Parametric Study of Slurry Pump Wear and Operating Cost
Type:
Presented during:
WODCON XXIII - Dredging is changing - The Practice. The Science. The Business.
Authors:
R. Visintainer, M. Garman, K. Pagathivarthi
Abstract
"A suite of two-phase, CFD models for predicting wear in centrifugal slurry pumps has been developed over the last 40 years and validated by laboratory experiments and field experience. The CFD results are converted to local wear rates based on experimental modelling of wear coefficients, correlating surface energy dissipation to resulting material removal. In the present work, these models are applied over a range of operating conditions to a collection of 112 actual pump designs representative of those in common use today in both mining and dredging applications. The examined operating conditions included pump heads of 35 to 65 m, volumetric solids concentration of 10% to 40%, solids density of 1700 to 4500 kg/m3, effective particle sizes (deff) of 250 to 1000 m, and pump flowrates from 50% to 125% of the best efficiency flowrate (QBEP). The resulting parametric study is used to quantify the dependence of wear on the key operational variables, and to identify the key pump geometric variables, or ratios of variables, against which wear performance is best correlated. The analysis is extended to produce a set of generalized algebraic equations suitable for estimating typical pump wear performance over the examined range of operational and design parameters. By further considering the pump operating costs in the form of parts usage, power usage, maintenance, and capital; a slurry pump operational cost per tonne of solids delivered is calculated and analyzed for relevant trends."
Keywords: Dredge pump, Slurry pump, Pump wear, Two-phase CFD, Wear modelling, TCO