From motor size and pump speed to wear life and operating costs, an imposing array of choices face a buyer intent on reaching and maintaining optimum pump performance. Here are some tips from experts.
by russell a. carter, contributing editor
Slurry pumps are essential for moving hard-to-handle, high solids-content fluids and sludge, and annual demand for these pumps reflects just one aspect of the significant space they occupy in several industry sectors. The global market for all types of slurry pumps is estimated at well more than a billion dollars each year, and although those sales represent only a single-digit portion of overall pump sales, slurry pumping costs take up a lot of space in mining’s collective energy budget. Process equipment supplier Metso estimated that slurry pumps account for only about 5% of centrifugal pumps — the most common type used for this purpose — installed throughout the mining industry, yet this small segment represents up to 80% of the industry’s total operational pumping costs.
The space they physically inhabit in a mining operation is typically harsh — at the bottom of a sump, a prep plant or thickener-underflow discharge point, or serving a pipeline carrying abrasive slurry. Their duty cycles range from continuous to sporadic depending on the application, often with highly variable flow rates and particle sizes. Internal wear can be severe in some applications, with as much as 2 mm of material a day disappearing from crucial component surfaces. Due to the increased probability of high wear rates from the materials being transported, pump builders add thicker, heavier components and/or internal liners, making slurry models larger and heavier than their water-pump brethren.
The wide range of pump-performance requirements encountered at thousands of mine, mill and other industrial sites requires an equally wide variety of pump types, sizes and mounting configurations. Two recent product introductions illustrate the range of available choices.
Going Big, Going Mobile
Late last year GIW Industries announced that it had developed the TBC-92 slurry pump specifically for use in oil sands operations. Named for its 92-in.-diam (234 cm) impeller, GIW claims the TBC-92 is the largest and heaviest slurry pump available in the mining industry.
At the other end of the size and portability scale, Gorman-Rupp’s transportable SludgeKat self-priming, positive displacement hydraulic piston pump is designed for convenient pumping of sludges and slurries from clarifying pits, wastewater treatment, mud pumping, environmental cleanup and similar applications.
The SludgeKat has 4-in. (100-mm) suction and discharge ports and is capable of flows up to 226 gpm (14.3 lps) and heads up to 390 ft (118.9 m). Depending on the product being pumped, SludgeKat can pass up to 2.4-in.-diam solids without damaging or clogging the pump. Units are equipped with Kohler Tier IV diesel engines.
Each SludgeKat comes standard with a wheel kit. The pump end frame is mounted to a 52-gallon (197-l) fuel tank base and offers a full-load run time of 25.5 hours. The pump end frame can be detached from the unit and when connected to optional 150-ft (46-m) hoses, provides increased portability around the job site.
In the space between these two very different pump solutions lies an array of conventional horizontal and vertical centrifugal models, submersibles and other types offering a wide range of performance characteristics that can be applied to specific slurry pumping requirements.
Pumps, unsurprisingly, can also fail to perform adequately if specified or installed incorrectly.
Look Beyond the Pump
The industry’s continuous drive to increase production from existing assets makes it important to view pump systems as one part of a much larger picture. In a recent blog post, Metso’s head of pump product management and marketing, Chris Wyper, outlined some important points to consider about pumps when aiming for plant-wide production increases. Among his recommendations:
Ensure motor power availability: “A well-designed plant has enough power allocated to mill pumps. Pumps typically operate on variable speed drives, meaning there are many process variables affecting speed and, finally, the power draw. It is a good idea to look at SCADA data on historical power drawn to better estimate the amount of power that would be available for tonnage increases. Rather than using engineering data sheets that are somewhat oversimplified, it is beneficial to use a point cloud type plot showing flow and pump pressure as a function of time. This information makes it possible to determine the optimal size of all the pumps and cyclones for the plant.”
Consider gearbox cooling at higher power: “As pump duty is increased, it usually also increases the power transmitted through the gearbox. This means that the amount of heat increases as well: a gearbox that is sized marginally for air to air cooling may overheat with higher continuous duty. Consideration must be given to the cooling capacity of the lubrication system, particularly at higher ambient temperatures and altitudes.”
Ensure gland seal water pressure at higher heads: “The pump gland seal water system should be sized so as to be able to deliver a constant flow of gland water under all operational conditions. This applies to the pump duty, including any increase in head due to tonnage increases. It should also be checked that the gland seal water system is adequate when other demands are placed on it, such as hose downs or flushing.”
Take a close look at pipe sizing: “If you double the speed, the rate of material loss increases 16-fold and the rate of abrasive wear on the surface is approximately proportional to the fourth power of velocity. If there is a significant increase in input, it is necessary to consider whether the pipe sizing is optimal. The right size allows friction losses and wear to be minimized. Of course, if there is a large variation in flow, then minimum velocity to prevent settling should be examined.”
Prepare for crash stops by calculating floor sumps: “In the case of a plant crash-stop, prepare for the maximum inflow based on calculations on the live volume of floor sumps. This may include the mill static overflow and any dump valves to empty pipes and sumps. If sump size is increased or the mill volume changed, then the sumps may be undersized. In this case, the existing sumps can be deepened or enlarged, to deal with the volume, or then additional sumps created. Typically, mill sumps should be separated from the other sumps in the plant due to the possibility of mill balls entering the sump.”
Expanding Future Options
As industry-wide figures indicate, slurry pumping can serve as a prime example of purchased capital equipment where operating and maintenance (O&M) costs rapidly eclipse the initial procurement cost. A myopic view of TOC (Total Cost of Ownership) factors when selecting a pump can result in a variety of bad outcomes ranging from the need to prematurely replace an inadequate unit, to sky-high maintenance costs and production losses from unscheduled downtime. Conversely, pump OEMs and aftermarket suppliers are increasingly cognizant that their customers can’t always predict future events and consequently are expanding their product and services portfolios to provide affordable options when mining conditions, maintenance resources or technology changes occur over time.
Manufacturers are also looking at ways to incorporate more performance flexibility into their pump models and ease some of the concerns associated with necessary pump modifications. “For example, we are developing a line of pumps designed with a solid casing with replaceable all-metal, liner-like elements,” said Will Pierce, manager of engineering, Schurco Slurry. The metallurgy for these wear components is a novel enhancement to the proven 27%-28% chrome white iron that the industry has used for decades. We have hard rock customers that started with rubber liners 20 years ago, now they’re in a different ore deposit at the same mine and the material is sharper or has different abrasive characteristics and the rubber isn’t lasting. With the shell we’ve developed, they’re able to convert to a completely metal lined pump without major impact to the overall installation through using backward compatible adapter plates,” Pierce explained.
The new design also offers Shurco’s coal clients notable benefits: “Our coal customers almost always use metal-lined pumps, but the industry is very price-sensitive right now, so this new development doesn’t have the traditional massive ductile iron outer shell and metal liner — instead, it has replaceable metal wear components. There’s no quality compromise on the pump’s internal components, no change in wear or hydraulic performance. It’s just a lower-cost alternative.”
Designing for Durability
A rule of thumb when selecting a slurry pump is to look for the most robust pump, in terms of performance, wear resistance, power and maintainability, that falls within the service class rating for the type of material being pumped. Even that simple process can be complicated when special circumstances arise, such as unusually high mechanical wear experienced in a specific application, or intermittent operation rather than steady running. Pump manufacturers generally have vast knowledge of what works and what doesn’t under many conditions, and they incorporate the features that do work into their latest designs. For example:
FLSmidth Minerals expanded its line of Krebs millMAX slurry pumps with the introduction of the millMAX-e, which features a unique wear-ring design that the company claims solves grinding and recirculation problems within the pump by maintaining clearances between the impeller and the suction side. By maintaining the design performance without increasing the speed, the wear ring extends the life of all wet end parts and reduces power consumption.
The millMAX-e model is unlined and offers a compact, space-saving exterior design aimed at reducing capital and replacement costs as well as motor-power requirements. However, according to the company, millMAX-e’s power frame uses the same bearing and shaft components as the equivalent millMAX power frames and is capable of handling applications requiring high speed and power. The millMAX-e is equipped with the patented Krebs pump belt tensioning system that allows users to quickly change out v-belts without having to realign the sheaves.
Tsurumi Manufacturing’s entries in the mining-class slurry pump market include its GPN and GSD series, rated at motor outputs of 7.5-50 hp (5.5-75 kW) kW and 50-100 hp (37-75 kW), respectively. Both series comprise submersible three-phase, high head and high volume heavy-duty slurry pumps driven by a four-pole motor. They are equipped with high-chromium cast iron agitators that the company said assist in smooth handling of settled materials. Motors are enclosed by a water jacket that assures efficient cooling even when the motor is exposed to air. Pumps in this series incorporate seal pressure relief ports that prevent pumping pressure from affecting the shaft seal.
Finland-based Flowrox’s heavy-duty CF-S horizontal centrifugal pump is the first in a series of centrifugal pumps to be introduced by the company and capable of continuously pumping highly abrasive and dense slurries. The company said the new pump can provide flows from as low as 2.3 m3/h to more than 4,000 m3/h at heads exceeding 76 m. The pump’s split-case design is claimed to provide a good balance between efficiency and wear, and models are available with a range of liner material options. The pump is compatible with Flowrox’s Digital Services platform, a customized IIoT-based process data collection and analysis system.
MBH Pumps unveiled the Ni-Hard series submersible slurry pumps, designed and built to pump slurries containing abrasive solids up to 65% by weight. These heavy-duty pumps, according to the supplier, are equipped with an external agitator that breaks settled or compacted solids, while its adaptive spiral plate technology delivers higher pumping with less energy consumption.
ShareSlurry pumps are crucial for efficient operation in numerous fields, including mining, construction, and wastewater treatment. These centrifugal pumps can effectively move slurry, a fluid containing abrasive particles, high viscosity, and solid contents. Heavy duty slurry pumps are specifically necessary for these industries to thrive, as high density slurries are particularly harsh on these components.
When searching for a slurry pump, it’s best to stick with brands with proven track records of producing high-quality products as an industrial pump manufacturer. This article will closely examine the best slurry pump manufacturers around the globe, widely recognized for their expertise and reliable products in the pump manufacturing industry.
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Want to learn about submersible slurry pumps and their benefits from a pump company offering a massively wide range of pumps? Visit DAE Pump’s website.
DAE Pumps offers a wide range of efficient and reliable heavy duty slurry pumps for handling abrasive and corrosive materials and high density slurries. Our slurry pumps are built to withstand harsh conditions, providing exceptional performance and extended service life. As one of the top industrial pump manufacturers, DAE’s self priming centrifugal pumps, submersible pumps and niche pump systems such as twin screw pumps, three screw pumps and magnetic drive pumps make it a world class leading manufacturer of fluid handling systems. Equipped with features like high-quality impellers, wear-resistant materials and innovative sealing mechanisms like mechanical seals that resist seal contamination, our industrial pumps minimize downtime and maintenance costs.
Ideal for mining, dredging, construction, wastewater treatment, and oil and gas, our energy efficient pumps excel at transporting solids-laden fluids like sand, gravel, coal, and ore. Their robust construction ensures the handling of high concentrations of solids without clogging, maximizing productivity. With versatile configurations available for different flow rates, head pressures, and motor power, our pump solutions cater to diverse application requirements.
At DAE Pumps, we deliver reliable pump solutions that enhance operational efficiency and minimize downtime for water and wastewater applications, among others. Customers can expect exceptional performance, durability, energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness from our slurry pumps, making them an essential choice for industries dealing with challenging materials, water infrastructure and operating environments. Our facilities specialize in water pumps, submersible pumps, positive displacement pumps and wastewater pumps.
EDDY Pump is one of the leading global manufacturers of slurry pumps. The company’s products are particularly good for handling high-density industrial fluids. The pump specialists’ patented products are manufactured using precise engineering and durable materials, including double mechanical seals which offer long service life and prevent seal contamination.
Easily one of the best pump manufacturers, Eddy Pumps can handle non-clog, high viscosity, high specific gravity, and heavy duty slurries, with 40-70% solids pumping by volume. Manufacturing pumps for power plants, flood control, oil and gas and wastewater applications as well, Eddy Pump just celebrated its 40th year as a leading pump manufacturer. The pump company offers exceptional customer service for all pumping systems, including those for the power generation, wastewater management and chemical processing industries.
Eddy Pump reputation as one of the best pump manufacturers is strengthened by its high quality manufacturing facilities in both Southern California and Baja California in Mexico.
Warman, a manufacturer of slurry pumps, offers a wide variety of centrifugal pumps suitable for various uses.
Warman is a well-known pump manufacturer in the industry, renowned for its durable and efficient centrifugal pump, including reciprocating pumps with positive accurate alignment. The company serves sectors like mining, mineral processing, and other heavy industrial applications due to their industrial pumps’ robust construction and ability to handle abrasive materials.
However, despite their strong reputation and reliability, Warman’s range of products do show some limitations in terms of variety and versatility. The company offers a relatively limited number of product lines compared to competitors’ wide range of pumps. This can be a drawback for customers looking for highly specialized solutions or pumps tailored for niche applications outside of Warman’s primary markets.
Metso Outotec is a pump company recognized for providing a wide range of sludge and dredge pumps, catering especially to the rigorous demands of the mining and mineral processing industries. Their centrifugal pumps are designed to handle challenging slurry pumping tasks, which involve moving mixtures of water and solids in suspension, often under tough conditions. These pumps are built to withstand abrasive and corrosive environments, making them highly suitable for applications in ore processing, tailings management, and similar heavy-duty industrial settings.
Despite their effectiveness in these demanding applications, Metso Outotec’s offerings do face some limitations in terms of design flexibility. The company’s focus is predominantly on robust, heavy-duty pumps, which means their design options are often geared towards specific, high-intensity industrial applications. This specialization can be a disadvantage for users seeking pumps for more varied or less extreme environments. For instance, industries that deal with less abrasive or mildly corrosive materials might find the pump features overly robust and not as cost-effective for their needs.
Furthermore, the lack of broader design options could restrict Metso Outotec’s pumps from being suitable for applications where different pump configurations or materials are necessary to optimize performance, save energy and increase efficiency. Many industries, such as water treatment, food processing, or certain chemical sectors might require pumps and fluid handling products with different operational characteristics, such as lower flow rates, different impeller designs, high pressure capabilities or materials that are compliant with food-grade standards.
In essence, while Metso Outotec excels in delivering high-performance sludge and dredge pumps for mining and mineral processing, the limited variability in pump designs might not be optimal for industries requiring a more diverse range of pumps and pumping solutions. This could compel potential users to explore other leading pump manufacturers that offer a wider array of design options catering to a broader spectrum of industrial processes.
Flowserve is a prominent manufacturer in the pump industry, known for its broad spectrum of pumping solutions (including rotary vane pumps) tailored to meet the diverse needs of multiple sectors, as well as its water treatment equipment. Their product lineup includes centrifugal pumps, which are widely utilized across industries such as oil and gas, water treatment, and mining due to their efficiency in moving fluids through a rotational motion facilitated by one or more impellers. Additionally, Flowserve provides positive displacement pumps, favored for applications requiring precise volume management, delivering a constant amount of fluid with each mechanical cycle, making them ideal for handling viscous fluids or when pressure conditions vary.
The company also specializes in submersible pumps, which are essential for pumping fluids from deep water sources or submerged applications, ensuring durability and effective operation in fully submerged conditions. Furthermore, Flowserve’s Vertical Turbine Pumps are specifically engineered for deep water extraction processes, offering a robust design capable of operating efficiently in lower submergence conditions compared to other pump types.
Xylem is recognized globally as a supplier of slurry pumps and associated water technologies, with a strong emphasis on innovation and sustainability. Their comprehensive range of centrifugal pumps are engineered to be resistant to wear and corrosion, attributes that are essential for handling abrasive slurries typically found in harsh industrial environments. These pumps are designed to move slurry, which consists of solid particles suspended in liquid, efficiently and effectively, ensuring optimal performance under demanding conditions. The durability and robust construction of Xylem’s pumps make them ideal for sectors where the movement of aggressive media is a routine requirement.
The use of Xylem’s slurry pump extends across various industries, including mining, mineral processing, water and wastewater applications, and the manufacturing sector. These pumps are integral in applications such as ore processing, tailings management, and the treatment of industrial effluents, where the reliability and efficiency of the pumping system directly impact operational productivity and environmental compliance.
However, the specialization of Xylem’s centrifugal pumps also means that they are optimized for specific types of tasks that involve abrasive or corrosive materials. This focus on specialized applications limits their suitability for broader or less intense pumping needs, where different pump types or configurations might be more appropriate. As such, while Xylem’s pumps excel in their designed roles, their application scope might not cover all potential industrial needs, particularly in environments where the material characteristics or operational demands differ from those anticipated by their specialized designs.
ITT Goulds Pumps is one of the more well known leading pump manufacturers, particularly when it comes to submersible pumps, as well as positive displacement pumps. Known as one of the best industrial pump manufacturers, ITT Goulds Pumps caters to a diverse array of sectors, including mining, power generation, chemical processing, pulp and paper, and oil and gas industry sectors. What sets ITT Goulds Pumps apart is its commitment to integrating advanced digital monitoring systems as a standard feature across all its process, wastewater and industrial pumps. This pump manufacturer continues to succeed with its wide range of pumps by embracing smart technologies in their pumping systems, ensuring their products remain at the forefront of innovation and meet the evolving water management needs of their clients worldwide.
DAE Pumps is one of the world’s best slurry pump manufacturers. Its advanced technology, state-of-the-art R&D establishment, continuous improvement, and passion for delivering the best to its customers make it the best choice.
If you require a centrifugal pump or one of our many positive displacement pumps for application in construction, mining, chemical, oil & gas, pulp and paper, sewage treatment, and/or marine industries, DAE pump or call us at (760)-477-. Request a free sales quote, and our team will connect with you.
A slurry pump is a type of centrifugal pump specifically designed for handling abrasive and viscous fluids known as slurries. Slurries are mixtures of solid particles suspended in a liquid medium. These pumps are widely used in industries such as mining, construction, oil and gas, and wastewater treatment, where the transfer of slurry is necessary.
Some common types of slurry pumps include:
Using a slurry pump offers several benefits in industries where the handling and transportation of slurries are necessary. Some key benefits are efficient handling of slurries, improved productivity, reduced equipment wear, customization options, enhanced safety, and environmental considerations. These advantages make them indispensable in industries where the reliable and efficient transportation of abrasive fluids is essential.
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While slurry pumps offer numerous benefits, they also have certain limitations that should be considered. These include:
Slurry pump selection depends on the slurry’s particle size, abrasiveness, flow rate, head pressure, installation requirements, and environmental conditions. Choosing the right slurry pump for your specific needs requires you to:
Proper maintenance is crucial for optimal performance. Conduct regular inspections, replace worn parts, and ensure proper lubrication. In addition, clean the impeller, monitor the seal condition, and flush the pump and piping periodically. It is crucial to keep records of maintenance activities and seek professional servicing when needed.
These two pumps are both used to handle thick, viscous fluids, but they differ primarily in their applications and construction. They are designed to handle a mixture of solids and liquids, typically in mining, dredging, and other industrial settings. They are built to withstand abrasion from particles like sand, gravel, and ore, and can also handle a wider range of particle sizes and higher concentrations of solids. Mud pumps, on the other hand, are typically used in the oil drilling industry to circulate drilling mud, which is required to cool and lubricate the drill head, and to carry drill cuttings to the surface. They are specifically designed to handle viscous fluids with fewer solid contents.
A centrifugal pump operates on the principle of centrifugal force to transport abrasive, solid-laden fluids. The process begins when the slurry enters the pump impeller along the rotational axis through the suction pipe. The impeller, driven by a motor, rotates at high speed, imparting kinetic energy to the slurry. This action converts the kinetic energy into hydrodynamic energy as the slurry is forced radially outward into a diffuser or volute chamber. The design of the chamber helps convert the velocity of the slurry into pressure, efficiently directing the slurry to the discharge point. This type of centrifugal pump is especially effective for handling abrasive materials in mining, dredging, and industrial processes due to its robust construction and dynamic operation.
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