Oil & Gas Drilling
Problem: Chesapeake Operating, Inc., a major oil and gas drilling company headquartered in Oklahoma, uses a Hydra-Cell triplex diaphragm pump (3.5” stroke, 450 rpm max speed, 27 gpm max. flow rate, 4500 psig max. pressure) to pump saltwater (1.13 sg). The pump is located over 100 feet from supply tanks. The supply line comes out of the tank, goes underground across a driveway/parking lot for more than 100 feet, then up out of the ground into the inlet of the pump. While the pump operated adequately, the pump inlet gauge fluctuated +/- 7 psig and steel pipes next to the fiberglass supply tank vibrated so violently the customer was concerned the tank would rupture.