Tag Archives: slurry pumps

Tronox’s Cooljarloo mine feels the benefits of Weir Minerals Total Asset Management Plan

Energy minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weir Minerals says it has further strengthened its partnership with Tronox following the signing of an exclusive arrangement to take ownership of maintenance, asset management and optimisation of the mine’s key assets.

Weir Minerals’ Total Asset Management Plan is a “unique and innovative” service contract that is revolutionising mining operations, with improved performance and a reduction in unplanned maintenance time, the company says.

Such a plan was successfully implemented at the Tronox mine in Cooljarloo, Western Australia, with Weir Minerals managing 20 assets including slurry pumps on the plant, two floating dredges and a floating concentrator which processes over 3,000 t/h of heavy mineral concentrate.

Tronox produces more than 770,000 t/y of heavy mineral concentrate using a dredging operation and dry mining techniques at Cooljarloo, Tronox says. The dredging operation recovers heavy minerals from the sand and clay using a series of gravity spirals, with the dry mine using earthmoving equipment to extract ore located above the water table, feeding it to a land-based concentrator for separation using a hopper and conveyor system.

Daniel Fleckhammer, Weir Minerals Director, said: “The Weir Minerals team worked closely with Tronox to determine what their goals and vision for their mine were. The team then developed a tailored Total Asset Management Plan which aimed to look after the customer’s assets, improve their wear life and keep the mine running.”

Weir Minerals successfully helped Tronox reduce its maintenance costs by 10% and cut unplanned maintenance by 30%, according to the company. The miner is also now able to transition from a six-month shutdown cycle to an eight-month shutdown cycle, which will save the mine over A$1 million/y ($774,802/y) on maintenance costs. Weir estimates this increased reliability is potentially worth over A$1 million/y in additional productivity.

Dave Netherway, Tronox Maintenance Manager at Cooljarloo, said the Total Asset Management Plan the company has in place with Weir Minerals means it pays “on a cents per tonne” arrangement based on the throughput through the plant.

“Weir have skin in the game with the way we operate,” he said.

Being located on site, the Weir Minerals team is prepared for crucial maintenance and gains vital insights into the customer’s issues.

“By leveraging their worldwide expertise in pump technology, the team proactively evaluate each asset and provide outstanding service to Tronox,” the company says.

A clear set of key performance indicators developed in conjunction with Tronox enable Weir Minerals to increase savings and improve the reliability of assets, it says. Both companies work towards a common goal that is mutually beneficial to all.

Ian Rennie, Tronox Site Director at Cooljarloo, said: “If other companies around the world are looking at this type of agreement, I’d really encourage them to explore it. At Tronox, we’ve only been touching the surface for a year now and we really see some huge benefits already.”

Belzona’s new abrasion-resistant coating to help miners patch up equipment

Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Belzona Polymerics, a provider of high-performance polymeric repair composites and protective coatings, has launched a new product to add to its portfolio of solutions for industrial maintenance.

This new product, Belzona 1818, has been specially formulated for emergency patch repairs in highly abrasive environments typically found in industries such as mining, cement, pulp and paper, and biomass, among others, where equipment is commonly exposed to extensive erosion and abrasion from excavated or processed materials of varying type, size and shape.

What is easily identifiable about this new product is its distinctive blue colour. This vivid blue serves as a good mixing indicator and provides contrast where an application is carried out in poorly lit conditions or against dark background surfaces where the repair area should be easily identifiable, the company says. These conditions can be common in typical industrial applications where Belzona 1818 is likely to be used.

Based on initial research and feedback from engineers in the field, it is envisaged the product will be used on various types of equipment within abrasive environments such as slurry pumps, grinding mills, screw conveyors, chutes and hoppers, hydrocyclones, wear plates, dust extraction pipe work, agitator shafts, hubs and blades.

Belzona 1818 is the newest addition to the highly erosion resistant Belzona 1800 series product range and bridges the gap between surface tolerance, fast cure and high abrasion resistance, the company says. Its fast curing properties means minimal downtime for damaged equipment – so much so that the product can experience full mechanical loading and heavy abrasion just two hours after application, depending on cure temperatures.

“In these abrasive environments, surface preparation can also be an issue and contamination is common, therefore the equipment cannot always be fully cleaned or ideally profiled as required for many repair materials,” Belzona says. “The desire to deal with adverse application conditions creates a need for a not only fast-curing, but also a surface-tolerant material.”

As a result, Belzona 1818 has built-in surface tolerant technology, enabling it to bond onto steel substrates even when surface preparation is minimal or if the substrate is heavily contaminated with oil or water, the company says. The product can also be applied and cured underwater.

Kristine Savicka, Belzona R&D Technician, explains: “Belzona 1818 builds on our knowledge and experience of producing highly abrasion-resistant systems, and combines this technology with our know-how and expertise in producing fast-cure and surface-tolerant products for application in non-ideal conditions. Belzona 1818 offers the high erosion resistance expected of the Belzona 1800 series with added application benefits, offering ease of use and a fast return to service.”

This new product is supplied in 1 kg units where base and solidifier can be combined on a Belzona work surface. Belzona 1818 is easy to mix and apply and offers a good working life (16 minutes at 20°C) while still offering fast cure and a rapid return to service, according to the company. The product is suitable for emergency repairs where downtime must be kept to a minimum and optimal surface preparation cannot be achieved due to accessibility or environmental and application constraints.

Belzona 1818, as with all Belzona products, is made to the highest quality and safety standards and has undergone rigorous performance testing, the company says. Belzona 1818 is user friendly and can be applied without the need for hot work or specialist tools. In addition, it is formulated without solvents and is free from CMR classification and labelling, while maintaining cure speed and performance to give a durable and long-lasting repair.

Weir’s Warman MCR pump more than doubles wear life at Agnico’s LaRonde mine

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Water management, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The superiority of genuine Warman® pumps and parts has been proven in a trial comparing the performance of a Warman MCR® 250 pump with a Warman AH® pump fitted with non-genuine spare parts at Agnico Eagle Mines’ LaRonde gold mine in Quebec, Canada, Weir Minerals says.

The mine had been using two Warman AH 12/10 slurry pumps to manage its SAG mill discharge since operations commenced in 1988. While these pumps were the latest technology at the time, the very coarse slurry was causing the pumps to wear out after just 1,600 hours, according to Weir.

“When a replicator proposed a trial of non-OEM pump liners and parts instead of our genuine Warman parts, they promised to double the wear life of the existing pump components,” Mike Swintak, Regional Senior Product Manager for Weir Minerals, said. “Our engineers investigated the root cause of the wear life problems experienced and decided a Warman MCR pump would achieve much better results compared to the AH pump with non-OEM parts.”

Instead of doubling it, the other manufacturer’s liners and impellers decreased the pump’s wear life by 300 hours, wearing out after just 1,300 hours. In addition to requiring six rebuilds per year, the non-genuine parts interrupted production due to discovery of premature cracks in the liner, Weir said.

Meanwhile, the Warman MCR 250 pump achieved 3,000 hours of continuous operation, requiring only three rebuilds and lowered spare parts costs alone by 36%, or $70,000 per year.

Swintak said: “The fantastic results achieved at LaRonde weren’t just due to the superior wear resistance offered by the pump’s Ultrachrome A05 wear material and superior hydraulic design of the MCR pump. Our engineers worked closely with Agnico Eagle operators to remove problems throughout the circuit contributing to the low wear life being achieved, such as revising their pump box level control procedures and monitoring system to ensure a constant level of 50-75%.”

Weir Minerals guards against Warman slurry pump maintenance problems

Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining safety, Mining services, Water management, , , , , , ,

Weir Minerals has announced the global release of its new telescopic gland seal guards to further protect maintenance personnel performing gland seal adjustments on its Warman® slurry pump range.

The guards never need to be removed to adjust the gland seal followers, making this routine task far safer, according to the company. The telescopic design, which can be retrofitted into existing Warman pumps without disassembly, ensures secure fitment no matter how the pump is set up.

Marcus Lane, Global Product Manager, Centrifugal Pumps, said: “At Weir Minerals, we always put the safety of our customers and employees first. That’s why I’m proud to announce these innovative gland seal guards, which provide miners with an elegant solution to a long-standing safety concern – how to safely adjust the gland seal of a slurry pump while it’s operating.”

The guards, which comply with global standards including ISO 14120, ISO 13857, AS4024.1601 and AS4024.1801, are available for most Warman pumps including MCR, WBH and AH, with additional designs engineered upon request, Weir said. Manufactured from stainless steel to prevent corrosion, they are painted golden yellow to be quickly identifiable as a safety feature.

Slurry pump operators often need to adjust glands while the pump is in operation. Historically this meant removing the guard and exposing personnel to rotating parts.

“The new guards never need to be removed during pump operation and address a number of safety concerns our service teams frequently observe on site, such as the possibility for the rotating elements to forcefully eject the tool being used to adjust the gland follower,” Lane said. “Another common concern is the tendency for operators to lay cloth over the seal area during adjustment to block the water spray. These fabrics can become entangled around the rotating shaft whilst also ensnaring the tool, fingers, hand or arm of the maintenance personnel.”

He added: “Warman telescopic gland seal guards fully protect maintenance personnel from potentially dangerous situations arising from an exposed shaft.”

Weir Minerals mobilises team to take on tailings treatment challenge

Bulk handling, Comminution of minerals, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Water management, , , , , , , ,

Water requirements for intensive applications such as hard-rock mining and oil sands processing have historically been supplemented by local water sources. Today, these applications face new challenges as the focus shifts to how operations can minimise their environmental footprint but continue to improve productivity while also complying with new regulations. This global shift in focus reveals the need for increased sustainability in tailings processing, Weir Minerals says.

The way forward is not only installing energy-efficient products that offer improved reliability, but also working directly in partnership with companies such as Weir Minerals that can design engineered-to-order solutions tailored for optimised and sustainable results, the mining OEM explains.

One of the ongoing challenges for customers is tailings reclamation. The question of how best to reduce dependence on tailings ponds yet expedite reclamation of both water and product in the process, was top of mind for one Weir Minerals customer.

Pumping stations are a critical element of tailings management, providing the energy needed to drive the downstream processes. Static slurry pump houses have, until now, been the norm, but they are costly and present many limitations when considering alternate tailings processing techniques.

A new approach to tailings reclamation

When the customer approached the Weir Minerals Canada dewatering team with a vision to mobilise the pump system for their new tailings treatment process, initially they didn’t even know if it was even possible.

“The sheer size and energy requirements of the equipment needed for the application meant that this was a huge undertaking from the beginning. You don’t normally think of 3,500 hp (2,610 kW) pumps and 160 t of equipment as mobile,” Kris Kielar, Product Manager for Dewatering Engineered to Order Solutions at Weir Minerals Canada, explains.

The Weir Minerals team worked directly with the customer to design an innovative booster pumphouse, engineered especially to manage the non-segregating tailings on site. The proposed solution played an integral role in reducing the tailings pond footprint on site through accelerated fines capture and decreased fluid tailings production, thus releasing more water for recycling and reducing necessary water intake from local sources. This, in turn, would expedite reclamation to create landforms that support wetlands and self-sustaining forest ecosystems, according to Weir Minerals.

The standard tailings processing model takes time, but this solution dramatically reduced tailings residence time with a total solution realised through Weir Minerals equipment, it said.

Multiflo® pump barges mounted with Hazleton® submersible slurry pumps extract the target fluid tailings that feed high-powered, land-based Weir re-locatable pump houses. Inside the pump houses, Warman® slurry pumps boost recovered tails from the pond to drive the new tailings treatment process plant.

Kielar continued: “By working directly with the customer, we understood not only their desired outcome, but also the existing capabilities on site. We stayed close and were able to proactively tweak our design based on the customer’s needs, so when it was time to present, we were already prepared with the ideal solution.”

Engineering for extra value

The Weir Minerals dewatering team designs solutions using engineered and reliable equipment that is not just efficient, but also adds value to a customer’s site process, it says.

“For example, the entire module of the Weir mobile pump house can be built offsite at a much lower cost than traditional pump houses, which are built in-situ,” Weir Minerals said. “Building a pump house in-situ is time-consuming and expensive, as the method requires skilled trades to work for extended periods of time in remote locations.”

Peter Pavlin, Weir Minerals’ North America General Manager of Engineering, said: “Competitor pump houses built using in-situ construction methods can more than double the construction time and costs compared to the steel fabrication methods we have used. When faced with a complex problem from a customer, we always evaluate the situation holistically and strive to develop a new approach. That is the beauty of engineering, the possibilities are endless, and the Weir Engineering Team have the expertise and tenacity to go against the norm and develop novel and cost-effective solutions.”

The Weir mobile pump house provides a variety of pumping possibilities for intensive tailings applications, according to the company.

It is designed to relocate across the site using especially engineered, military-style skid and ‘jack-and-roll’ elements and a novel patent-pending pump/motor suspension system, providing a unique advantage in mobile pump house technology. These advances provide operators with distinct advantages over traditional fixed-in-place designs, creating a more agile and cost-effective solution, according to Weir Minerals.

Pavlin explained: “Our ground-breaking design sets a new standard for tailings management applications. Other pump houses in the market are static and often cause difficulties for operators when they wish to expand into new areas, as they must discontinue service, resulting in a large capital expenditure. Our solution has overcome these limitations by providing the customer with the tools to rapidly reconfigure a changing pumping network and move it to other sections of the tailings pond.”

The Weir mobile pump house incorporates an integral gland water supply system and a separate eHouse for power control and remote communication. A patent-pending, three-point pump base mounting system allows the base and skid to act independently, minimising the risk of pump and motor shaft misalignment during operation and the relocation process, according to Weir.

Weir Minerals addresses pump impeller and throatbush wear life

Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Precious metals, Water management, , , , , , , , ,

Weir Minerals says its Warman® Wear Reduction Technology (WRT®) impellers and throatbushes for slurry pumps can help miners reduce operating expenses through improved efficiency, reliability and wear life.

An upgrade compatible with all Warman AH®, M and L series slurry pumps, the streamlined parts offer total ownership cost reductions, according to the company.

Warman WRT technology is the culmination of decades of research into the wear patterns and hydraulic performance of the Warman AH pump’s impeller and throatbush, the company explained. Together with a unique vanelet on the back shroud, replacing the five-vane impeller with a modern four-vaned design improves fluid guidance through the pump and represents a step change in impeller design, it said.

This technology has already proven its worth in the field, such as at Blackham Resources’ Matilda gold mine in Western Australia. Here, the installation of Warman WRT technology more than doubled impeller wear life in a demanding application involving abrasive, highly viscous slurry, Weir Minerals said. The new impeller and throatbush reduced total ownership costs for the pump by A$27,000/y ($19,117/y) due to the parts’ higher efficiency and longer wear life.

Marcus Lane, Global Product Manager, Centrifugal Pumps, said: “What I love about our Wear Reduction Technology is how it improves on everything our customers expect from the iconic Warman AH pump range.

“It uses best-practice design techniques leveraged by the world’s top slurry pump engineers to maximise hydraulic efficiency and reduce operating costs without increasing the pump’s complexity. Its advanced wear materials improve reliability and reduce time spent maintaining the pump.

“It simply makes the world’s most famous slurry pumps even better.”

Not only do the hydraulic refinements lower the pump’s lifetime consumption, but they reduce the net positive suction head requirements of the pump, making the upgrade an ideal way to compensate for process or feed changes which have left a Warman AH pump overtaxed, the company said.

“I’m so proud of the way Warman constantly innovates for existing customers,” Lane said. “Retrofitting WRT technology into an installed pump couldn’t be easier – next time you need to replace your impeller and throatbush, simply install the Warman WRT parts instead. Nothing changes in your setup, fitment, or general maintenance practices. The pump doesn’t need a speed change and the entire process uses existing maintenance tools.

“Really, the only thing that changes is that your pump is now a lot better at its job.”

Weir Minerals looks to keep slurry moving with new lubrication system

Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Water management, , , , ,

Weir Minerals has announced the global launch of a new lubrication system that, it says, can prevent bearing assembly failures, reduce maintenance downtime and promote safety.

The launch of Accumin™ lubricators follows international demand for the grease lubrication that has been ensuring optimal performance for equipment such as Warman® slurry pumps in Asia Pacific since 2014, Weir said.

Across more than 100 sites, the Accumin lubrication system has proven itself an efficient way of preventing expensive bearing assembly failures, reducing maintenance downtime and promoting safety by decreasing the amount of manual interface to keep equipment performing, the company said.

Making the move to Accumin lubricators helped one Australia iron ore mine save almost A$120,000/y ($73,705/y) in downtime reduction, pump rebuilds and bearing assembly replacements, Weir explained.

Michael Roinich, Accumin Specialist, Weir Minerals, said: “At Weir Minerals, we make the market-leading slurry pump for mining applications, but we can’t always control what happens when it gets to site. Between dust, overflow and gland seal leaks, lubrication is a vital tool in the constant battle to keep machinery going. Having an Accumin lubrication system fitted prevents over and under greasing, protects equipment from bearing failures and frees up man hours for more critical tasks.

“When we offer Weir Minerals equipment with an Accumin lubrication system installed, what we’re really doing is giving that equipment its best shot at a long and productive working life.”

Made in Germany, Accumin canisters are produced in 125 cm³ gas driven; 120 cm³, 250 cm³ and 500 cm³ electro-mechanically driven configurations, and can be deployed up to five metres away from the lubrication point, allowing easy and efficient access to the mount, Weir says. The electro-mechanical driven lubricator dispenses a consistent dosage of lubricant, regardless of ambient temperature. The system delivers 6 bar of operating pressure and can be monitored via an LCD display, flashing LED alert system and a transparent grease cartridge.

Roinich added: “Designed to meet the arduous demands of the mining industry, Accumin single-point lubricators set the global standard for lubricating Warman pumps and other grease-lubricated, mission-critical mining equipment supplied by Weir Minerals.

“We’re excited to share our market-leading, best-practice system with mines around the world who are embracing new technologies to simplify their operations.”

FLSmidth stresses service capability as mines focus on productivity

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Water management, , , , , , , , , ,

Optimising customers’ production and maximising their return on investment is the ongoing mission of FLSmidth’s warehousing facility in Stormill, west of Johannesburg, South Africa, the company says.

According to Derek Lane, Operations Manager at FLSmidth, continued investment in the facility over the past decade has kept it at the leading edge of customer service. Today, it has grown to 10,500 m² under roof and 1,660 m² under crane, with dual lifting capacity of up to 40 t.

“We have technical capability across FLSmidth’s range of KREBS® slurry pumps, cyclones and valves,” Lane says, “allowing us to service customers through sub-Saharan Africa and into the Middle East.”

Meeting customer needs is paramount, and the operation has a strong focus on stocking strategic parts to facilitate the rapid assembly of new product. In addition to this, and central to the pump operation, is also the efficient refurbishment and retrofitting of equipment. Supporting the customer drive for lowest total cost of ownership, the Stormill facility also stocks a range of service exchange units assisting mines to maintain uptime.

Strategic stocking is done on the full range of KREBS pumps from the UMD™ heavy duty, millMAX™, split casing slurryMAX™, gravelMAX™ and vMAX™ range, all of which feature a recessed impeller design allowing the pumps to run dry. In addition, Technequip™ valves are stocked in a variety of sizes, both flanged and wafer type.

“Our workshop and warehousing capacity equip us to respond quickly to customers in various regions of Africa and beyond,” he says. “This is critical in helping maintain their operational uptime while keeping costs down.”

The quality of the FLSmidth’s KREBS pump range also allows them to be offered to customers on a trial basis. Trial pumps can be run against time or tonnage targets to ensure that they exceed the performance of existing equipment, Service Manager, Martin Jones, says.

“The service component in these trials includes a dedicated service technician who visits site for checking and fine-tuning during the trial,” he said. “This level of technical on-site collaboration from our teams allows operational parameters to be closely monitored and refinements made to specific performance requirements.”

An important cornerstone of FLSmidth’s customer support strategy is closely aligned with the operational drive by mines to achieve the lowest operating costs possible. Jones says that by providing a range of service support options for all new products supplied, the company is able to add value to mine sites. Within South Africa, service support options include regular visits by service technicians to site, as well as more intensive levels of service in the form of bespoke maintenance contracts, and field service support teams operating in strategic locations.

“Some customers request a period of commissioning assistance, for example, and we can provide experts on site for as long as the customer requests them,” he says.

Lane highlights the importance of regular and correct maintenance of equipment to minimise lifecycle costs and maximise productivity. To meet this goal, FLSmidth conducts customised training on request for customers. This could be focused on hands-on maintenance staff dealing with essential day-to-day maintenance. It is also available for higher-level staff such plant engineers, on topics such as product selection. The training can even be delivered in different languages suited to the region.

The large stockholding of spares at Stormill for pumps, cyclones and valves is based on historical and forecasted customer consumption. Key customers also hold strategic consignment stocks at their sites. These are currently located in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, as well as with an agent in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province.

“This allows us to have the stock as close to the customer as possible, to optimise availability,” he says.

He emphasised that all the Stormill facility’s activity is strictly governed by recognised international standards. The operation is certified with ISO 9001 for quality, ISO 14001 for environmental management and OSHAS 18001 for safety and health.

GIW launches the largest slurry pump in the Canada oil sands

Energy minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Water management, , , , , , ,

GIW Industries has launched what it says is the largest and heaviest pump available in the mining industry, targeting heavy-duty slurry transport applications in the Canada oil sands.

The GIW® TBC-92 slurry pump is named for its 92 in (2.34 m) impeller and is the latest in a line of powerful high-pressure pumps offered by GIW, the company said.

“The installation of the TBC-92 marks an important milestone: GIW now has pumps in service at all operating Canadian oil sands hydrotransport applications,” GIW said. “The TBC-92 is designed to tackle heavy-duty slurry transport while providing a low total cost of ownership. Minimal labour and maintenance time help to maximise production and profit.”

According to GIW Business Development Manager, Mollie Timmerman, this latest pump incorporates lessons learned over the years from operating in the oil sands, and features GIW’s latest hydraulic and wear technologies.

“Because this is the heaviest TBC pump we have ever designed, particular attention was given to maintainability, as well as material selection and construction of the pressure-containing components,” she said.

The TBC-92 combines the best elements of the products that preceded it, according to the company. This includes many elements from the TBC-84, also known as the ‘Super Pump’, and added features from GIW’s MDX product line – used in heavy-duty mining circuits throughout the world of hard-rock mining such as the First Quantum-owned Cobre Panama mine.

“The client needed a higher-capacity pump than was currently available on the market; the TBC-92 pump is the best solution for maximised production,” Timmerman said.

In total, the TBC-92 weighs about 209,000 lb (94.8 t), with a casing that weighs 34,000 lb (15.4 t) by itself. For ease of maintenance, customers receive custom lifting devices to facilitate safe removal and installation of wear components, GIW said. The pump also features a long-lasting suction liner that can be adjusted without needing to shut the pump down.

After the pump is installed, dedicated site account managers are on call to work through the start-up process, according to GIW, while local services and spare parts supply will be based out of GIW’s Fort McMurray Service Centre, located close by to the oil sands operations.

FLSmidth reflects on KREBS slurry pump dominance in Africa

Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Water management, , , , , , ,

KREBS® slurry pumps have become leaders in mill discharge applications in Africa, with the latest Ultimate Mill Discharge (UMD) pump leading the way in these heavy-duty applications, according to FLSmidth.

Andre Hall, FLSmidth Regional Product Line Manager — Pumps, Cyclones and Valves, said: “West African gold mines and the copper operations of Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo are among the areas where these robust pumps dominate.

“Their popularity,” he says, “is based on their long wear life and high efficiency.”

Ghana is a particular success story for UMD pumps, according to Hall, with nearly all gold mines there using the equipment manufacturer’s pumps to discharge slurry from their mills, he added.

“The KREBS UMD is popular at these mines largely because it lowers the total cost of ownership due to the millMax™ proprietary design that eliminates inefficient recirculation and grinding of slurry within the pump,” FLSmidth said.

“Prior to the millMAX wear ring design, slurry pumps experienced two major problems: mechanical grinding of solids between the suction liner and impeller, and flow recirculating back to the impeller eye on the suction side. Both of these problems decrease pump life and increase power consumption.”

The wear ring stops recirculation by closing the suction-side gap, while still allowing for a large clearance between the impeller and the suction liner, according to FLSmidth. This eliminates the grinding of solids. Adjusting the wear ring while the pump is running, meanwhile, restores performance and provides longer wear life and higher continuous efficiency, in all, lowering the total cost of ownership.

Hall says: “The UMD’s casing symmetry also means less inventory for customers. Mines that have pumps rotating in both left-hand and right-hand orientations must stock different casings, liners and impellers, adding to the operational costs.”

The advantage of the UMD is that it uses the same casing, suction liner, wear ring and back liner, which reduces overall net working capital.

The KREBS gravelMAX™ pumps continue to do well in the Mpumalanga coal sector of South Africa, according to FLSmith, where 14 of these pumps recently replaced competitor units on a single site.

Commonly applied in a cyclone feed application within the dense medium separation (DMS) circuit, the pump’s wider passage allows pumping of larger solids.

“We are also active in iron ore in South Africa with pumps in the DMS circuit,” Hall says. “A Lesotho diamond mine also operates KREBS pumps, which have demonstrated a four-fold increase in wear life compared to a competitor’s previous units.”

In sump pumps, FLSmidth has the vMAX™ range, which features a recessed impeller design allowing the pumps to run dry.

The company explains:“When the sump has been emptied of slurry, the recessed impeller allows the slurry to return safely down the discharge pipe without contacting the impeller, ensuring that it does not vibrate when dry.”

Another recent innovation in the KREBS slurryMAX range of pumps is being introduced to the Africa market after an enthusiastic response in the US and Australia, FLSmidth said. With multiple liner and impeller material options, the slurryMAX split-case pump can handle the majority of applications for any plant across multiple industries.