Page 39 - Impiantitica industriale

(left) New pump descending
into the shaft (right) new
pump being lifted into place
Courtesy of Stantec -
IMAGE

ps that can supply multiple areas of London with rest of the system to continue operating as nor-
drinkable water. However, increasing development mal. However, to achieve this detailed planning of
in the city has made it necessary to remodel and the pumps removal, installation and commissioning
replan the network to supply this new demand. was required.
Pump supplier. Bedford Pumps supported this
Due to rapidly increasing development in London, entire process. Through the company’s close rela-
predictions suggest that there would be a signifi- tionship with motor manufacturer, WEG, the team
cant shortage of drinking water capacity in the co- were able to replace the pump, without having to
ming years. To accommodate a growing — and in- resort to cuts in the supply to the London water
creasingly thirsty population — the station required network.
additional pumping low capacity. This necessitated
new equipment in the form of a pump, pump motor
and variable speed drive (VSD). Motor specifics
For this application, WEG engineers, along with
To accommodate a growing and Bedford Pumps, decided the best option was a
increasingly thirsty population, water-cooled motor design.
“the pumping station required The existing pump and motor had extensive fault
additional capacity: new detection instrumentation and a monitoring sy-
stem. Therefore, the same range and functionality
equipment in the form of a was installed in the new pump. In addition, due to
pump, pump motor and variable the uniqueness of the location, the replacement of
speed drive any wiring between the electrical equipment and
the pump was invasive and required downtime, so
all new instrumentation had to be selected to be
With guidance from a team of experts, it was de- compatible with the existing wiring. Further compli-
cided to replace one of the 30 mega-litre per day cating the motor selection process.
pumps with a new 45 mega-litre per day option — Thankfully, WEG is an expert in delivering motors
45 mega-litre was the maximum limit, due to physi- for unique pumping applications. For this appli-
cal limitations of the environment. cation, WEG chose a 450 kW Master Line Water
Cooled induction motor. These motors stand out
Minimising downtime for the flexibility of their electrical and mechanical
functionalities. What’s more, these designs are ea-
However, the real challenge of this replacement sily customised, making them interchangeable with
was due to the constant demand of drinking wa- already existing motors.
ter in the capital. To minimise disruption, the pump
needed to be replaced without stopping opera- For the Battersea Shaft Pumping Station, WEG
tions. This necessity had a major influence on the committed to achieve 96 per cent efficiency perfor-
design and construction of the pump, and the ove- mance. Following completion of the project, during
rall project itself. testing this figure was not only achieved but excee-
ded with a greater margin.
It was decided that only the pump that needed to
be replaced would be taken offline, enabling the Following completion in January 2020, the pump is

Impiantistica Italiana - Marzo-Aprile 2021 35