Share your experience/encounters with technical accidents + failures of high-speed pumps in hydrogenation units

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【Petrochemical Sector】Share the technical accidents you have experienced + Failure of the high-speed pump in the hydrogenation unit. It was during a night shift in early winter 2010; I was the shift leader at the hydrogenation unit. Upon receiving instructions from the production department, we began to start up the unit, following the startup procedure step by step. Just as we were about to start the high-speed pump used for feeding hydrogen, the operator first checked the inlet and outlet pipelines as well as the circulating cooling water before starting the pump. Within less than three minutes of operation, white smoke began to emerge from the pump, and it stopped working. Then another spare pump was started, and the same thing happened. Both high-speed pumps failed, resulting in the final installation not being able to start operations on schedule. Afterward, the reasons were analyzed: mainly because winter was approaching and the antifreeze oil had not been replaced in the high-speed pump’s oil tank; as a result, four out of the five lubrication circuits in the high-speed pump became blocked. The poor functioning of the lubrication system led to damage to the pump’s bearings, and it almost caused damage to the pump’s main shaft as well. The lesson for us is profound; in the future, whenever we start up the high-speed pump, we will first check and confirm the lubrication system.