The average Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) for pumps hovers between 2.5 to 6 years, while the best-in-class ones can go up to 10 years. However, not all pumps meet the mark. “Bad Actors” - underperforming, failure-prone pump can negatively impact uptime, reliability, and cost efficiency. Safety, which is of paramount importance, could be undermined as well.
Adding to the overall cost pressures are manhour costs, associated procurement and administrative overheads while in one striking example, a refinery incurred a staggering $6 million in maintenance costs to repair 700+ bad actor pumps out of a 1,012-pump fleet.
With aging assets, increasing regulatory scrutiny and demand for asset life-extension, identifying and mitigating bad actors is no longer just a maintenance concern—it’s a strategic imperative.
Join our upcoming technical webinar where Sulzer’s pump experts, drawing from decades of OEM-agnostic expertise, will explore:
Key categories of pump bad actors
Root causes for chronic pump failures
Proven preventive maintenance strategies and diagnostic technologies
Real-world case studies from O&G and Power generation
Tailored solution that restores pump to peak performance with reduced life-cycle costs
Learn how your facility can move beyond an MTBF of 1.5, 2.7, or 3.9 years and join the ranks of plants that now demonstrate pump MTBFs as high as 8-10 years.
Register now for LIVE session.
Not available for the LIVE session? Sign up to get access to the on-demand session as well!
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Doug Story is the Head of Retrofits for North America for Sulzer. Providing services and solutions to better fit pumps to their respective applications to ensure optimal pump performance, improved reliability, and lower operating costs.
He joined Sulzer in 2016 as a sales representative in the central region and has over 13 years of rotating equipment experience with roles in application engineering, end-user sales, and reliability improvement of centrifugal pumps.
He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and now resides in Houston, Texas.
Hector is an experienced Mechanical Engineer working for the Sulzer Service Center Pasadena with 12+ years in design and product troubleshooting experience for pumps and mechanical seals. He has been working for Sulzer performing pump retrofits, upgrades, and equipment troubleshooting both in the shop and the field.
In his role he has led and collaborated with numerous Root Cause Failure Analysis Investigations for high profile equipment and customers in the oil and gas and refining industry like Chevron, Shell, and BP among others, while also cooperating with different Service Centers throughout the US.
Hector’s background in production and design engineering helped him develop a strong engineering mindset and attention to detail that he relies on when facing customer challenges. Originally from Venezuela, he currently resides Houston, Texas.