HEAVY Duty OIL Transfer Pump
Cavitation-Free and Cost-Savings: How to Pump Heavy Fuel Oil Efficiently
NETZSCH Pumps and Systems provides innovative pump technology that revolutionizes heavy fuel oil transfer in seaports.
High costs to reduce viscosity and flow breaks due to cavitation are widespread problems when pumping heavy fuel oil. Efficient pumping is, therefore, not possible in many cases.
With the global specialist in handling complex media, the operator could sustainably resolve its problems when transferring heavy fuel oil from tanks to ships or lorries and increase its reliability and efficiency. Discover why the operator contacted NETZSCH shortly after the successful commissioning and how to organize the transfer of heavy fuel oil more efficiently in the future.
Individual Consulting
Things to consider when pumping heavy fuel oil
The operators were having difficulty with two centrifugal pumps they used to transfer the fuels for two separate operations. One application involved transferring the fuels from the terminal bunkers to tanker trucks and rail cars. The second application was for the transfer of bunker fuels to ships.
The centrifugal pumps were failing as a result of cavitation. The system had a low NPSHa because of the viscosity of the fuels, which changed with fluctuating temperatures (especially at night) and the customer was frequently adjusting the discharge valve to increase the discharge pressure, to allow the pump to operate at the best efficiency point (BEP). The customer had to, at times, throttle the discharge to 18 bar to ensure the centrifugal pumps would work properly.
To best operate the centrifugal pumps in these applications, the customer also found it necessary to mix diesel fuel with the other fuels to decrease the viscosity. According to the customer, approximately 3.03 m3/day of diesel fuel per day had to be injected into the process.
Pumping heavy fuel oil: Handling high viscosity and preventing cavitation
When the customer learned that NETZSCH had experience with this kind of application and could use one single pump and eliminate the need to mix product, they contacted NETZSCH to discuss a solution.
How to increase your efficiency when pumping heavy fuel oil
NETZSCH technical experts studied the customer concerns: the low NPSHa requirements; the issue that the discharge pressure varied resulting in the centrifugal pumps not operating continually at the BEP; and the fact that diesel fuel had to be added to the HFO for the centrifugal pumps to operate correctly. A NOTOS® twin screw pump was then recommended. Several considerations were taken into account to refine the multiple screw pump features. As an example, the viscosity of the fuels combined with the pump operating speed demanded an API special cartridge seal with seal flush plan be used. A NOTOS® model 2NS pump was selected to recirculate the seal barrier fluid and guarantee leak free service.
The 4NS NOTOS® twin screw pump was installed in place of the centrifugal pumps. The customer immediately noticed several key benefits of the NOTOS® twin screw pump versus the centrifugal pump
- One pump can handle both applications
- Because the NOTOS® has a lower NPSH requirement, the pumps operate without cavitation resulting in a much longer operating life.
- The NOTOS® does not need the discharge “throttled” and it was found the pressure was actually 6 bar, reducing energy cost by 3 times.
- The customer also realized good amount of savings because they no longer needed to mix diesel fuel into the HFO to reduce the viscosity.
The customer is so satisfied with the performance of the NETZSCH NOTOS® pump that they have ordered more pumps from NETZSCH for their oil recovery system. NETZSCH has proven its capacity to solve difficult situations with its complex handing fluid solutions.
NOTOS® 4NS geared twin screw pumps
- Medium: Heavy Crude oil
- Capacity: Max. up to 200 m³/h
- Pressure: 18 bar
- Temperature: 10-50 °C
- Viscosity: Up to 9,000 cSt
