Flow Solutions Division
BW Seals
Durametallic Seals
Pacific Wietz Seals
Pac-Seal
VOL.11, NO. 3
Steps to
Success
The relationship between DuPont and Flowserve
allows the chemical giant to reduce working
capital and increase MTBF
insight
2
innovations
3
connections
4
turnkey solutions
7
insight
I
Ken Bell
Flowserve
Vice President
Manufacturing
Operations
Flow Solutions Division
222 West Las Colinas Blvd.
Suite 1500
Irving, TX 75039
Phone: 972-443-6500
Fax: 972-443-6800
© 2000 Flowserve Corporation
Published by
Putman Publishing Company
2
t’s a given that to be a successful global competitor in
today’s marketplace, manufacturers need to be able to
better serve the customer. It’s no surprise, therefore,
that Flowserve has taken active steps to do just that. By
implementing world class manufacturing practices that
result in efficiencies throughout Flowserve’s Flow Solutions Division (FSD), we’ve learned that positive change
comes through education, experience and execution—
and as a result of execution—visible success that we can
share with our customers.
In line with this goal, Flowserve initiated a series of
changes at FSD. Our plan for these positive changes is to
create a university opportunity for other Flowserve divisions so they can implement the same type of changes and
enjoy the same results: performance improvements that
impact customer service positively.
Flowserve has applied this university approach to quality-driven performance via improved throughput, reduced
inventory and reduced operating expense—throughput
being the most important of the three. Before Flowserve
could improve throughput, constraints within the entire
facility were identified. Having accomplished that internal
focus, we’ve been able to create a flow of control throughout our entire manufacturing process. As a result of focusing time and money on improving throughput, we’ve been
able to focus externally—to provide optimum delivery to
our customers.
Our throughput philosophy lent itself well to a program
that allows us to reduce inventory. As a progressive manufacturer that’s concerned about efficiencies, Flowserve
determined that it could reduce stock overages, time spent
restocking—and resultant downtime—by placing process
inventory in front of the constraint on a controlled buffer.
This means that parts are available to accommodate a continuous workflow even during employee breaks, lunch
periods and other premium time scheduled as a result of
meeting increased customer demand.
Efficient throughput and reduced inventory don’t mean
much, however, unless quality is number-one. Therefore,
our improvements include a program at Flowserve that
makes quality everyone’s business.
Putting our “university” thinking to work for our customers means sharing our success. As we continue to share
that success by using the collective wisdom of Flowserve’s
400 Seal Division employees to improve the manufacturing
process, we are sending a powerful message to our customers. Namely, to ensure our customer’s ability to be a
successful competitor in today’s global market, Flowserve
underscores its ongoing commitment: to continue to provide the highest quality products possible, on time, and at
competitive prices.
Ken Bell
Flowserve Vice President
Manufacturing Operations
www.flowserve.com
Face to Face
innovations
Presenting…
Flowserve’s standardized SLM 6000 mechanical seal
eaturing the latest advancements in slurry seal technolocomponent stress while increasing drive-holding capability in
gy, the standardized SLM 6000 is specifically designed to
high-torque slurry services.
operate without a process bypass or external flush. This
Abrasion- and corrosion-resistant wetted metal surfaces proeliminates product dilution for better chemical stability; increasvide seal life consistent with rotating equipment
es product pumpage throughput to increase production; and
wear components and materials of supply.
reduces operating expenses associated with
Standardized modular designs for replaccomplicated packing or seal-water support
ing seal wear parts permits exchanging the
systems.
entire cartridge or replacing individual
Optional features include a quench conseal-wear parts during routine equipment maintenance.
tainment device (QCD) and a synthetic
Readily interfaces with auxiliary
lubrication device (SLD). The QCD
features available from Flowserve,
allows a low-pressure fluid (water)
such as Erosion Protection
quench to be applied to the atmoDevices, Quench Containment
pheric side of the seal faces,
Devices, and Synthetic Lubricaenhancing seal operation charactertion Devices.
istics in hot and scaling slurry applications. The SLD feature injects a
synthetic lubricant to the atmospheric side of the seal faces to help
Materials of
seal performance during periods of
construction…
starved suction or when equipment is
Standard wetted metal parts are
operated dry.
constructed of CD4MCuN, alloy C-276,
These single, multi-spring pusher, carhigh chrome iron (other materials availtridge seals are engineered specifically for
able upon request).
reliable operation in a majority of standard
Seal faces are sintered silicon carbide
The SLM 6000
slurry service applications commonly asso(standard). Reaction-bonded silicon carbide
ciated with mineral and ore processing. features a single,
and tungsten carbide are optional.
multi-spring
Springs are alloy C-276.
pusher, cartridge
Features/benefits…
Elastomers are EPDM, Fluoroelastomer, TFE elasLine-on-line hydraulically balanced faces seal design.
tomer (other materials available upon request).
provide seal reliability and consistent “no
visible leakage” operation.
Operating parameters…
Springs are isolated from the process liquid to eliminate clog• Maximum seal chamber pressure: 250 psig (17 barg)
ging from process solids and to reduce stress corrosion.
• Process temperature range: 0 to 175˚F (-18 to 79˚C)
Centroid-loaded monoblock rotor keeps the face flat when
(With water quench): 0 to 275˚F (-18 to 135˚C)
pressure and temperature change during operation.
• Maximum slurry particle hardness: MOH 9 (scale 1 to 10)
Large cross-section stator O-ring allows for maximum axial
• Maximum slurry concentration: 40% (by weight)
shaft movement while reducing the damaging effects of face
• Maximum particle size: 6,000 microns
cocking.
• Maximum surface speed: 4,500 fpm (23 m/s)
Large surface area drive mechanisms reduce seal
• Standard shaft sizes: 2 to 9.25 in
F
SLM 6000 Field Installations
User
Calmet
Soledad Canyon, California
Pinal Creek
Miami, Arizona
Alcoa
Alumar, Brazil
SQM Coya Sur
Antofagasta, Chile
Face to Face
Product Processed
Cement Silt
Pressure
Series to 225 psi
Specific Gravity
1.29
Solids
< 200 mesh
Sludge Grit
Series to 250 psi
1.07
10%
Bauxite
150 psi
1.74
40% +
NaCl & KNO2
20 psi
1.5 – 1.8
saturated
www.flowserve.com
3
connections
Steps to
Success
The relationship between Flowserve and DuPont’s Fayetteville North Carolina
plant allows the chemical giant to reduce working capital and increase MTBF
D
uPont Fluoroproducts, Fayetteville, North Carolina, produces Nafion®, a semi-permeable
membrane; monomers that serve as feedstocks
for other processes; and Bunasite, the polymer that
makes safety glass a reality. This plant uses 125 pieces of
rotating equipment, mostly pumps and some agitators.
DuPont tracks hardware performance and mean-timebetween-failures (MTBF) using a Nexus-based software
package developed in-house in the early 1980s. As recently as May 1998, the plant was struggling with two trends—
decreasing mechanical seal operating life and increasing
maintenance costs associated with replacing those seals.
Because the trends did not look like they were going to
change spontaneously, DuPont contacted three suppliers
to solicit bids for what it hoped would be a line of seals
that could reverse the declines. Flowserve was the successful bidder.
Michael Bolten, DuPont’s maintenance superintendent for fluoroproducts, said, “The original mean-timebetween-failure for seals was 10 to 12 months, and
currently we are operating at a level around 40 months.
We’ve exceeded our goal of 36 months. It’s been a
tremendous success for us.” The “it” Bolten is referring to
is the Alliance program DuPont entered with Flowserve
in May, 1998.
This was DuPont’s first experience with Flowserve’s
expertise in fluid handling. Marc Hagn, the on-site
Flowserve technician, maintained an office at the facility
for the first several months of the Alliance program. During the start-up, Hagn surveyed the plant’s mechanical
seals and recommended changes that were expected to
increase the MTBF.
Tracking the MTBF using Flowserve’s Seal Information System (SIS) was key to the improvements. “There
are three ways we measure savings—reduction in price;
reduction in process application by analysis of seal failure;
and reduction in overall inventory management costs,”
said Paul Kacmarcik, DuPont’s sourcing leader. DuPont
achieved the first goal through a competitive bid analysis.
4
Kacmarcik added, “We’re using the expertise of
Flowserve to help us make sure the right seal is being
designed for the process application. That is after
Flowserve goes through the analysis. They determine the
best seal application based on the ingredients, flow and
what is going through that equipment. Flowserve moved
the seals in and out of inventory, tracked the performance and reduced the number of DuPont personnel
involved in supply chain management.”
There are now fewer DuPont people involved with
seals. “The cost of carrying the inventory is no longer
incurred by DuPont,” said Kacmarcik. “Flowserve does
it.” This reduces the inventory carrying costs and the
number of application engineers, maintenance workers,
specification writers—the people responsible for the procurement process—enabling material management personnel to focus on other mission-critical problems.
Performance tracking
DuPont tracks the performance of each of its suppliers.
The first tracking tool is a periodic audit of purchase
orders for conformance to the negotiated prices, terms
and conditions of the contract. But the comparison of
actual component cost to forecasted cost is only one of
the variables audited. “It’s more than price. It’s how well
the technician is performing in his job. Is he specifying
the right seal application for the piece of rotating equipment?,” Kacmarcik remarked.
To answer this question, Flowserve provides a root
cause failure analysis for every seal that fails. Since
Flowserve recommended the seals, this report shows
DuPont the value of those recommendations.
Finally, every three months Flowserve meets with
DuPont to evaluate the Alliance program and help
answer important questions, such as:
• What are we getting out of this?
• Is it working for us?
• What do we need in addition to what we are getting
today?
www.flowserve.com
Face to Face
• Are we making progress in improving the overall
program?
• Can we share any of this learning with our other
sites?
Seal standardization
In an ideal world, every piece of equipment in the plant
would use the same mechanical seal. Flowserve pushes
toward this impossible dream by identifying common seals
that fit as many processing units as possible. This philosophy dovetails neatly with another DuPont initiative. “From
a sourcing perspective, we try to minimize the number of
suppliers we use,” said Glennis Hunt, DuPont’s materials
control leader. “We have engineers come in from a different site. They want to install what they used and have more
experience with at another site. As a result, you wind up
with a lot of hodgepodge inventory. You have multiple
suppliers to deal with at that point.”
“From an asset productivity standpoint, we want to consolidate the number of seals and the number of critical
spare parts we need to maintain,” said Bolten. “We got
away from the ‘drug store of seals’ and having to train
mechanics on every seal brand. All this activity has resulted in a big improvement in our asset productivity across
the site. The Flowserve reps come to the shop floor
and work with our mechanics. That’s been a big plus
for us.”
Seal Information System
The historical record of Flowserve seals at DuPont’s Fayetteville Works resides in a database called the Seal Information System (SIS). Its value is undisputed. “We can
meet our goals for mean-time-between failures and keep
up with our pumps and rotating equipment on that database,” points out J.W. Lamb, maintenance supervisor at
the facility. “We keep up with our costs and try to improve
that. When we have failures, we can always select the relevant data from the database. And Flowserve maintains the
database.”
Face to Face
Like any successful global competitor, DuPont is concerned with costs. Lamb added, “The database logs a person’s pay rate, seal price and how long we worked on it to
determine the total expense.” Bolten added, “We can pull
up seal failures all the way back to 1998 and specifically
look at repeat failures. When we have repeat failures, we
want to understand why and what we can do to improve
the mean-time-between-failures.”
DuPont is driven by a mandate to minimize working
capital invested in plant operations. One Flowserve
Alliance feature that makes a difference to DuPont is
Flowserve’s customized “just-in-time” inventory program.
“When we first started the program,” notes Hunt, “we
reduced the working capital by $150,000 because we didn’t have to put the Flowserve inventory into our database.”
Before entering the Alliance with Flowserve, DuPont had
to carry hundreds of mechanical seals in a stockroom.
When the Flowserve seal standardization program stabilized, the count dropped to 62 part numbers.
Rebuilt seals
There is an element of trust involved in accepting a supplier’s recommendation to use rebuilt components in a
mission-critical operation. This acceptance was made
easier for DuPont, however, because the performance
tracking and SIS at the Fayetteville Works make it possible
to evaluate whether rebuilt seals perform as well as new
seals.
The rebuild program does not feature seals dedicated
for use only at the DuPont facility. The remanufactured
units that fill holes in inventory come from anywhere
Flowserve operates. Currently, there are 15 remanufactured seals on the shelf. The record clearly shows that
there is no perceptible functional difference between
Flowserve’s remanufactured units and new units. “The
seals that we’re getting back in are just as good as the original seals,” said Ken Leadbetter, DuPont’s stores managers. This pleasant revelation further improves the bottom line at the Fayetteville Works.
www.flowserve.com
5
connections
Michael Bolten and Paul Kacmarcik display one of the
Flowserve seals that raised the MTBF so drastically.
Value-added
There is more to the Alliance program than simply paying
less for the items the plant relies on for continued, smooth
operation. And Flowserve brings more to the table than
just hardware. For example, a Flowserve representative is
on-site three days per week to verify that the plant has no
problems related to mechanical seals. But, seal problems
have no respect for time; they fail when they fail. In
response, the Flowserve representative can be paged or
otherwise contacted 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
This access ensures DuPont that no weekend emergencies
will shut the plant down unexpectedly.
Also, the representative trains operators and mechanics
in the latest techniques for getting maximum seal performance. The representative shares ideas about ancillary
hardware and technology, such as seal flush lines and other
equipment not necessarily related to mechanical seals. In
describing the value-added effort that DuPont experiences
from Flowserve, Lamb says, “It really doesn’t matter if it’s a
Flowserve application or not. He helps us on anything that
applies to rotating equipment. He gives us a root cause
analysis on that.”
Site champions
Both Flowserve and DuPont will benefit if the Alliance
Meet the principals of DuPont’s Fayetteville Works who
are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the
Alliance Program:
Glennis Hunt, Materials Control Leader
Ken Leadbetter, Stores Manager
Paul Kacmarcik, Sourcing Leader
Gene Hester, Technician/Nafion Maintenance Scheduler
and Planner
Michael Bolten, Maintenance Superintendent for
Fluoroproducts
J.W. Lamb, Maintenance Supervisor
6
program can be exported to other DuPont plants. “We
want to expand this to other sites,” said Kacmarcik. “As we
increase our leverage with Flowserve, it gives both companies greater opportunities to reduce price, better manage
inventory and create more of a win-win situation. The
more sites we have, the better we’re going to be. And the
better Flowserve will be. What holds up the migration is
the limited resources of both companies. We need to have
a site champion who is willing to drive this thing.
Flowserve needs to have a guy like Marc Hagn come in a
couple times a week who is willing, able and capable of
driving it.”
Entering an Alliance program can be an enriching winwin opportunity for both parties if it centers around a mission-critical element of the operation. According to
Bolten, you should make a thorough evaluation of your
plant’s needs. In the case of DuPont’s Fayetteville Works,
that mission-critical component is the mechanical seal.
Bolten said, “What Flowserve brings to the table is asset
productivity gains. They reduce inventory. They bring skill
and technology. They perform root cause analysis. In the
current arena of generalists that most companies have
running the site, it’s nice to have the expert—in terms of
seals—to help evaluate the need and analyze failures.”
Hunt added, “It also improves the supplier-customer
relationship. Having the alliance agreement in place is
very beneficial from the site person’s standpoint.” Gene
Hester, DuPont’s technician/Nafion maintenance scheduler and planner, echoed the comment saying, “It really
simplified my life. Instead of chasing down six or seven
people, I contact two people, and they handle it.”
Getting management approval for the Alliance program was not difficult because it promised good results.
Selling it upwards was easy—selling down was not. According to Bolten, “The key group was the operators, mechanics and engineers who have their specific supplier relationships. The program interferes with those
relationships. That is the hurdle.”
Million dollar club
A few years ago, DuPont started a program called the
Fayetteville Works Million Dollar Club. It honors the
suppliers that generated at least one million dollars in
positive impact on productivity or cost improvement.
The Club is rather exclusive—there are only seven members, and two of them are Flowserve employees. Marc
Hagn and Greg Leach were inducted into the Club
last year for their contributions and ideas for
improvement theyoffered.
Is it any wonder that
DuPont is investigating
a broadening of the
Alliance program to include pumps and control
valves, other products for
which Flowserve is well
known? f
www.flowserve.com
Photo courtesy of DuPont
Fluoroproducts
Face to Face
turnkey solutions
A fitting solution
Customers have the advantage with new compressor seal options
T
here are many reasons why dry gas seal systems have quickly become the industry
standard. As companies work within environmental guidelines and safety regulations, they
must continuously focus on reducing emissions,
consuming less oil and energy and increasing
safety reliability.
At the same time, they
must keep an eye on economics, i.e., return on
investment. So when it’s
time to replace wet seals,
companies must also evaluate the cost and benefits
of replacing versus retrofitting to a gas seal system.
“Companies need to be
able to cost-justify this type
of expense,” says Stan
Uptigrove, North American Compressor Seal
Manager, Flowserve Flow
Solutions Division. “To
approach it economically,
they want to be able to rely
on one source for the expertise, service, products
and responsibility that, combined, will make a
successful retrofit possible.”
Until recently, companies shopping for dry gas
seal suppliers that offer unit responsibility for,
and extensive experience in, dry gas seal retrofit
and turnkey services faced slim pickings.
Flowserve recognized the growing need for this
type of service and support when it quietly
acquired the assets of its neighbor to the north,
Revolve Technologies, Inc., a Calgary, Alberta
supplier of dry gas seal systems, on-site installation
and retrofit services and contamination prevention control technology. Revolve’s rich history of
expertise includes employees who have experience dating back to many of the world’s first compressor gas seal retrofits. Now part of the
Flowserve family, they continue to lead the industry with gas seal retrofit, support systems and
technology.
“Dry gas seal retrofits make sense for a number
of reasons,” says John Sears, who heads up
Revolve’s group in Calgary. “They improve the
equipment’s reliability and extend its operating
life, plus they provide significant environmental
and safety advantages.”
Face to Face
This group’s 20-year history of dealing with
compressor retrofits in the refinery, petrochemical and natural gas industries has spawned patented technology that allows companies to do just
that. One example is AMPLIFLOW™, a control
system that ensures the supply of clean filtered gas
to seals by boosting supply gas pressure during
periods of low compressor pressure differential.
As a complement to
Flowserve’s technologically advanced gas seal
offerings, the Revolve
control systems and
AMPLIFLOW eliminate
contamination, the number one cause of dry gas
seal failures. And for
some customers, process
contamination is simply
not an option.
“Obviously, we can’t
have any oil leakage in
our pipeline,” says Job
van de Panne, Supervisor of Mechanical and
Pipeline Engineering, Foothills Pipe Lines, Ltd.,
Alberta and Saskatchewan. “We need a system
that’s reliable.”
Responsible for a third of total gas exports to
the U.S., Foothills Pipe Lines relies on a number
of large centrifugal compressors—and dry gas
seals—to do the job. Of the several stations that
regulate the 1,000-km length of pipe feeding
delivery points, the newer stations incorporated
dry gas compressor seals from the start. Stations
put in place in the 1980s, however, were in dire
need of retrofitting.
When Foothills began its 1998, 259-km.,
160-mile expansion into the U.S., the company
saw an opportunity to replace the oil seals in
its 42-in. pipeline with a lower maintenance
option.
“We decided on dry gas seals mainly because
the two faces don’t contact each other, which
spells longer MTBF,” says van de Panne. The
company took advantage of Flowserve/Revolve
turnkey services to install new aero assemblies at
the same time. “It was nice to know that they
understood what we needed—a complete
turnkey job.”
www.flowserve.com
7