Last March, KSB AG (Frankenthal, Germany; www.ksb.com), received a pump order in the double-digit, million-euro range. The pump units are intended for one of the biggest seawater-cooling plants in the world, which is situated in the industrial city of Ras Laffan in Qatar on the Persian Gulf, approximately 80 km north-east of Doha, the state’s capital. The seawater is needed for cooling processes in a gas liquefaction plant.
In order to meet the increased demand for cooling water, the operator wants to replace the existing pumps with pumps of the same design but with a significantly higher output. Each of the 18-m tall, 70-tonne pumps (photo, below) is driven by a low-speed, 4,000-kW, 12-pole, 6,000-V motor. The single-flow tubular casing pumps with mixed flow impeller made entirely of seawater-resistant duplex stainless steel deliver around 140,000 m3/h at a head of 58 m.
The first pump will leave the Frankenthal factory for Qatar at the end of December 2011. By the end of June 2012, all pump units will have left for their destination.
