Amarinth builds vertical pumping solution for Kumul Platform 19 March 2012

Specialist centrifugal pumps manufacturer Amarinth has delivered an innovative open drain pumping solution to be installed in the caisson of the Kumul oil platform 40km off the southern coast of Papua New Guinea.

The bespoke API 610 VS4 vertical sump pump will be installed in a leg as part of a $25 million topsides rejuvenation project. Water or oil draining from the platform or its production systems is channelled into the open drain caisson, and the pump will be installed to recover it to a closed drain accumulator for safe disposal via a take-off tanker.

Oliver Brigginshaw, managing director of Amarinth, explains that the duty required a 13m long vertical sump pump with an arrangement for low pressure injection of hypochlorite, used to prevent the build-up of marine growth.

Additionally, due to the angle of the caisson, the pump had to be installed and operate at a five degree angle.

Amarinth selected an API 610 VS4 sump pump for the duty, but, to overcome the height restrictions of the platform, the firm designed this as a modular pump that could be dismantled and installed in four sections.

The five degree angle of the caisson also presented challenges for pump installation, so Amarinth designed an adjustable roller system that aligned with guide plates attached down the inner wall of the caisson as the pump was lowered in.

The bearings and seals were also put under additional pressure due to the 5 degree angle, so to guarantee the performance and reliability of the pump Amarinth built a test rig to replicate the operating conditions and mounting system.

Brian Tinham

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Amarinth Ltd

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