FAILURE OF A VERTICAL AMMONIA TRANSFER PUMP SHAFT

Farabirazy Albiruni
Technical Bureau of Inspection, PT. Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, Tbk.,
Jl. Ir. James Simanjuntak, Bontang 75313,Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia
Email: frar@pupukkaltim.com

Abstract
A new upper shaft of a vertical ammonia transfer pump failed after 2000 hours of service. The new
upper shaft material was AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel and replaced the original shaft made
from AISI 4140 HT chromium-molybdenum steel while the lower shaft still in original condition. It was
broken into four separated pieces with different fracture modes. The failed shaft was examined and
tested by various methods. The result of the analysis indicated that the shaft failed by the improper
mechanical properties specification of new shaft material. The hardness and yield strength of the new
material were about 50% below the original material specification. In addition, these low hardness and
yield strength were resulted from non heat treatment condition confirmed by metallography
examination that revealed the anneal structures of shaft material. It is recommended that shaft
material must be heat treated first to produce tempered martensite structure with hardness minimum
280 BHN.
Key words: Shaft Failure, Martensitic Stainless Steel

I.

Materials
Casing, Barrel, Head
: ASTM A 333 Gr.1
Bowls, Impeller
: Cast Iron
Shaft (Original/Modified)
: AISI 4140 HT/AISI 410
Sleeve
: 11-13 Cr
Motor Data
Type V1
80
3000 rpm
50
3
500 V
Ex (e)
kW
Frame
Hz
Phase
G1
Fluid Data
Fluid Pumped
: Anhydrous Ammonia
Pumping Temp. (oC)
: -33
Spec. Gravity at Pumping
: 0.682
Temp.
Construction Data
Casing Type
: Vertical Can
Casing Mounting
: Vertical
Impeller Type
: Closed

Introduction
Ammonia transfer pump is used to transfer
the ammonia liquid from line pipe to the
storage tank. This pump construction is
vertical pump with two shafts, i.e. upper
and lower
shaft. After upper shaft
replacement in January 2005, 2000 hours
later there was flow losses indication in
this pump during operation and found that
the pump upper shaft fractured into 4
pieces. Table 1 below gives the technical
data of this pump while the Figure 1 shows
the pump construction schematically.
Table 1. Pumps Technical Data

General
: G 3204
: Urea Plant Feed Pump
Description
(NH3 Transfer Pump)
Manufacturer
: Byron Jackson Holland
Year of Manufacture
: 1974
Hydraulic Data
Max. Flow / Rated (l/s)
: 18.5 / 20.3
Suction Head (m)
: 40
Discharge Head (m)
: 350
Differential Head (m)
: 350
Performance Data
Model
: 300 VLT-18 stg/ C1-SB
Speed (rpm)
: 2950
Efficiency at Duty Point (%)
: 75
Power at Shaft at Duty
: 63.5
Point (kW)
Max. Power (kW)
: 75
Max. Head (m)
: 460
Max. Allowable Casing
: 300 / 500
Press. (psi) (Suct./Disch.)
3
Min. Allowable Flow (m /hr)
: 20
Item

Upper Shaft

Lower Shaft

Figure 1. Pump Construction

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II.

Examinations and Results

Examinations to the failed shaft consist of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Visual Examination
Positive Material Identification (PMI)
Hardness Testing
Tension Testing
Metallography Examination
Figure 4. Fractured Shaft No. 3 with Reserved
Bending Fatigue Characteristic
(Small Arrows: Fracture Origins)

II.1. Visual Examination

Visual examination performed on failed
shaft found that shaft broken into four
pieces with different fracture modes. One
piece of fractured shafts showed large
plastic deformation and rubbing with
ductile fracture, one had brittle fracture,
while the others had reserved bending
fatigue and rotational bending fatigue
characteristic.
Figure 2 to 5 show the four pieces of failed
shaft.

Figure 5. Fractured Shaft No.4 with Rotational

Bending Fatigue Characteristic
(Small Arrow: Fracture Origin)
II.2. Positive Material Identification (PMI)
The shaft material conformed AISI 410
chemical composition requirement. Table 2
below gives the PMI result of shaft material
using Alloy Analyzer Instrument.

Figure 2. Fractured Shaft No. 1 with

Ductile Characteristic

Table 2. PMI Result of Shaft Material

Element
Cr (% wt)
Ni (% wt)

Shaft Material
13.20
0.05

AISI 410
11.50 13.00
0.00

II.3. Hardness Testing

Hardness testing showed that the
hardness of shaft was 150 BHN. The
hardness specification of original shaft i.e.
AISI 4140 HT was 280 BHN. This result
was almost 50% below the required value.
II.4. Tension Testing
Table 3 below gives the tension test result.
It is obvious from the table that the yield
strength was almost 50% below the
required value.

Figure 3. Fractured Shaft No.2 with

Brittle Characteristic
(Small Arrow: Fracture Origin)

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Table 3. Tension Test Result

Yield Strength
(kgf/mm2)
Tensile Strength
(kgf/mm2)
Elongation (%)

V. Recommendation

Shaft Material

AISI 4140 HT

34.021

73.815

57.123

87.875

34

16

Use the shaft material AISI 4140 or AISI 410 in

heat treated condition with minimum hardness
of 280 BHN. Make sure that shaft has
tempered martensite microstructure.
VI. Reference

II.5. Metallography Examination

Figure 6 below shows the microstructure of
failed shaft. It had anneal structure
consisted of ferrite (matrix) and chromium
carbide dispersed in matrix. It had also
indicated that no heat treatment applied to
the failed shaft.

1.
2.

R.A.
Lula., Stainless Steel., American
Society for Metals., 1987.
Heinz P. Bloch, Fred K. Geitner.,
Machinery
Failure
Analysis
and
rd
Troubleshooting 3 Ed.,Gulf Publishing
Company, 1997.

Brief Biography
Farabirazy Albiruni was born in Jakarta on
th
November 8 ,
1978. Hold Bachelor of
Engineering from Department of Metallurgical
Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University
Indonesia in 2002. After graduation, he works
in PT. Pupuk Kalimantan Timur as Metallurgist
and NDT Engineer.
Figure 6. Microstructure of failed shaft consists
of ferrite as a matrix (white area) and
chromium carbide dispersed in matrix
(black dots). Mag: 200 x, Etch: Frys Reagent

III. Discussion
From the examinations conducted, it was
obvious that the mechanical
properties,
primarily hardness and yield strength of failed
shaft were below the specification requirement.
Mechanical properties related directly with the
microstructure. Metallography
examination
shown the anneal structure consist of ferrite
and chromium carbide. This microstructure has
low fatigue strength. The best fatigue strength
possessed by tempered martensite structure
resulted from two sequences heat treatment
quenching and tempering.
IV. Conclusion
The upper shaft of vertical ammonia transfer
pump
failed by the improper mechanical
properties specification of new shaft material.

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