Analysis of Vibration & Failure Problems in Reciprocating Triplex Pumps for Oil Pipelines J. C. Wachel/F. R. Szenasi/S. C. Denison, ASME Paper 85-PET-10, 1985. 

An analysis was made to identify the causes of vibration and failure problems with the piping and reciprocating pump internals on an oil pipeline pump station. A field investigation was made to obtain vibrations and pulsations over the entire range of plant operating conditions. The data showed that cavitation was present at nearly all operating conditions due to the high pulsations in the suction system. The discharge system experienced high vibrations and piping failures due to the ineffectiveness of the accumulator . An acoustical analysis of the suction and discharge system was made to design the optimum acoustical filter systems to alleviate the problems. The acoustical analyses were performed with a digital computer program which predicts the acoustical resonant frequencies and the pulsation amplitudes over the speed range. This paper discusses the investigations and gives recommendations for prevention of these types of problems in the future.