Saudi Arabian Oil Company

Doru Catalin Turcan

Ali Al Shehri

Keith William Brashler

A vertical molten sulfur pump assembly includes a pump motor disposed in a top portion and an impeller disposed in a bottom portion, within an impeller casing. A pump inlet is disposed at the second end below the impeller casing. The vertical molten sulfur pump assembly is configured to pump molten sulfur into the inlet and upwards through a discharge passageway by rotation of the impeller. A vibration sensor and a temperature sensor are disposed on an external surface of the bottom portion, on or proximate to the impeller casing and the pump inlet. A temperature sensor is configured to measure a temperature of the molten sulfur proximate to the pump inlet. A vibration sensor includes a substrate comprising a polymer and a resonant layer, and resonant layer includes an electrically conductive nanomaterial and is configured to produce a resonant response in response to receiving a radio frequency signal.

Molten sulfur pump vibration and temperature sensor for enhanced condition monitoring

A method for processing vibration data includes receiving shaft displacement data, from a pair of sensors, including shaft center X-axis displacement and shaft center Y-axis displacement, which are orthogonal to each other. The method includes converting the shaft displacement data to shaft velocity data by calculating a difference in shaft displacement over time and/or converting into shaft acceleration data by calculating a different in shaft velocity over time. The shaft velocity or acceleration data is filtered, sorted and grouped into three or more groups, assigning a color to each velocity group or acceleration group. The method generates an image of a velocity or acceleration orbit plot, where the X-axis displacement and the Y-axis displacement define coordinate pairs of a trace of shaft center displacement, and the velocity or acceleration group between each coordinate pair defines a display color of the trace.

Systems and methods for measuring shaft-relative vibration

A system includes a vertical charge pump assembly. The vertical charge pump assembly includes a top portion adjacent to a first end of the vertical charge pump assembly and a bottom portion adjacent to a second end of the vertical charge pump assembly. A pump motor is disposed in the top portion and an impeller is disposed in the bottom portion within a bowl casing. A shaft is disposed within a central passageway and connects the pump motor with the impeller. The vertical charge pump assembly also includes an inlet at the second end below the bowl casing. The pump inlet and the bowl casing are configured to be immersed in a fluid, and the vertical charge pump assembly is configured to pump the fluid into the inlet and upwards through the central passageway by rotation of the impeller. A vibration sensor is disposed on an external surface of the bottom portion, on or proximate to the bowl casing and the pump inlet. The vibration sensor includes a substrate comprising a polymer and a resonant layer disposed on a surface of the substrate. The resonant layer comprises an electrically conductive nanomaterial and is configured to produce a resonant response in response to receiving a radio frequency signal.

Vibration monitoring and data analytics for vertical charge pumps

A system includes a vertical molten sulfur pump assembly that includes a top portion adjacent to a first end of the vertical molten sulfur pump assembly and a bottom portion adjacent to a second end of the vertical molten sulfur pump assembly. A pump motor is disposed in the top portion, an impeller is disposed in the bottom portion within an impeller casing, and a shaft is disposed within a central column and connecting the pump motor with the impeller. A pump inlet is disposed at the second end below the impeller casing. The pump inlet and the impeller casing are configured to be immersed in molten sulfur. The vertical molten sulfur pump assembly is configured to pump the molten sulfur into the inlet and upwards through a discharge passageway by rotation of the impeller. A vibration sensor and a temperature sensor are disposed on an external surface of the bottom portion, on or proximate to the impeller casing and the pump inlet. The temperature sensor is configured to measure a temperature of the molten sulfur proximate to the pump inlet. The vibration sensor includes a substrate comprising a polymer and a resonant layer disposed on a surface of the substrate. The resonant layer includes an electrically conductive nanomaterial and is configured to produce a resonant response in response to receiving a radio frequency signal.

A sensor includes a radio frequency interrogator, a responsive patch, a radio frequency resonance detector, and a transmission line. The radio frequency interrogator is configured to produce an electromagnetic interrogation pulse having a first frequency. The responsive patch includes a substrate and a resonant layer disposed on a surface of the substrate. The substrate includes a polymer. The resonant layer includes an electrically conductive nanomaterial. The resonant layer is configured to resonate at the first frequency in response to receiving the electromagnetic interrogation pulse. The radio frequency resonance detector is configured to detect a resonating response of the responsive patch. The transmission line couples the responsive patch to the radio frequency resonance detector. The transmission line is configured to transmit the resonating response of the responsive patch to the radio frequency resonance detector.

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Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Doru Catalin Turcan