Proceedings of the ASME 2014 Power Conference

POWER2014
July 28-31, 2014, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

POWER2014-32003

Failure of Circulating Water Pumps Discharge Header Cross Connect

Valve – Optimum Solutions

MOHAMMED ALISMAIL
Ghazlan Power Plant
Saudi Electricity Company
P. O. BOX 31422
Dammam 31422, Saudi Arabia
+966136679006, mjismail@se.com.sa

ABSTRACT
The circulating water system is a very important system in
Ghazlan Steam Power Plant- 4276 MW, as it supplies the sea
water to the tubes side of the Condensers during normal
operation. A large butterfly cross-connect valve was installed at
the circulating water pumps discharge header to isolate the
pumps and the header for maintenance. A forced unit shutdown
occurred due to valve's shafts end leakage and collapse after
maintenance work. This paper explains the wrong design
location of the valve in the piping as the root cause of the
problem. Analysis with ASME reference will be presented. This
paper will also present potential solutions and actions taken as a
lesson learned to avoid occurrence in other plants.

INTRODUCTION
Valves are installed in various locations in the plant's piping
systems. The operation, maintenance and installation
requirements should be considered to avoid valves failures. For
the circulating water system at Ghazlan Power Plant, a large DN
2400mm butterfly cross-connect valve (MAMMOUTH),
manufactured by KSB-AMRI was installed in the discharge
header of four circulating water pumps (See Fig.1). In this
valve, leak-tightness is provided at shaft passages by means of
the spherical molding on the rubber liner which matches the
shape of the disc [2]. The valve is normally in open position and
only closed for isolation purpose in case of pumps or header
maintenance. Normal conditions are three pumps operating in
winter time; and four pumps in summer time. Two pumps are
operated during maintenance outages [3].
Cross-Connect
Valve
Figure 1. LOCATION OF THE VALVE IN THE HEADER
BACKGROUND
In 2007, water leakage was observed in valve gearbox. A
visual inspection was done and found that the shaft indicator
was fluttering. During the annual maintenance outage, valve
gearbox was removed from the shaft for inspection and repair.
When the gearbox was dismantled, the internal parts were found
corroded and defective due to exposure to seawater for long
time. Due to the startup schedule requirements, the valve was
returned to service without the gearbox. A special flange was
fabricated and installed to hold the shaft and the valve in the
open position instead of the gearbox. After few days of unit
operation, a valve failure occurred consisting of a broken

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 flange, shaft dislocation and disc separation leading to
significant water leakage followed by a unit shut down.
FAILURE ANALYSIS
Normal operation with four pumps does not create
significant flow turbulence as the flow is evenly split between
two lines to the condenser. In case of three running pumps,
flow turbulences are created on the header due to fittings
upstream of the valve.
KSB-AMRI standardized the minimum distance between
the valve and the upstream fitting (See Figure 2. Extract of
Valve Installation Configuration).
Anti-Fluttering Device
The problem of vibration in circulating water systems is a
common phenomenon. Therefore, KSB introduced an Anti-
Fluttering design to overcome this problem. An anti-fluttering
device consists of a spring loaded cartridge connected on the
lower shaft (See Fig.3). This cartridge is basically a damper on
the bottom side of the valve which will reduce the impact of the
vibrations on the valve. For lengths shorter than those cases; 1,
2, 3 and 4 in figure 2, the valve must be equipped with anti-
fluttering device. Since 2003, this device is a standard on all
KSB valves above DN 1000 mm size.
As this device requires a reinforcement of the valve, it was
not applicable to be mounted on the larger old valve design in
Ghazlan Power Plant [4].

Figure 2. RECOMMENDED INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION

Figure.3 ANTI-FLUTTERING DEVICE

According to ASME Fluid Publication, June 2000, "Study on

Hydrodynamic Torques", the minimum downstream and
Replacement with Anti Fluttering Valve Design
upstream distance for the valve from the fitting should be 3-5
KSB proposed replacement of the existing valve with Anti-
DN [1]. In Ghazlan Power Plant, this distance is less than 1.5
Fluttering designs. This option requires some modifications
DN. This length is too short for a valve on the header line and
into the existing piping where the valve is installed as the new
therefore creates turbulence and vortices on the upstream and
valve face to face dimensions are inconsistent with the existing
downstream sides of the disc. After troubleshooting this issue
valve [4].
and root cause analysis, it was confirmed that the source of the
problem was inappropriate installation of the valve at the
existing location in the piping system.
Based on the above, the only remedy is to reduce the
impact of the vibrations on the valve, especially on the shaft
sealing system.

OPTIMUM SOLUTIONS
As the repair of the valve will not solve the root cause of
the problem, several solutions were studied.

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 Elimination of Valve Internals
After reviewing the operational process and considering the
cost sequences, it was decided to eliminate the valve's
functionality by removing all internal parts; disc and shafts and
close the gearbox side by blind flange. All that remained was
the rubber lined valve body as a spool pipe spacer.
This option was implemented to all four existing valves in the
plant as a long term solution since 2007. By this option, the
monitoring and maintenance work associated with these valves
was eliminated.
REFERENCES
[1] Journal of Fluids Engineering by ASME,
Aerodynamic Torque of a Butterfly Valve-Influence
of an Elbow on the Time-Mean and Instantaneous
Aerodynamic Torque, June 2000, Volume 122.
[2] Instruction Book for Large Butterfly Valves, by
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, KE-489842.
[3] Specialized Training Manual, Circulating Water
System, by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. 2001.

CONCLUSION [4] KSB Analysis Report, S-EA1163, 2010.

The decision of eliminate the valve function was based on
client suggestion with coordination of manufactures. As a lesson
learned, it is strongly suggested to follow the manufacture
guidelines for equipment installation during the design and
constructing stages in order to avoid unexpected consequences.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to KSB-AMRI and the Saudi representative
company; Bandariyah International Ltd. for their cooperation to
investigate and analyze the failure of the valve. The
professionalism towards solving this issue including the KSB
factory and research center visit by clients was highly valued.

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