Improvement of pump turbines in the oil industry

Technological scouting

A company active in the production of pumps for the oil sector suffered from the problem that its turbines, compared to the competition, were too fragile. The R&D sector was therefore looking for a new process to better protect the element from corrosion and increase its mechanical resistance.

The company turned to Hephaestus, instructing it to find new technologies or processes suitable for the purpose, because its technicians were not aware of any other solution that had not already been applied.

 

Targets of the project

Target 1

Identify all applicable solutions in the technical and scientific literature.

Target 2

Examination of each solution found and comparison between them.

Target 3

So that the customer not only "knows" what has been done, but really knows how to decide the best way to go.

A long examination was carried out in all available sources aimed at finding every technological solution that could answer the question posed by the customer. This meant having to range from very different topics, from metallurgy, to electrochemistry, to vacuum deposition techniques.

The work was carried out in an agile way, which included continuous dialogue with the technicians of the client company. In this way, the research was progressively refined and appropriately addressed during its development.

Each technological solution found has been critically evaluated, highlighting the real prospects, costs, strengths and weaknesses, as well as the timing for any development and implementation. A distinction was made between already commercial solutions and those that require further maturation, in order to provide the customer with any useful information to decide which one to adopt.

At the end of the research, the results were presented to the client in a critical manner. As usual, Efesto’s communication was based not only on the simple explanation of the options found, but also on their contextualization with respect to the technical specifications required and the practical implications.

  • Target 1

    Technological research

    A long examination was carried out in all available sources aimed at finding every technological solution that could answer the question posed by the customer. This meant having to range from very different topics, from metallurgy, to electrochemistry, to vacuum deposition techniques.

    The work was carried out in an agile way, which included continuous dialogue with the technicians of the client company. In this way, the research was progressively refined and appropriately addressed during its development.

  • Target 2

    Evaluation of perspectives

    Each technological solution found has been critically evaluated, highlighting the real prospects, costs, strengths and weaknesses, as well as the timing for any development and implementation. A distinction was made between already commercial solutions and those that require further maturation, in order to provide the customer with any useful information to decide which one to adopt.

  • Target 3

    Critical presentation

    At the end of the research, the results were presented to the client in a critical manner. As usual, Efesto’s communication was based not only on the simple explanation of the options found, but also on their contextualization with respect to the technical specifications required and the practical implications.

Result

At the end of the research, a comprehensive report was produced which contained all useful information and critically assessed it. In this way, the technical department became aware of technological possibilities that were previously completely unknown, and was able to orient itself in the conscious choice of the most promising of them.

However, the report remained available to the company’s technicians also for possible future developments, as it indicated a series of potentially very useful technological innovations in other fields.

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