Laser Scanning & 3D Modelling Technology Helps Replace Old Pump Components

Phil Black - PII Editor 10/09/2015

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Engineering heritage combines with latest technology to deliver optimum solutions

SPP Pumps Engineering Services has added the very latest blue-line laser, portable Faro arm to its portfolio, delivering a reduction in downtime and increased equipment performance and longevity to its customers.

By utilising measurements captured by the Faro arm, parts can be manufactured to ensure an accurate first-time fit. Taking hundreds of thousands of scanned points of each component, a 3D model can be produced. Any worn or damaged areas can be remodelled and manufactured through the engineering expertise of the company.

The Faro arm forms part of the SPP Pumps display at this year’s Offshore Europe (September 8-11) which takes the theme of “Keeping you Operational”. Visitors will have the chance to see the scanner in action and talk to the expert engineering team on the stand.

Chris Blinman heads up the Technical Engineering Services Division team at SPP Pumps and views the new addition as adding even more value to the Engineering Services offering:

“The new technology allows us to gather the data we need to help our customers both quickly and accurately. The fact the arm is portable cuts downtime as we can scan the product in-situ at our customers’ site.

“If we see that an area has worn away we can re-engineer this into the new part, but we can also boost both efficiency and performance to meet the increased demands of the equipment since it was originally installed. Taking a pump impeller as an example, we can modify the hydraulics to improve performance and efficiency.

I’d say we could increase efficiency by up to 5% and add between five to ten years life to the pump and that represents a considerable cost saving for the customer.

“Some Pumps have a working life of around 40 years, but a manufacturer can decide to discontinue a particular model; if a customer has a 20 year-old pump, they might not be able to get replacement parts. This means he needs to invest in another brand new pump committing to a sizeable capital investment.

We can take the old component and by laser scanning and 3D modelling technology we can manufacture a brand new part, to the same tolerances as the original OEM, which will keep the pump functioning for many more years.”

Already this year the company has completed a number of re-engineering projects across the globe. Impressive turnaround times have taken advantage of the fact the Faro arm can be located anywhere in the world feeding information back to SPP Engineering Services’ sites, prior to the replacement component being manufactured and shipped from Coleford in Gloucestershire.

Chris concludes: “With the oil and gas market as it is, there’s an even greater pressure to avoid costly downtime and our years of experience in both upstream and downstream sectors together with our latest technology investment means we are uniquely placed to help maintain and improve our customers’ operations – when and where it really matters.”