I have a question regarding fires that occur in centrifugal pumps
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The material is transferred from the reactor to the storage tank using fluoroplastic centrifugal pumps; product density: 0.794 (at 20°C), flash point: 9°C. The pump starts to heat up after about 10 minutes of pumping, and it is prone to catching fire when discharging the remaining material. Could everyone please advise on what the cause is? Vortices form when the supply is about to run out, resulting in insufficient feeding. How can this problem with vortices be solved? Is this related to the pump heating up?
This post was last edited by zhangya*ong on 2015-9-1 at 12:06. It’s obvious that the fire was caused by high temperatures; it is recommended that you install a cooling system to keep it at a low temperature as much as possible. Otherwise, an increase in temperature can easily cause a fire. Or set a low liquid level alarm, so that the liquid is not completely drained every time it is fed.
You’ve found some time to do this – was the pressure at the pump outlet fluctuating quite a lot in the end? A cross can be inserted at the tank outlet to prevent swirling; it’s not clear how effective it is.
Changing to a different type of pump that can handle these operating conditions would make operation more dangerous
Solution now: 1. Vortices form as the supply is about to run out, resulting in insufficient feeding. How can this vortex problem be solved? The pump inlet diameter can be increased to reduce the flow velocity. Or reduce the pump flow rate. Vortices form at the inlet due to the high flow velocity during pump operation at low liquid levels. 2. Install an air tube detector at the pump inlet; it will shut down the pump promptly if there is no fluid in the tube, thereby preventing heat generation due to friction of the fluid inside the pump as a result of vacuum pumping. Since the flash point of your fluid is only 9 degrees, it is recommended to reduce the flow rate when discharging the remaining material, in order to avoid ignition due to friction at the outlet. 3. If the pump heats up after running for ten minutes, it indicates that its head is quite high; heating occurs during the energy conversion process. It is recommended to add cooling to the pump itself. 4. To determine whether the fluoroplastic centrifugal pump is a magnetic pump, measure the motor current and check the pump’s performance curve. It is necessary to verify whether heating is caused by asynchronous operation of the magnetic coupling. Hope this helps you