Mining is one of the world’s oldest industries, tracing its roots back to these prehistoric days when somebody grabbed a digging instrument and commenced burrowing into the bottom. In the many millennia since, mining has grown into one of the world’s most essential and widespread industrial enterprises, with operations unfold across the globe while tasked with recovering an almost inexhaustible record of priceless commodities.
In fact, based on the World Mining Congress’s World Mining Data 2020 report, 17.7 billion metric tons of mined products were recovered in 2018, up from eleven.3 billion metric tons in 2000 and almost double the 9.6 billion metric tons in 1985. Asian countries accounted for 58 p.c of the 2018 production, with North America second at 15.1 percent, adopted by Europe (8 percent), Oceania (6.8 percent), Latin America (6.3 percent), and Africa (5.3 percent). Individually, China (23 percent), the United States (12.1 percent), Russia (9.2 percent), and Australia (7.2 percent) had been probably the most prolific producers, with their whole fifty one.1 p.c of manufacturing greater than the the rest of the world mixed.
This signifies that the mining industry is a strong one, with strong progress expected to continue within the coming years in lots of regions of the world. It also means that mining operations will proceed to depend on pumping applied sciences that supply sturdy, reliable, and safe service in numerous important liquid-handling operations. This white paper will illustrate why optimistic displacement air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pumps may be your greatest option for many of those purposes.
THE CHALLENGE
While mining might appear to be nothing greater than a rough-and-tumble operation—holes are dug by heavy equipment or with explosives, opening the hidden ode to entry from above—there are, in fact, many complex and typically delicate operations that must be performed properly if the mining operation is to carry out at its highest level of effectivity.
From a macro standpoint, this requires a pumping know-how that may operate reliably in harsh and remote locations, even when submerged, or when tasked with dealing with particulate-laden liquids or toxic/corrosive merchandise, and in addition one which is ready to be maintained and repaired just so downtime is lessened. The pumps must also be light enough to be manually moved from location to location inside the mine itself.
For a few years, a well-liked choice to be used in these conditions was centrifugal pumps. While pressure gauge are able to create the high move charges that are required, they have a number of operational “pain points” that hamper their use in mining purposes: an incapability to self-prime or run dry; particular seals wanted to forestall leaks; special linings needed to handle solids; excessive motor speeds of up to 1,800 rpm; and comparatively excessive upkeep requirements and prices, especially when charged with transferring solid-heavy liquids.
Another popular selection has been the progressive cavity pump, however, like centrifugal pumps, they’ve a quantity of operational shortcomings. These embrace an incapability to persistently deal with liquids with high ranges of abrasives, which results in increased upkeep prices, wear on expensive stators and rotors that may eventually need to be changed, and overall larger buy, operating, and repair/replacement costs.
Here are some of the particular liquid-transfer operations that happen in a mine and the ways that some pump technologies can fall quick in satisfying them:
Mine dewatering: Removing excess produced water from the mine is a important 24/7/365 operation and the water that is recovered is often stuffed with particulates that can be as giant as zero.12 to 0.16 inches in measurement. If used on this utility, centrifugal pumps require particular materials of construction, which may be value prohibitive, to guard towards impeller put on caused by the abrasive particles. Centrifugal pumps are also not dry-run capable, which adversely affects their degree of performance on this utility.
General service: For common liquid-handling applications, you want an easy-to-operate pump that reliably can run dry, strip traces, function at low speeds while nonetheless delivering excessive circulate rates, and be straightforward to maintain and restore. Centrifugal pumps merely don’t possess these capabilities.
Corrosive liquids: Much like solid-laden liquids, corrosive ones can wreak havoc on the wetted components of centrifugal and progressive cavity pumps. This sometimes demands a necessity to make use of special mechanical seals, which may lead to exorbitant maintenance, repair, and alternative prices.
Press filter: Press filters are used to clean the liquids which would possibly be produced in the mines and, once more, centrifugal pumps can fall short on this application as a result of the solid-laden liquid can damage the pump’s internals unless special, costlier supplies of building or linings are used. Also, the nature of press-filter operation creates a robust discharge-pressure variation that may force the centrifugal pump to function away from its best efficiency level (BEP), resulting in excessive vibration and radial loads that may lead to shortened service life. A solution to that is the incorporation of variable frequency drives (VFDs) and controllers, but these are expensive and might negatively have an result on the cost-effectiveness of the operation.
Product transfer: This comes in all forms in a mining operation, from loading and unloading from transport vehicles with new and used oil for the heavy equipment, contemporary and fouled water, and any chemicals which may be required. In every instance, there could be the risk that the pump shall be pressured to run dry as the truck or storage vessel is emptied, whereas discharge-pressure variation also can generate excessive vibration and radial hundreds. As beforehand illustrated, centrifugal pumps cannot run dry, in order that they want protection from this situation or the addition of particular seals. However, all of these upgrades nonetheless can not completely protect in opposition to a catastrophic failure.
THE SOLUTION
While centrifugal pumps—despite their popularity—have confirmed to not be the best answer in many liquid-handling purposes in mining, one pump know-how that has proven to be an optimum alternative is AODD—in terms of maximizing reliability, cost-effectiveness, ease of operation and upkeep, and security for mining personnel and the setting.
AODD pumps are in a position to perform effectively in mining applications because their technique of operation allows them to easily deal with variable circulate charges and pressures, while being dry-run and line-stripping succesful, and nimble sufficient to switch liquids that are shear-sensitive or high-viscosity, in addition to slurries laden with rocks, pebbles, and different particulates.
The easy design of the AODD pump features few moving elements and comparably decrease speeds than other pump technologies, which improves reliability and simplifies maintenance, while the pump’s seal-less building ends in fewer leaks, which is a crucial consideration when handling the various hard-to-seal, corrosive, or hazardous liquids which might be prevalent in a mining operation. AODD pumps are available in both metal (most generally aluminum, ductile iron and forged iron) and plastic (polypropylene and PVDF) housing constructions, whereas a wide array of elastomers can be used within the diaphragms, which eliminates many chemical-compatibility concerns.
A broad number of AODD pump configurations present operational flexibility that may also end in optimized efficiency at many levels. The capability to characteristic AODD pumps in a broad range of purposes, from primary basic use to delicate chemical-handling processes, allows operators to more cost-effectively outfit their mines. AODD pumps may also be more cost effective to operate, particularly those fashions which would possibly be outfitted with a next-generation mechanically actuated air distribution system (ADS). At their most simple, AODD pumps excel in the typical rugged and harsh operating circumstances discovered in the world’s mines, which reduces breakdown incidents along with corresponding downtime and repair costs.
Specifically, Wilden, whose founder, Jim Wilden, conceived the AODD pumping precept sixty-five years ago, has been dedicated to developing applied sciences that meet the wants of mining operations. Today, Wilden offers three AODD pump fashions which may be constructed to excel in mining applications, available in ductile iron, forged iron, aluminum, polypropylene and Kynar materials of construction:
Brahma® Series: The Brahma pumps, which feature a bolted configuration, have been built for use in functions that require the dealing with of liquids featuring massive solids. The Brahma pumps have a singular top-inlet/bottom-discharge move orientation and flap valves that enable the passage of enormous solids with no danger that injury will happen on account of product entrapment or the settling of solids inside the pump’s inside flow paths. Brahma pumps are available in two models—PS810 (2-inch) and PS1510 (3-inch)—that are outfitted with the revolutionary Pro-Flo® SHIFT ADS, which has been designed to scale back air consumption by up to 60 p.c. The T810 and T1510 models are powered by the Turbo-Flo™ ADS, the industry’s first air motor for AODD pumps. The flow-rate range for the four Brahma pumps is 166 to 258 gallons per minute at pressures up to one hundred twenty five psi with solids-handling capability ranging from 2 to three inches.
Stallion® Series: The Stallion pumps feature a clamped design with carrying handles for lightweight portability. Their design features giant inner clearances and flow-through paths for straightforward passage of large solids with no chance for clogging. An altered ball/seat check-valve assembly additional allows solids passage, whereas a polyurethane display base at the inlet increases the pump’s durability. The PS4, PS8, and PS15 (1.5-, 2-, and 3-inch) models are powered by a Pro-Flo SHIFT ADS, with the T4, T8, and T15 (1.5-, 2-, and 3-inch) pumps that includes the Turbo-Flo ADS, Wilden’s most strong ADS design for the toughest environments. Flow charges amongst the six models range from fifty seven gallons per minute to 232 gallons per minute at working pressures as much as one hundred twenty five psi. Solids sizes that can be dealt with range from half to 1 inch.
Pro-Flo SHIFT Series: Pro-Flo SHIFT pumps characteristic clamped or bolted configuration. Their design options completely different chamber supplies, including metallic and plastics, even Kynar, which is capable of handling excessive levels of abrasive materials. The Pro-Flo SHIFT can be the most environment friendly AODD pump available within the market, able to lowering as much as 60 p.c air consumption. This makes it the finest option for handling corrosive and abrasive merchandise in mining processes. The pumps have a product range that goes from 1.5 to 3 inches and flows from 2 to 271 gallons per minute.
All of the Brahma, Stallion, and Pro-Flo SHIFT pumps are in a place to be outfitted with a broad selection of diaphragm styles—including the newer Chem-Fuse, EZ-Install, and Reduced-Stroke models—in a various array of materials, similar to Wil-Flex™ (Santoprene®), Geolast®, Polyurethane, Buna-N®, EPDM, Neoprene, FKM, and PTFE. This diaphragm range gives customers the widest selection of diaphragms available on the market, all of which are capable of offering prolonged imply time between failure (MTBF) for optimized uptime with reduced upkeep, restore, and alternative prices.
All of these capabilities make AODD pumps the ideal choice for the aforementioned common liquid-handling applications in mining: dewatering, basic service, corrosive-handling, filter press, and daily product transfer.
CONCLUSION
In summary, Wilden AODD pumps are the most suitable choice for mining functions because they offer considerable operational benefits, like comparable low-speed operation, dry-run, line-stripping, self-priming, and deadhead capability, together with elevated operational security and a reduction in maintenance/repair costs that can be incurred by pumps that aren’t designed to handle abrasive/corrosive or solid-laden liquids.
Wilden AODD pumps additionally outperform other AODD technologies in different vital methods: simple design with the bottom number of parts for faster, simpler, and safer repairs and the bottom number of spare components to stock; recent improvements in supplies of building that increase the pump’s MTBF; and improved efficiency via using the Pro-Flo SHIFT ADS, which ultimately leads to quicker product transfer with decrease air consumption. Wilden additionally continues to innovate through the event of the next-generation Chem-Fuse and EZ-Install diaphragms, both of which enhance service life and safety whereas not compromising the handling of challenging liquids.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Fernando Meneses is the regional manager North Latin America for Wilden, a leading manufacturer of air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pumps. He may be reached at fernando.meneses@psgdover.com. Wilden is a product model of PSG®, a Dover firm. PSG is comprised of a quantity of leading pump corporations, including Abaque®, All-Flo™, Almatec®, Blackmer®, Ebsray, em-tec®, Griswold®, Hydro™, Mouvex®, Neptune®, Quantex™, Quattroflow®, RedScrew™, and Wilden®. For extra information, go to www.wildenpump.com or www.psgdover.com.
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