motor speed grants major cost saving advantages,” he adds, citing the example that a 20% speed reduction in an electrically driven centrifugal pump cuts energy consumption by half. “Savings of up to 50% and more can be easily realised with Allmind. The payback period for the installed equipment can be even less than one year.”