4 Slurry Pump Tips You Need to Know

18 Aug.,2025

 

4 Slurry Pump Tips You Need to Know

Slurry is one of the most challenging fluids to work with. It is highly abrasive, viscous, sometimes corrosive, and contains a high concentration of solids. So operating a slurry pump correctly can have a significant impact on long-term performance.

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slurry pumps Have the Following Characteristics.

Abrasive material.
Thick consistency.
May contain large amounts of solids.
Usually settles down quickly.
Requires more power to operate than "water" pumps.

Here Are Four Tips That Every Pump Operator Should Know when Using a Slurry Pump.

1. A Simple Way to Avoid Cavitation.

Do you hear a popping sound when your mud pump is running? If it sounds like popcorn, you'll hear steam chamber implosions - they're as destructive as they are noisy. These tiny cavities form when the absolute pressure at the impeller eye reaches the vapor pressure of the liquid. Their continuous bursting can cause costly damage to your impellers and bearings.

Avoiding cavitation is easy if you have the right pump. You need to know the critical suction pressure - or net positive suction head (NPSH) - required for your system and choose a slurry pump that operates at that pressure.

2. Install the Snap Ring Gasket - Instantly!

The snap ring gasket on the pump seals the joint between the suction bushing and the pump housing. To replace it, make sure the part number is facing outward, lubricate it with a non-petroleum based lubricant (such as detergent or baby powder), and make sure it is facing the correct direction. Then, making sure this trapezoidal washer is in the correct position is simple: pull it up and if it "snaps" back into place, it is installed correctly.

3. Simplify Impeller Removal.

When you only have one washer, the torque generated at startup can cause it to stick to the impeller and shaft, making it difficult to separate during maintenance. However, we have a quick and easy solution: simply use two aramid washers between the impeller and the shaft sleeve instead of one. This way, one washer will be bonded to the shaft and the other to the impeller, making disassembly quick and easy.

4. Make Sure Your Nose Slit is Right on the Nose.

This may be a small maintenance task, but correct and regular adjustment of your nose clearance can easily double or triple the wear life of your parts! The correct clearance is very small and allows the pump to maintain high pressure on the outside of the impeller and low pressure at the eye. However, as the pump runs, that nose clearance gradually increases, disrupting pressure distribution and encouraging recirculation of particles around the impeller suction shroud.

To avoid wear on the impeller and suction liner, adjust the nose clearance once a week. First loosen the retaining bolt on the back of the bearing assembly, then use the adjusting screw and nut to move the bearing assembly forward until it contacts the bushing, taking care to slowly back it off to the specified distance for your pump.

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Which Type of Slurry Pump Is Best for My Application? - KSB

What’s in your slurry? When it comes to choosing the right slurry pump for your application, you have a few options to choose from. Learn more about slurry pump types, what materials suit each pump best, and how to find the right type.

Slurry types

In theory, any solid can be hydrotransported. However, particle size and shape can be limiting factors depending whether they can fit through pump passages without causing blockages. Within the broader “slurry” category are four slurry classifications that determine how to best choose appropriate slurry pumps.

Class 1: Mildly Abrasive
Class 2: Slightly Abrasive
Class 3: Significantly More Abrasive
Class 4: Highly Abrasive

It may be no surprise Oil Sands pumps are ideal for moving highly abrasive class-four slurries. Because slurry pumps are made specifically to hydrotransport large-particle solids, they also ensure better wear performance in harsh conditions. But there’s more to choosing a pump than knowing the type of slurry it will move.

Four centrifugal slurry pump types

While centrifugal slurry pumps are well-known for their use in the Oil Sands, many have additional applications.

  1. Hydrotransport — Hydrotransport pumps cover a wide range of applications because moving slurry is hydrotransport. These slurry pumps are best used with water-based solutions and are often used in dredging.
  2. Tailings Transfer — Tailings Transfer pumps are best suited for transporting tailings, or the finer abrasive particles that result from hard rock mining, like mud and ore particles, as well as associated chemicals used in the mining process. Pending specific applications, LSA, LCC, and MDX pumps from GIW are all useful for tailings transfer.
  3. Cyclone Feed — Like tailings pumps, cyclone feed pumps are also used in hard rock mining and are similar to hydrotransport pumps as they’re applicable to dredging operations. In the cyclone feed market, these pumps are used in all stages of scalping or separating solids by particle size. GIW’s LSA and MDX slurry pumps are widely used for cyclone feed applications, depending on the required size range.
  4. Flotation Froth — Transporting froth using a slurry pump is a unique application in that the air contained in froth can negatively impact pump performance. This also means it’s difficult to predict pump performance life for these applications. Due to these factors, oversized High-Volume Froth (HVF) pumps, which remove air from froth, are necessary for froth applications.

Choosing the right pumps for specific slurries can help pump owners avoid unnecessary maintenance, repairs, and related downtime. In addition, proper pump applications make for safer work environments, offering those working on or around pumps peace of mind. Perhaps best of all, purpose-chosen slurry pumps also have longer wear lives, boosting owners’ bottom lines.

Still don’t know which pump type is right for your application? Those with unique slurry pumping requirements need not fear. Based on data from over 3,000 centrifugal slurry pumps, GIW’s proprietary pump selection program called SLYSEL can help prospective pump owners get what they need down to their exact specifications. Plus, SLYSEL can help pump operators ensure they’re operating pumps correctly — from properly calculating performance curves and pipe friction loss to evaluating other operational factors and pumps themselves — reducing room for error and maintaining pump longevity.