Pulp & Paper

A paper mill, originally built in the early 1900’s experiences a boiler feed pump failure, during which most major components including the pump casing are catastrophically damaged. It is clear that the pump is in a non-repairable condition. The pump model is no longer manufactured by the OEM. The OEM quotes supplying a new pump model with similar hydraulic characteristics to the paper mill. While the hydraulic performance of the new pump will satisfy the system requirements, cost prohibitive structural changes to the mill’s piping and the pump support structure would be required.

Procurement agents at the mill turn to Pivotal Pumps for a solution. Pivotal’s team of expert engineers utilize laser scanning technology and reverse engineering techniques to remanufacture the entire pump assembly. The new pump is an identical replacement to the failed pump, requiring no structural changes to the mill’s infrastructure. The project is completed on-time and under budget.

Another paper mill, based in the southeast US, utilized a 1970’s vintage boiler feed pump for their power plant. Being an older design, the pump was designed using standard pump packing and a packing gland as the primary sealing device. As a result, the pump required regular service, once per year, to replace the packing sleeves and repack the pump. While the mill was able to effectively schedule this maintenance, the task burned up valuable maintenance resources and budget money.

Pivotal Pumps was able to redesign the stuffing boxes to incorporate mechanical seal adapter plates while the pump was at our facility for repair. Once the adapter plates were manufactured and installed, the pump was retrofitted with modern mechanical seals, including the use of an advanced pumping ring and flush plan. The pump can now run without need of service for 8-10 years, saving the mill valuable time and money.