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AODD Pumps Troubleshooting

The document provides 4 tips to prevent diaphragm failure in air-operated diaphragm pumps (AODD pumps): 1) use a regulator to control air pressure and prevent overpressurizing the diaphragm, 2) avoid running the pump dry or "deadheading", 3) use a one-piece diaphragm that can withstand higher pressures, and 4) properly select the pump model for the application considering factors like fluid properties. Diaphragm failures can cause spills requiring expensive clean-up and disposal of hazardous materials, resulting in significant costs to businesses.

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Rahul Chandrawar
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155 views5 pages

AODD Pumps Troubleshooting

The document provides 4 tips to prevent diaphragm failure in air-operated diaphragm pumps (AODD pumps): 1) use a regulator to control air pressure and prevent overpressurizing the diaphragm, 2) avoid running the pump dry or "deadheading", 3) use a one-piece diaphragm that can withstand higher pressures, and 4) properly select the pump model for the application considering factors like fluid properties. Diaphragm failures can cause spills requiring expensive clean-up and disposal of hazardous materials, resulting in significant costs to businesses.

Uploaded by

Rahul Chandrawar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

4 Tips to Prevent Diaphragm Failure on AODD Pumps

blog.craneengineering.net/preventing-spills-from-air-operated-diaphragm-pumps

Recently, a Crane sales engineer and I toured a manufacturing facility in southern


Wisconsin. As we walked through their shop filled with air operated diaphragm pumps
waiting for repair, I noticed they were covered in product. Failure after failure caused
unplanned downtime, and to add insult to injury, a huge mess to clean up.
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After we left, I asked the sales engineer what impact the spills had on the business and
how they could improve the reliability of their pumps. He said the impact on the
business was pretty big, and he shared four tips that would extend the life of their
pumps.

Why Ruptured AODD Diaphragms Are a Big Problem


Spills from AODD pumps concern manufacturers, from both environmental and profit
perspectives. A spill isn’t easy to clean up. Oftentimes, workers will throw a substance
like oil-dry or kitty litter on the spill to absorb the liquid. Then someone has dispose of
the liquid by shoveling it into a waste container.

It gets trickier when the fluid spilled is hazardous waste. The manufacturer then must
pay to have the waste trucked off and treated before disposal. It’s extra cost to what has
already cost the manufacturer in lost time and lost product.

Spillage of some fluids means additional disposal fees or even fines. Fluids such as:

Paints, inks, and coatings


Adhesives and resins
Chemicals and petrochemicals
Oils and hydrocarbons
Acids, caustics, corrosives
Resins and polymers
Contaminated water and wastewater
Pesticides and herbicides
Fertilizers
Preservatives
Mercury
Phthalates

Some fluids are extremely expensive. Losing them is very costly to the manufacturer:

Drugs and pharmaceuticals


Foods
Cyanotic based paints
Precious metal passed fluids
Cosmetics
Perfumes
Printer inks
Beer and alcohol
Blood
Creams and lotions

Why AODD Diaphragms Rupture

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Running the pump dry, or deadheading the pump are common ways that diaphragms
will fail. It sounds pretty obvious, but these are very common.

Another way diaphragms rupture is by operating the pump higher than maximum
pressure ratings. Sometimes operators crank up the air pressure to get the pump to
work faster. Doing this leads to leakage, bent inner plates and shaft, and of course,
bulging and ripped diaphragms.

When the diaphragm tears, fluid fills the air chamber, then it sprays out the muffler.
Worse yet, if there's chemical compatibility issues, the air end of the pump is destroyed.

How To Prevent Ruptured AODD Diaphragms


Understanding that AODD pump spills are costly and preventable, I asked Crane’s sales
engineer to give me some insight on what actions end users could take to prevent
diaphragm failures. He had 4 tips to share.

Use A Regulator

Regulators are the #1 solution added to diaphragm pumps, but they rarely are. A
regulator is to an AODD pump what a VFD is to motorized pumps. Regulators control
the amount of airflow into the pump, regulating the stroke speed and extending the life

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of the diaphragm. Overpressurizing the diaphragm causes it to bubble out and fail faster
than operation under normal conditions.

Air compressors are very expensive to purchase and operate over time. No one wants to
add more compressors. The addition of small regulators for air operated diaphragm
pumps could mean big savings on energy costs as well as the purchase price of a new
compressor.

Deadheading/Running Dry
This was touched on earlier, but it bears repeating. Deadheading or running AODD
pumps dry quickly destroys diaphragms. Enough said.

Use A One Piece Diaphragm


A one-piece diaphragm is a diaphragm that can stand
up to more pressure than a standard diaphragm. It has
dimples that allow the diaphragm to roll with excessive
pressure and provide longer service.

Proper Pump Selection


As with any pump, a standard AODD pump does not
suit all applications. Understand the fluid properties,
the process, and the limitations of the pump doing the
work.

For example, pumping thick fluid with a standard duty pump can lead to failure. Thick
fluids tend to build up on diaphragms and will eventually cause failure. In this
situation, consider heavy duty ball valve pumps or flap valve pumps.

Containment duty pumps are also suitable for processes where spills are unacceptable.
Containment duty pumps don’t prevent against ruptured diaphragms, but they do
protect against loss of fluid.

Containment duty pumps have an extra chamber filled with fluid between the “wet side”
and the “air side” of the pump. When the diaphragm fails, fluid enters the containment
chamber and the indicator on the outside of the pump changes color, alerting the user
of the failure. The system continues to operate until maintenance is scheduled, and the
best part – the fluid does not leak out, eliminating a major clean up.

Containment duty pumps cost more than standard or heavy duty air operated
diaphragm pumps, but may be worth it depending on product and cleaning cost.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and in the case of AODD pump spills,
this old adage couldn’t be more true. Proper pump selection, the use of regulators, and
training operators to prevent overpressurizing can go a long way to preventing a
diaphragm failure of epic (and very costly) proportions.

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Having chronic AODD diaphragm issues? Ask us about it! We gladly provide technical
assistance to businesses and municipalities in Wisconsin and upper Michigan .

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