001-40 WC 139 NOV-DEC24 PAPERTURN - Flipbook - Page 23
Germany had to manufacture a bottom entry suction pump,
which is not common, and meet 29 essential hydraulic and
mechanical criteria. As a result the pump was custom-made to
this design and subjected to full factory testing with the specific
project motor and switchgear at the factory in Germany.
Left to right: KSB supplied six single-stage horizontal split case double
suction motor-pump sets (MPS); each fitted with 948mm double-entry
radial impellers. 4 Installation of all the pumps and electrical equipment
and completion of the inter-connection wirings between the switchgear,
motor control and excitation panels was undertaken by the contractor.
Eumar Landaeta, KSB Pumps Inc.
with all the dimensions and clearances so the equipment could
be installed in the available space while taking into account the
existing structures, including the location of the water intake
and discharge pipes. Any modification to this old configuration
would have had a huge impact in engineering and cost on the
piping arrangement and construction at site.
The challenge
KSB’s working relationship with the City of Montréal goes back
more than 40 years. In the late 1970s, the pump manufacturer
supplied five of its type ME 5,500HP 4200 l/s pumps to the
Charles-J.-Des Baillets water treatment plant. In 2015, a further
ME pump was installed, this coming on stream in 2018. This
enabled the plant to operate to its optimum design capability. It
was in the spring of 2018 that KSB was invited to tender for the
supply pumps for the Atwater plant, eventually being awarded
the contract at the end of that year. The contract award would
take into account not only the acquisition cost, but also the
operating cost of electrical energy over 25 years. This meant that
the pump sets had to deliver high levels of operating efficiency.
In order to meet the contract criteria, engineers in Halle,
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
Equipment supplied
The pumps designed and supplied were six single-stage horizontal split case double suction pumps, each fitted with 948mm
double-entry radial impellers. Each pump comes with a 2500HP
synchronous motor with brushless exciter. The pumps are rated to
operate at 1580l/s at a head of 73m. Included in the package are
an excitation control panel and electrical integration services.
A further issue was the need to keep the plant operational at
all times during the refurbishment work. This was achieved by
installing the equipment over an extended period, whereby the
existing pumps would be taken out sequentially and replaced by
the new pumps. In order for this to be fulfilled, all the units were
fabricated at the same time then stored at a nearby site for the two
year duration of the refurbishment program.
Concerns were raised with regard to any possible delay in the
delivery of the new equipment. This was because the obsolescence
of existing pumps would worsen as spare parts were no longer
available. In addition, the plant would have to deal with two separate electrical power systems, which is not recommended. In fact,
the new pumps were to be connected to the 25 KV power system
while the existing pumps would continue to be powered by the
existing 12 KV power system, which was reaching the end of its
useful life. This situation was identified as creating additional costs
in the maintenance and management of the operation.
All six pumps were fabricated and ready for factory testing
in early 2020, the beginning of the COVID pandemic. The
Halle factory maintained the testing schedule despite personnel
shortages. Due to global sanitary restrictions, the client was not
able to witness the tests at the factory in Germany in person. This
difficulty was resolved by allowing remote participation via video
conference to the factory test bench. All tests were successful and
even improved the theoretical efficiency.
KSB shipped all equipment from Germany to a storage site in
the Montréal area where monthly maintenance was performed
on the units during storage. The first two pumps were installed
and commissioned in 2022, with the four remaining units being
installed and commissioned in August 2023.
The contractor installed all the pumps and electrical equipment
and completed the inter-connection wirings between the switchgear, motor control and excitation panels (Fig.4). KSB inspected
the pumps and motor mechanical installation, and its subcontractor (electrical integrator) checked the wiring.
All pumps were retested onsite and achieved required performance, followed by personnel training for pumps, motors and
switchgears undertaken in September/October 2023.
WATER C AN ADA • NOV EMBER/ DECEMBER 2024
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