ENHANCING OIL PLATFORM AVAILABILITY AND RELIABILITY

Case StudyAs part of the Upgrade project of 1998/99 the Main Oil line (MOL) pumps were replaced with smaller pumps from NUOVA PIGNONE (NP), due to Three-phase separation. The new pumps were installed with John Crane (JC) Double Mechanical seals to API standards. However these seals started failing prematurely causing considerable losses in terms of : -Production losses. -High cost of barrier fluid. -Higher maintenance cost. -External leak of crude oil and HSE issues. The replacement modified seals supplied by NP/JC slightly improved over the previous seals and seal system, and the average seal failures reduced to three-four months, however dedicated manpower was required. In the earlier days most of the seals refurbishment were carried out by JC. Slowly this was carried out in house to reduce cost and time