STEAM SLURRY PUMP STRATEGIC MAINTENANCE APPROACH

Pump performance in the Alumina Refining industry has a significant impact on overall production and cost. This is due to large networks of pumps and pumping systems used to transport the required process media in an alumina refinery. The aim of this paper is to discuss, how a strategic and holistic approach to asset management can be adopted in order to address pump performance criteria such as reliability, availability and maintainability.

In particular the pump that is the focus of this paper is the Worthington 20 x 14 x 24 Duplex Steam Slurry Pump, used as part of the Digestion process at Queensland Alumina Limited. This pump is a reciprocating positive displacement pump using a piston and cylinder arrangement to pump liquor (caustic soda) across a slurry to liquor interface. The purpose of the pump is to transport bauxite slurry to Digestion Unit 3. During the period of July 2005 to December 2006 there was a general increase in the production downtime attributed to these pumps and subsequently a maintenance project was initiated. The focus of this project was to review and address areas of concern such as existing maintenance & operation strategies, drawings & documentation, warehouse management, bill of materials, condition monitoring, downtime monitoring, rotating spares and work instructions & manuals.

By engaging all the necessary stakeholders the above areas of concern were addressed successfully. Subsequently a decrease in production downtime was recorded. The use of a strategic and holistic approach to asset management in conjunction with involvement from all stakeholders provided QAL with a positive outcome. This paper will discuss the journey and the outcomes