STARBOARD BALLAST PUMP STARTS ITS THIRD ‘LIFE CYCLE’ – 13 YEARS AFTER IT WAS DEEMED FIT ONLY AS SCRAP…

The Industry

Marine

The Challenge:

In August 2002, the client, a worldwide shipping company, sent a starboard ballast pump taken from one its vessels to Corrocoat’s Leeds factory for an evaluation report. The pump was suffering from severe corrosion and impact damage. The client feared that In this condition it was suitable only for scrap. Corroserve’s technicians stripped and inspected the pump and reported that by re-coating, reverse engineering, re-profiling and balancing the impellor, the pump could in fact be fully restored and put back into use. The client accepted this proposal and a contract to complete the work issued.

Some 13 years later, after continuous use the pump was still operating but to maintain its efficiency the client returned it again to Leeds for further inspection.

Results and Benefits

The refurbishment of the pump for a second time was completed at a fraction of the cost of purchasing new and took just two weeks to complete. The pump has now been returned to service to start its third life cycle.

The Solution:

On this second occasion examination revealed that if the pump was similarly reverse engineered and the impellor re-profiled and balanced, it could be renovated and put back into use. However on this occasion only minor patch repairs to the external coating were required. The following work was carried out in March 2015.

• Once prepared, brazed and plated, the casing internals and the impeller were primed with Corroglass 602 & 632, a Quadraxial MF Matting applied, followed by a final coating of 602 and a topcoat of Corroglass 652 to a dft of 1500 Mu.
• Following adequate cure of the coating, the refurbished impeller was profiled and balance checked in house to BS6861 – g2.5.
• The pump casing externals were patch coated with Plasmet ZF and an enamel system.

Results and Benefits:

The refurbishment of the pump for a second time was completed at a fraction of the cost of purchasing new and took just two weeks to complete. The pump has now been returned to service to start its third life cycle.