Interestingly enough, we have had similar problems with our charge pumps. We have a HCGO seal flush to the seals. As we return the pump to service after maintenance work, we fill the pump with HCGO to purge the pumpcase. We have experienced several “loss of flow” situations as we try to put this pump back on-line. We’ve attributed the cause to be reverse flow of the HCGO in the case, flowing back into the suction of the on-line pump, flashing and cavitating. We’ve been trying to proceduralize (is that a word?) the situation, but are considering some of the return/warm-up lines that you have mentioned. Coker Squirrel -Sounds like you’ve had success with the return line from the suction back to the frac wash zone. I’m assuming that you have a bypass around the discharge check valve and that you are cracking that discharge valve open to provide hot feed to warm the pump. Have you ever had this return line plug? Purging it with CLGO sounds like a good idea. Is your climate such that it requires some form of heat tracing?
