5 Common Causes of Pump Failure in the Oil and Gas Industry

Pumps keep oil and gas flowing from wells to refineries. A single hour of unplanned downtime can cost a company up to $100,000 or more in lost production and repairs. In upstream drilling, midstream pipelines, and downstream processing, these machines face tough conditions that lead to breakdowns.

Pump failures happen often in this field. Yet many stem from issues you can fix with smart upkeep and knowledge of the roots. This article breaks down the top five causes of pump failure in oil and gas. You'll learn about mechanical seals, cavitation, bearings, operational stress, and material wear. These insights boost rotating equipment reliability and cut causes of pump breakdown.

Mechanical Seal Failure: The Most Frequent Culprit

Seals in pumps stop leaks between moving and still parts. They face harsh oil and gas settings like high pressure and dirty fluids. This makes them the top spot for pump failure in oil and gas operations.

Improper Installation and Handling

Wrong setup ruins seals fast. If you set the seal length off by even a bit, it rubs wrong and heats up. During assembly, a small scratch on the seal face from tools can cause early leaks.

O-rings need lube to slide in place. Skip that, and they tear or pinch. Workers often rush installs in the field, leading to these errors. One study shows bad installs cause 30% of seal issues in pumps.

Environmental Stress and Fluid Compatibility

Sand and scale in crude oil grind seal faces like sandpaper. Over time, this wears them thin. Chemicals in sour gas swell rubber parts, cracking them open.

High heat speeds up the damage. At 200°F, elastomers break down quicker. Pick seal materials that match your fluids to avoid this trap.

Operational Abuse (Dry Running)

Run a pump dry, and seals cook in seconds. Low NPSH means not enough liquid at the inlet. Vapor forms, and parts overheat.

Close a valve by mistake, and flow stops. Heat builds fast from friction. This leads to seal face melt and total breakdown. Always check suction lines before startup.

Cavitation: The Silent Destroyer of Impellers

Cavitation starts when low pressure makes fluid boil into bubbles. These bubbles crash on metal parts, pitting them like bullet holes. In oil and gas, it hits impellers hard, causing pump failure in oil and gas systems.

Inadequate Suction Conditions (Low NPSHa)

Clogged strainers block flow and drop pressure. Undersized pipes do the same. Hot fluids lower density, worsening the pull.

Low levels in tanks mean air sneaks in. This cuts NPSH available. Pumps in hot produced water often face this in downstream plants.

Recognizing and Mitigating Cavitation Damage

Listen for the rattle like marbles in a can. Feel excess vibration on the housing. Pits form on impeller edges, eating away metal.

To fight it, raise suction head with bigger tanks. Cool the fluid if you can. Clean strainers often to keep flow steady.

System Design Flaws

Choose a pump curve that mismatches your needs, and it runs wrong. Low flow zones build pressure that sparks bubbles. High head demands strain the whole unit.

Engineers sometimes pick cheap pumps without full system checks. This leads to off-design runs and quick wear. Match the curve to your flow rate for long life.

Bearing Failure: Overheating and Contamination

Bearings hold the shaft steady as it spins. In oil and gas, they take heavy loads from pumps moving thick fluids. Failure here twists shafts and stops everything.

Lubrication Issues: Too Much, Too Little, or Wrong Type

No grease means metal grinds metal. Heat spikes from friction. Too much grease churns like butter in a mixer, building extra warmth.

Wrong oil viscosity fails at cold starts or hot runs. Pick based on temp charts. Bad lube causes half of bearing problems in field reports.

• Check levels weekly.

• Use OEM specs for type.

• Flush old grease before refill.

Ingress of Contaminants (Water and Solids)

Water in grease turns it to mush, washing away the film. Solids from drilling mud scratch races. In wet gas lines, this happens a lot.

Faulty seals let junk in. Breathers clog and pull dirt. Keep housings tight and clean.

Vibration and Misalignment as Indirect Causes

Piping stress bends the shaft. Couplings installed loose add wobble. This pounds bearings like a hammer.

Vibes from nearby gear transmit loads. Align with lasers for straight runs. Fix this, and bearings last years longer.

Operational Stress and Control Issues

Pumps don't fail just from parts wearing out. Bad use in the system causes many breakdowns. In oil and gas pipelines, control slips lead to big costs.

Running Outside the Best Efficiency Point (BEP)

The BEP is where pumps run smoothest. Too low flow recirculates water, heating seals. Too high flow drops head and strains motors.

This off-BEP run erodes parts over months. Check your flow meters often. Adjust throttles to stay near BEP.

Frequent Cycling and Surge Conditions

On-off controls cycle pumps too much. Each start shocks seals and windings. In storage tanks, this wears fast.

Surges in lines spike pressure like a water hammer. Valves slam shut, stressing all. Use soft starters to ease cycles.

• Install VFDs for smooth speed.

• Add surge protectors.

• Train ops on steady runs.

Power Quality Problems

Voltage dips overload motors, heating bearings. Imbalance across phases wears uneven. Harmonics from drives buzz internals.

In remote sites, bad power is common. Use clean supplies or filters. Monitor with meters to spot issues early.

Material Degradation and Corrosion

Oil and gas fluids eat metals over time. Corrosion teams with wear to cause pump failure in oil and gas setups. Pick wrong materials, and it hits quick.

Erosion-Corrosion Synergy

Acid in crude softens steel first. Then sand blasts it away. This duo thins casings fast in erosive flows.

Flow speed matters; faster means more attack. Slow it down with bigger pipes if needed.

Sulfide Stress Cracking (SSC) and Hydrogen Embrittlement

H2S gas makes metals brittle. Cracks form under stress, snapping shafts. In sour fields, this kills pumps sudden.

Hard steels crack worst. Soften them or coat for safety. Follow NACE rules for sour service.

Selecting Inappropriate Metallurgy

Cheap carbon steel rusts in salt water. Use stainless or alloys for corrosives. Charts show matches for pH and temps.

During repairs, check fluid specs. Upgrade impellers to duplex steel for long runs. This cuts causes of pump breakdown by half in bad environments.

Enhancing Pump Reliability Through Foresight

Seal failures top the list, often from bad installs or dry runs. Bearings go next due to lube errors or dirt. Fix these basics to avoid most pump failure in oil and gas.

Cavitation and off-BEP ops hurt from poor setup. Material picks fail in tough chemicals. Know your system's limits to keep things running.

Shift to predictive checks like vibe monitoring. Catch signs early with oil analysis. This builds rotating equipment reliability and saves downtime cash. Your pumps will thank you with fewer breakdowns.