• About
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Events
Friday, June 13, 2025
Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE
  • News
    • Open tenders and opportunities
    • Contracts and tenders awarded
  • Technical
    • Standards
  • Pump school
    • Ask an Expert
  • Sectors
    • LNG
    • Coal Seam Gas (CSG)
    • Building Services
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Valves
    • Reliability
    • Chemicals and plastics
    • Irrigation
    • Mining
    • Water & wastewater
  • Magazine
  • Capability Guide
No Results
View All Results
  • News
    • Open tenders and opportunities
    • Contracts and tenders awarded
  • Technical
    • Standards
  • Pump school
    • Ask an Expert
  • Sectors
    • LNG
    • Coal Seam Gas (CSG)
    • Building Services
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Valves
    • Reliability
    • Chemicals and plastics
    • Irrigation
    • Mining
    • Water & wastewater
  • Magazine
  • Capability Guide
No Results
View All Results
Home

When time is of the essence

by Pumps Journalist
October 28, 2015
in Partner Solutions, Power Generation, Projects, Water & wastewater
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

When CS Energy needed to quickly refurbish a cooling water pump at the Callide Power Station in Queensland, they knew Hydro Australia was the company best equipped for the task ahead.

 

CS Energy’s Callide Power Station is located near Biloela, 120km south-west of Gladstone, Queensland. Victorian-based Hydro Australia was successful in winning the tender to repair and refurbish one of the power station’s cooling water pumps during an April 2015 outage. Hydro Australia had successfully carried out the same work during previous outages in 2013 and 2014. Refurbishing a split case water pump is a relatively straightforward exercise, however this project had a number of challenges to be managed.

The pump

First up, the pump is large, with 1,400mm diameter flanges, axially split case, 3.5m x 3.5m x 3m high, and weighing in at near to 24,000kg, it requires a low loader to transport. Also, due to the oversize dimensions of the pump, the transportation can only be carried out during daylight hours. This means three days’ travel each way between Biloela and Morwell.

The timing

Due to time constraints with the unit overhaul program, the pump was required to be in and out of Hydro Australia’s workshop in 13 days. Any later and the unit’s return to service would be delayed, something that neither CS Energy or Hydro Australia wanted to happen.

The work scope 

DSC09739

The refurbishment had a fairly typical work scope. Grit blast and coat the casing, upgrade the bearing housing to accommodate new labyrinth seal designs, new components consisting of bearings, shaft sleeves, throat bushes, mechanical seals and casing wear rings, balance the rotor and assemble.

Preparation

Knowing the job details well in advance made the process easier. Hydro Australia were able to purchase in all the components required, and raw materials were pre-machined for components including the throat bushes, case wear rings and shaft sleeves. The decision was made early to have a dedicated project manager walk the job through from the start, a decision that proved very worthwhile when the timeframe kept dropping.

The obstacles

On top of the time delay in getting the pump removed, a few other obstacles arose once the pump was stripped and assessed. Firstly, the casing required line boring past the erosion/corrosion damaged areas under the case wear rings. This was accompanied with new oversized stainless steel wear rings in excess of 1,100mm in diameter.  The next issue was the impeller – a missing/broken suction vane in the impeller eye, 17 cracks in the impeller, with many cracked through, and severe cavitation on all suction vanes.

Moving forward

After careful consideration and formalising the weld procedures and repair methods, the impeller repairs were successfully carried out by Harvest Engineering in Melbourne. Once the impeller was repaired and inspected, work started on the rotor with dressing of the weld repaired areas, skimming the wear rings and rotor balancing. Consecutively the casing was blasted, line bored, inspected and coated internally in preparation.

Completion

After only eleven days, the pump was completed and ready for the long trip home, two days ahead of schedule. In such a short time the pump was rebuilt to a high standard and will provide  reliable service for the power station.

Hydro Australia has representatives for Australia and New Zealand based in Sydney, Perth and the Morwell head office. For more information on Hydro Australia visit www.hydroaustralia.com.au or email sales@hydroaustralia.com.au.

Find Power Generation Related Companies In The Pump Industry Capability Guide


SEEPEX Australia
Assett Mechanical Engineering
Kelair Pumps Australia

Related Posts

MidCoast Council is taking a responsible approach to restoring a permanent water supply to the town of Wingham after recent floods.

Permanent water supply to be restored after flood

by Chris Edwards
June 12, 2025

MidCoast Council will spend $4.1 million to restore a permanent water supply to Wingham after the pipeline supplying the town...

NCVER has found that offering this sort of program can help young people hit their apprenticeship completion goals successfully.

Improving apprenticeship completion outcomes

by Chris Edwards
June 12, 2025

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) has published new research indicating that pre-apprenticeship programs can significantly increase the...

South Gippsland Water is installing a new booster pump at the Dumbalk Water Treatment Plant later this month.

New booster pump to improve Dumbalk’s water pressure

by Chris Edwards
June 11, 2025

Dumbalk residents can expect to see an improvement in their water pressure after South Gippsland Water installs a new booster...

Join our newsletter

View our privacy policy, collection notice and terms and conditions to understand how we use your personal information.
Pump Industry is Australia’s only dedicated pump magazine and is produced by Prime Creative Media in cooperation with Pump Industry Australia (PIA).

Subscribe to our newsletter

View our privacy policy, collection notice and terms and conditions to understand how we use your personal information.

About Pump Industry

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Magazine
  • Contact
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Collection Notice
  • Privacy Policy

Popular Topics

  • News
  • Spotlight
  • Pump school
  • Water & wastewater
  • Irrigation

© 2025 All Rights Reserved. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited

No Results
View All Results
NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE
  • News
    • Open tenders and opportunities
    • Contracts and tenders awarded
  • Technical
    • Standards
  • Pump school
    • Ask an Expert
  • Sectors
    • LNG
    • Coal Seam Gas (CSG)
    • Building Services
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Valves
    • Reliability
    • Chemicals and plastics
    • Irrigation
    • Mining
    • Water & wastewater
  • Magazine
  • Capability Guide
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Events

© 2025 All Rights Reserved. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited