The Oil Sands Hydrotransport “Super Pump” Pump Symposium 2013 The Oil Sands Hydrotransport...

Calgary Pump Symposium 2013

The Oil Sands Hydrotransport “Super Pump” Part 2: Installation and Performance

Dan Wolfe Ron Cleminson

Syncrude Canada Ltd.

Calgary Pump Symposium 2013

Calgary Pump Symposium 2013 Calgary Pump Symposium 2013

Dan Wolfe Senior Mechanical Associate at Syncrude Research, specializing in health monitoring and reliability improvement of equipment such as centrifuges, crushers, heavy hauler engines and slurry pumps and piping.

Ron Cleminson Senior Mechanical Associate in Syncrude Technology Development, specializing in slurry preparation, materials handling and bitumen extraction equipment.

Calgary Pump Symposium 2013 The Oil Sand Hydrotransport “Super Pump” Part 2: Installation and Performance D. Wolfe & R. Cleminson, Syncrude Canada Ltd.

This presentation is about… • Installation and Performance of

a new Hydrotransport pump for Aurora North Mine

• The new wear model used in the impeller design has been proven useful

• We expect 3X life of existing pumps

GIW TBC 84 SP

The Oil Sands Hydrotransport “Super Pump” Part 2: Installation and Performance


Shell

CNRL

Suncor

Shell

Upgrader

Mildred Lake Mine “North Mine Hydro Transport”

Utilities Extraction

Syncrude Base Plant & Mildred Lake Mine are located just outside Fort McMurray, Alberta near the center of the Athabasca oil sand deposit • Name plate capacity: 350,000 bpd of oil • 13% of Canada's domestic consumption

Base Plant Operations – Mildred Lake

Athabasca Oil Sands deposit

Surface mining locations in the Athabasca Oilsands


• Remote operation • ~35 km north from Base Plant • Operating for over 10 years • Mines & processes ~120 Mt/yr oilsand

• Warm water extraction process • Relies on Hydrotransport (HT) technology

for pipeline conditioning and oil sand delivery to separation vessels (PSV’s).

• Every year, Aurora North moves more

than 3 billion t-km of slurry by Hydrotransport…

Shell

Suncor

Shell

CNRL

Surface mining locations in the Athabasca Oilsands

Aurora North Mine


Aurora North Hydrotransport

• 3 Slurry Prep. Trains • 2 Operating, 1 Standby (Available for maintenance) • Nominal pipeline solids feed rate 8250 tph per train

• Slurry Preparation Technology: Wet Screening

• Relocate-able, modular structures • Primary system: Mix box / vibe screens (5” openings) • Secondary system: Mix box / impactor / 5” screens

• Hydrotransport

• 30” diameter / 3.5km typical distance


Surge Feed Conveyor

Slurry Preparation Facility

Surge Facility

Mix Box Feed Conveyor

Primary Crusher Stage 1&2 HT

Pump house

Ø30” HT pipelines (Typ. 3.5km long)

400t Haul Trucks

Aurora Slurry Prep. Train - Major Components


Slurry Prep. Pump House – Stage 1&2 Pumps

Flow

G2

GIW TBC 57.5”

G1 Flow


2 x Ø30m Separation Vessels (PSV’s)

PSV 2 PSV 1


Aurora Benchmarks HT Slurry Pumps

• Current reliability bottleneck (since ~2009) • Shortest-lived equipment in the Ore Prep & HT system @

~1000h Mean Time Between Maintenance (MTBM)

Piping > 4000h Vibrating Screens > 4000h


The most extreme slurry pump application that we are aware of (in oil sands)…

Operating condition (24” x 28” pump): • High generated head per stage ~ 35-45m • High flow rate 6500-8000 m3/hr • High pipeline density ~1.60 SG

Slurry Characteristics • Coarse, angular sand @ D50 = 220 µm • 5” Large particle size (5” Lumps)

Aurora HT pump wet ends: 1000h MTBM • Significant life improvement will require a new design

Slower rotating impeller & longer pumping vanes…

Aurora North Slurry Pumps…

Pump speeds > 400rpm < 16 m/s @ impeller vane leading edge (VLE)


Existing Pumps 24” x 28”

Proposed Pump 24” x 28”

Vane Tip: 30 m/s

250 rpm

Vane Tip: 30 m/s

400 rpm

Existing Pumps vs. Super Pump Same 28” suction dia., O.D. 50% bigger, vane lengths 60% longer

Ø28” Ø28”

> Ø84” Ø57-62” Impact Velocity:

10 m/s Impact Vel.: 16 m/s


Slurry Pump Failure Modes

New Impeller Almost new

Vane Leading Edge

Large particle impact wear on vane leading edges


Modeling Impact Wear

• We know that vane impact damage is exponentially related to leading edge velocity (Impact Velocity)

• Supported by literature and lots of operational experience

• We can model the lifespan of a slower-moving impeller


Impact Velocity – Pump Impeller

5m/s

14m

/s Axial Flow Velocity

Circumferential Velocity = +

Vector Sum

Typical 4-vane impeller

K.E. = ½ m(V)2 Mass

Velocity Exponent

Impact Velocity

Know that velocity exponent exponent is somewhere between 2 and 3 for pump wear

400 rpm

Impact Velocity


Impeller Vane Impact Velocity vs. Wear Rate North Mine wear data adjusted to Aurora Velocity

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

6 8 10 12 14 16

Pump Vane Leading Edge Impact Speed (m/s)

Vane

Wea

r Rat

e

(hou

rs/in

ch)

3

2

Avg.

NM

Vel

ocity

Difference in wear rate between NM and Aurora data (75%) is fundamentally due to lump size in the slurry NM Average 360 hrs/inch 1

125 hrs/in

200 hrs/in

15.4

m/s

Can estimate the effect of impact velocity… shifting the NM data point along the exponential velocity curve

North Mine Average Wear data from all pump locations distilled down to one point

5” Lumps 2.5” Lumps (North Mine) (Aurora)


Impeller Vane Impact Velocity vs. Wear Rate Aurora data adjusted to 10 m/s velocity

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

6 8 10 12 14 16

Vane Leading Edge Impact Speed (m/s)

Vane

Wea

r Rat

e

(hou

rs/in

ch)

2

Effect of lowering impact velocity in the 5” slurry system can be estimated by shifting a data point along its exponential speed curve

3

Aurora Speed Adjusted 300 hrs/inch

NM Average 360 hrs/inch

4

1

Wear life can be increased by 2.5-3X by slowing impeller VLE speed down to 9-10 m/s Av

g. N

M V

eloc

ity

125 hrs/in

15.4

m/s

9.3

5

5” Lumps 2.5” Lumps (North Mine) (Aurora)


What Impeller Size for 4000h MTBM? • It was a given that no additional pump stages would

be used (i.e.: ~M$15 capital /stage, reduces overall availability ~1.5% per stage)…

• The head generated by each pump remains the same @ 35-45m.

• Must maintain ~ 30 m/s peripheral (tip) speed on impeller

• Need to determine what impeller diameter provides the best balance of:

• (Velocity adjusted) Wear rate • Overall pumping vane length

To Achieve 4000h MTBM


20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 2000 4000 6000 8000

Impeller Life (hours)

Rem

aini

ng V

ane

Leng

th

(inch

es)

Model Output

Ø84” impeller: 5000 - 6000h design life (CWI)

Ø57.5” Actual

Ø67” Predicted & Actual

Ø84” Std CWI (Predicted)

Ø84” + Improved CWI

4X life increase

4000h MTBM

1000h MTBM

Impeller Life stage Beginning Middle End


Other Wet End Components • Need to strike a balance in the wear

life of all components • Casing (Cutwater) • Suction liner • Impeller back shroud

• Lower pump RPMs address some of these areas

• Others addressed by: • Design improvements • Increased metal thicknesses • Using improved materials

Casing

Suction liner

Impeller

Back liner

GIW TBC 84 SP


Aurora Super Pump

Syncrude driven development effort… • Spring 2011 – Vendor discussions / issued RFP • October 2011 - Proposal evaluations completed • November 2011 – Purchase order issued for 3 pumps

GIW design (GIW TBC 84 SP) selected • First 3 Pumps installed in March/April 2013 • 1700 hour inspection in July 2013 • 3000 hour (brief) inspection October 2013 • 4000 hour inspection ~ January 2014


Aurora Super Pump


Installation Challenges The pumps are larger and heavier.

• Needed to upgrade 15t crane to 25t • Part handling procedures were modified • Maintenance openings in buildings were enlarged • Foundations were OK (dynamic and static loading)


Installation Challenges This was a retrofit of existing equipment.

• Re-used existing reinforced concrete foundations and cast-in anchors (no time for major modifications) • Rebar, cast-in beams, floor drains

• Creative anchoring design was required, with much more engineering effort than anticipated • Tensile and spacing limits of Hilti-style anchors


Learnings from First 3000h

1. Impeller life span has considerably increased 2. First 2 stages see significantly less head (solids) de-rating

than before – and virtually no de-rating below 30% Cv 3. Progressively less difference between 57” and 84” impellers

as you move downstream from G1 to G4 • Head loss (de-rating) is primarily due to lumps and wear,

not sand d50 or solids concentration 4. Un-expectedly, the new pumps (TBC 84 SP) see frequent

plugging events, particularly in the first 500 hours


Head Ratio

Old pump life span

New pump

Rapid drop off due to internal wear

Old pump life span


Head De-rating G1: Start of the Line • Slurry still very lumpy • Large difference between old and new G1 impeller sizes

Old Pump

New Pump solids de-rating is considerably less


Head De-rating G2: 4m Downstream of G1 • Some lumps broken by G1 • Reduced difference between old and new G2 impeller sizes

Old Pump

New Pump


Head De-rating G4: 1.5km Downstream of G2

• Lumps substantially ablated • Very small difference between old and new G4 impeller sizes

New Pump Old Pump

Super Pumps see less Head De-rating due to lumps


Solids Effect – Head Ratio

Lumps ablate as they move down the pipeline (solids effect is reduced)

G1

G2

Head ratio for each pump position is also significantly improved

G4


Unanticipated Lump Blockages • 5” screen openings don’t control all three lump dimensions

• Many oblong 5”x5”x10” and even 5”x5”x15” lumps get through to pumps

• Lower rpm is providing improved hydraulic performance & lower wear rates, but has had the unintended consequence of increased plugging due to inability to break the lumps on impact with the vane leading edges


Sphere passing clearance is the largest sphere that can fit between the impeller vanes

Sphere Passing Clearance

Φ84” 4-vane impeller schematic

Ø210mm


Pump Model Sphere Clearance

% Time Blocked

Old G1 TBC 52 (4-vane) 183mm (7.2”) < 5% New G1 TBC 84 SP (4-vane) 210mm (8.3”) ~20%

Old G2/G4 TBC 57.5 (4-vane) 155mm (6.1”) < 5% New G2/G4 TBC 84 SP (4-vane) 210mm (8.3”) ~10%

Theory as to why blockages are occurring despite larger vane clearances: Lower rpm of Super Pumps results in fewer lumps being

broken, and more being ‘caught’

Sphere Passing Clearance


Effect of Blockages on Head

Frequency & duration of blockages reduce over time as internal clearances increase due to wear


New G2 @ 2950 hours 9” wear, 72” remaining > 6000 hour life span

Old G2 @ 1900 hours 27” wear, 23” remaining 2000 hour life span

Impeller Vane Wear – Old vs. New

27”

9”


Impeller Lifespan


Overall Pump Wear No failures expected before 6000 hours • Impeller vane thinning is minimal near the leading edge

• Vanes will be made thinner to reduce blockages • Impeller back shroud: 5-12 mm/1000hr • Suction liner wear is even/smooth

• Wear rate is 2-10 mm/1000hr • Hub liner wear is minimal • Casing wear is even/smooth

• Cutwater: 15-20 mm/1000hr • Max wear at K,L,M:

• 9-14 mm/1000hr

Casing

Suction liner

Impeller

Back liner


Major components have been laser scanned to create precise 3D solid models for ongoing condition monitoring…

• Follow-up scan at 1700 hours (also at 4000h and end-of-life) • Will be able to analyze metal loss & operating data to improve wear model

accuracy, and ultimately feed back into the pump design…

Model Refinement

Super Pump Impeller 3D Solid Model (from Laser Scan)


Aurora Super Pump

• 3 retrofits into Aurora (Train 1 HT) in Q1 2013

• Predicted 3X increase in pump life • 1700 and 2950 hour inspection results confirm predicted life span

• All pumps expected to achieve 6000 hour design life

GIW TBC 84 SP First Inspection


Thank-you!

TBC 84 SP (first assembly) – GIW Hydraulics Lab (July 2012)

The Oil Sands Hydrotransport “Super Pump” Pump Symposium 2013 The Oil Sands Hydrotransport...

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