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The article discusses the impact of pressure waves generated by reciprocating compressors on the piping system and the need for pulsation suppression dampers. It explains how the periodic piston movement creates pressure pulsations that can lead to mechanical and efficiency issues, and highlights the importance of conducting pulsation studies during the design phase to minimize the negative effects on downstream vessels and connected piping.

The article focuses on several aspects of analyzing machinery failure data with a spreadsheet. It mentions need for regularly gathering machinery failure data; regularly generate reliability plots based on historical data; and continuously tracking machinery reliability and look for changes. It also mentions about several reliability analysis tools including pareto failure plots and reliability growth plots.

The article reports on maintenance of pumps in hydrocarbon processing industry. It specifically discusses a methodology to deal with troublesome pumps. It is stated that a key strategy for improving plant mean time between repairs (MTBR) is based on identifying and improving the reliability of one's most troublesome pumps.

The article focuses on the justification of root-cause failure analysis (RCFA), a formal analysis of an equipment or system failure, for pumps. It mentions that poor lubricant storage practices causes oil contamination and frequent seal failures were caused by low-flow pump operation. It says that the pillar of machinery reliability depends on the root cause failure analysis effort.

The article offers information about the efforts of machinery professionals to search for ways on how to improve the reliability or capabilities of process machines. It discusses the design upgrades to improve performance, reliability and safety of critical process machines such as upgrading mechanical seals and related sealing systems in a pump to improve reliability.

The article offers information on soft skills which are required to be developed by machinery professionals. Topics discussed include need for continuous learning by building library with the latest books dealing with machinery construction and theory, lubrication and vibration analysis; suggestions to teachers involved in teaching about machinery like enlarging knowledge base and providing hands-on training; and recommendation for reading technical books and periodicals and attending seminars.

The article discusses how reliability professionals believe that design improvements are the primary means of improving reliability. It notes how asking operators or mechanics why they think a failure occurred before critical information is collected and will lead to the invention of possible scenarios that are not based on facts. It adds that interview operators and mechanics individually so that each interview is honest, thorough, and unbiased.