Process Machinery Handbook: For Field Personnel, Decision Makers, and Students equips newcomers and seasoned professionals with essential insights into the diverse world of process machinery, empowering them to understand unique performance characteristics, common failure modes, and effective strategies for enhancing reliability in their operations.
Any professional working at a production site for any length of time knows that process machinery comes in a wide range of designs and sizes, but not all process machines are considered equal. Some machines are more critical to the process than others, some are small, some are very large, some spin fast, and some turn relatively slowly. The great diversity in their construction and application can be daunting to those new to the industry and sometimes even challenge machinery veterans. There are many common concepts that apply to all equipment types, but each equipment category has its own unique application and performance characteristics, including cavitation in liquid handling pumps, surging in centrifugal gas compressors, rotor instability in high-speed centrifugal compressors, and the effect of the compression ratio on a reciprocating compressor’s the discharge temperature. It is also essential for users to understand how and why different types of machinery fail, keeping in mind that the common failure modes differ greatly between rotating machinery types. We know that by addressing the common types of failure modes associated with each machine type, we can achieve significant improvements in their reliability.
The first step in organizing an effective machinery reliability program is committing to performing failure analyses and gathering failure statistics. These activities will help users learn how and why their machines are failing. The next step is to continuously modify machines, processes, and methods to avoid common failures. Process Machinery Handbook: For Field Personnel, Decision Makers, and Students gives students and professionals alike the tools they need to understand the fundamentals of working with rotating machinery.
Contents Preface xxi Acknowledgements xxiii 1 Overview of Rotating Machinery 1 By Robert X. Perez Part I: Fluid Movers 31 2 Positive Displacement Pumps 33 By Robert X. Perez 3 Centrifugal Pumps: Part 1 51 By Robert X. Perez 4 Centrifugal Pumps: Part 2 71 By Robert X. Perez 5 Sealless Centrifugal Pumps 85 By Robert X. Perez 6 Compressors 93 By Robert X. Perez Part II: Drivetrains, Foundations, and Piping 147 7 Introduction to Process Drivers and Drivetrains 149 By Robert X. Perez 8 Machinery Foundation and Baseplate Design Recommendations 159 By Robert X. Perez 9 Process Piping Design and Installation Best Practices 173 By Robert X. Perez 10 AC Induction Motors 187 By Robert X. Perez 11 General Purpose Back Pressure Steam Turbines 209 By Robert X. Perez and David W. Lawhon 12 Gas Turbine Drivers 241 By Robert X. Perez 13 Natural Gas Engine Drivers 269 By Robert X. Perez 14 Turboexpanders for Gas Processing 283 By Robert X. Perez Part III: Gearboxes, Couplings, and Seals 301 15 Gears and Gearboxes 303 By Robert X. Perez 16 Industrial Drive Couplings 327 By Heinz P. Bloch and Robert X. Perez 17 Seals 345 By Robert X. Perez Part IV: Bearings and Lubrication 383 18 Rolling Element Bearings 385 By Robert X. Perez 19 Hydrodynamic Bearings 399 By John K. Whalen, PE 20 Introduction to Machinery Lubrication 445 By Robert X. Perez Part V: Condition Monitoring 467 21 Machinery Vibration Monitoring 469 By Robert X. Perez 22 Centrifugal Pump Monitoring, Troubleshooting, and Diagnosis Using Vibration Technologies 501 By William D. Marscher 23 Optimizing Lubrication and Lubricant Analysis 549 By Jim Fitch and Bennett Fitch 24 Troubleshooting Temperature Problems 587 By Robert X. Perez Part VI: Machinery Reliability 613 25 Machinery Reliability Management in a Nutshell 615 By Robert X. Perez 26 Useful Analysis Tools for Tracking Machinery Reliability 633 By Robert X. Perez 27 Improving the Effectiveness of Plant Operators 649 By Julien LeBleu 28 Improving Machinery Reliability by Using Root Cause Failure Analysis Methods 661 By Robert X. Perez Index 687
Robert X. Perez is a mechanical engineer with more than 40 years of rotating equipment experience in the petrochemical industry. He has worked in petroleum refineries, chemical facilities, and gas processing plants. He earned a BSME degree from Texas A&M University at College Station, an MSME degree from the University of Texas at Austin and holds a Texas PE license. Mr. Perez has written numerous technical articles for magazines and conferences proceedings and has authored and coauthored 11 books covering machinery reliability, including several books also available from Wiley-Scrivener.
