Pumps & Pumping Equipments

Triplex plunger pump suction line problems are often mistaken for discharge-side faults because the visible symptoms appear as pressure fluctuation, vibration, noise, poor flow, valve damage, and unstable pump performance. In high-pressure industrial service, a triplex pump can only perform as well as its suction conditions allow. For more practical pump maintenance and troubleshooting topics, visit Pumps and Pumping Equipments . When air entry, liquid starvation, or flow restriction develops at the suction side, the pump may continue running, but every stroke becomes mechanically harder on valves, packing, plungers, crankshaft components, and connected piping. A triplex plunger pump is a positive displacement machine. It does not tolerate suction weakness in the same way as some low-pressure transfer pumps. Each plunger stroke demands a fixed volume of liquid. If that liquid is not available at the suction manifold at the right time, the pump chamber may fill incompletely, fill with...