Type of Pump for Liquiefied Propane

[ghoshtathagata2000]

Hi,

We are working on a project handling products like propane, butane, hexane. The type of pumps being suggested is submersible canned motor (sealless).

The vessel is above ground (4 ft from grade & LLL of further 1 ft)

Pump flowrate is 55 gpm and TDH = 800 ft. Vessel ID = 18' 6" & TL / TL = 55' 6"

Wouldn't a VS6 pump mounted at grade with seal plan 53B be a better solution to the submersible pump, as presently under consideration.

Anybody having such experience can please share your opinion.

Thanks,

 

[MJCronin]

I do not believe that a submersible pump is a good choice here .....

Your high TDH seems like this may be too much for a single pump circuit transporting these types of liquids ... In my opinion

Sliding Vane pumps have been used in this service for decades.

https://www.corken.com/sliding_vane_technology

IMHO, I would talk to several vendors giving them your design requirements and see if you fit into their product lineup.

Keep us in the loop ..... let us know your final decision ....

MJCronin
Sr. Process Engineer

 

[georgeverghese]

In the long term, agreed you can expect shaft vibration issues if shaft is not supported well (especially for single bearing support). For the suggested external alternate, 10ft of static head (4+say 6) - say 2ft of friction head = 8ft NPSHa may not be adequate for such a high head centrifugal or pd pump. You may have to drop the pump further down-check with pump vendor. Else install a booster pump upstream.

If this is not an EPC job, ask the Owner's lead rotating machinery engineer to get involved in the decision (and Operations lead also).

 

[LittleInch]

Also you need to define "better solution".

Better in terms of??
Cost?
Operation?
long term reliability?
Sealing complexity?

One thing with the pressurized seal case for type 53B is that the product needs to be able to accept the sealing fluid.

The canned motor idea reduces your potential leakage issue to the power cable gland and avoids the complex seal system.

Propane is quite hazardous if it starts to leak and generally you need very good seals to cope with stationary shafts still under pressure.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[chicopee]

Contact propane parts suppliers as they have various models of pumps to handle liquid and vapor for those products of interest. Afterall there is a myriad of proprane distributors using these pumps. If applicable there are also vapor handling pumps used to unload railroad cars by increasing the vapor pressure in the vapor space of these railroad tanks in order to fill stationary bulk storage tanks.

 

[JJPellin]

We have many pumps for transferring LPG from storage tanks. All of them are multi-stage vertical turbine pumps with seal plan 52, 53a or 53b. Properly sized and operated, they work well.

Johnny Pellin