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Book Review: Operator's Guide to Centrifugal Pumps
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It’s important for reliability professionals to have easy access to a rather extensive library of technical books. There are certainly more than a dozen different pump books sitting on my shelves and they all cater to different but overlapping audiences. If, until very recently, I might have had doubts about needing any additional ones, it turns out I would have been wrong.
With his OPERATOR’S GUIDE TO CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS, Robert X. Perez fills a very significant gap. Subtitled “What Every Reliability-Minded Operator Needs to Know”, this book was specifically written for process operators who regularly deal with centrifugal pumps. It optimally addresses the various variables and factors under the operators’ control and keeps design theory and mathematics to a minimum.
I was impressed by the relevance of the topics covered by Robert Perez, an experienced engineer who devoted the better part of his career to interfacing with process operators. His text deals with
1. Importance of equipment reliability and what role operators play in this mission.
2. Centrifugal pump operating characteristics
3. Mechanical seals and their related seal flush plans
4. What operators should know about electric motors
5. Lubrication basics
6. Troubleshooting basics
7. How to start a pump reliability program
(See detailed table of contents)
By the time the reader reaches the end of this text, he or she will have acquired a clear understanding of how to operate and monitor process pumps. Three handy appendixes are also contained in the book; they will answer questions that arise in the field and here’s a sampling:
- Operator's Guide to API Flush Plans,
- Illustrated Glossary of Centrifugal Pump Terms,
- Glossary of Electric Motor Terms, and
- Useful Centrifugal Pump Formulas
This multi-faceted book can be used as a self-paced, self-taught short course or as a companion to a "live" prepared short course for both inexperienced and seasoned operators. It can also serve as a handy field guide after completion of the course.
The author set out on a mission to add value. He wanted this book to provide the latest generation of operators with a body of knowledge that is relevant, complete, and practical in any industrial setting. Perez also wanted the text to be useful for years to come -- I firmly believe he has accomplished this goal. Your facility will benefit from this clear, extremely well-written narrative, the many illustrations, and the various experience-based checklists.
- Heinz P. Bloch, P.E.
"OPERATOR’S GUIDE TO CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS, What Every Reliability-Minded Operator Needs to Know" is available online at the Noria online bookstore, or call 1-800-597-5460 to order.
