Water waste is often deemed an undesirable, but inevitable by-product of mining processes. Yet trendy pump sealing know-how exists which might nearly eliminate this waste while conserving vitality, enhancing pump reliability and achieving long run operational savings.
Water is one of the most important, and increasingly imperilled, sources on earth. That much is understood and acknowledged by industries across the globe.
However, เพรสเชอร์เกจไฮดรอลิค ‘s also one of the most unnecessarily squandered sources in mining operations. And whereas the trade has begun to embrace efficiency and sustainability-led advances such as automation and renewable power, it remains steadfastly set in its ways in relation to slurry pump technology.
Three approaches are routinely specified by pump producers to seal slurry pumps: mechanical packing, expellers (also often recognized as ‘dynamic’ seals’) and single mechanical seals. All include significant limitations, together with poor reliability, decreased imply instances between failure (MTBF), intensive maintenance necessities and higher operational prices.
เกจวัดแรงดันpcp ought to give mine managers trigger for a re-evaluation of the sealing methods used on slurry pumps. However, any firm with a commitment to the International Standards Organisation ISO-14001 Standard for environmental administration techniques and ISO-50001 Standard for energy administration systems ought to pay attention to the excessive water waste and excessive energy consumption that results from opting for these traditional sealing methods.
Inefficient sealing When used to seal the method pumps in a mine’s scrubber and floatation circuits, gland packing, single mechanical seals and expeller seals all demand some of the wasteful elements of slurry processing which is seal flush water injection.
On gland packed pumps it’s essential that packing is flushed with clear water to keep it cool and lubricated, whereas both single slurry seals and expellers require a supply of cool, clear flush water to be injected into the method at excessive strain, maintaining a stable fluid film between the fragile seal faces to maintain them cool and lubricated, while forcing the damaging slurry away.
The flush water required in all three sealing approaches is supplied from an exterior supply and injected into the process at the next strain than the stuffing field strain, in line with the industry commonplace American Petroleum Institute (API) Piping Plan 32. Water which doesn’t leak onto the bottom or into the method is sent to the tailings dam. This also has an effect on the water stability of the plant.
This approach constitutes a lack of clear water amounting to billions of gallons a yr globally. One massive, conventional slurry pump sometimes consumes 10 US gallons (37.8 litres) per minute, amounting to five.2 million US gallons (19.6 million litres) of water yearly – a shocking statistic by any measure.
At a time when global water provide is predicted to fall wanting demand by some 40% by 20301 , eradicating pointless use of this priceless useful resource ought to arguably be a central plank of any responsible sustainability programme. Yet excessive water use, and the higher power consumption it entails, remain embedded in the processes of many mining companies. Worse nonetheless, it is truthful to say that it’s often accepted as simply ‘par for the course’ by reliability engineers and management alike.
But the very fact is that water waste on any scale is a completely unnecessary characteristic of slurry operations as it can be almost totally eliminated simply by using superior double mechanical seals and modern water management assist techniques.
Improve reliability The sort of seal selected, the surroundings by which it operates, and crucially, the tank support system which provides the water to maximise seal life, mix to supply the solution to extreme water waste and vitality use.
Modern double mechanical seals have two sets of faces, one sealing to the process fluid and one to environment, with a barrier area between the 2. They are designed to fulfill the arduous necessities of heavy obligation slurry functions, with fortified metal elements that are extremely immune to corrosion and erosion. Large ports and elevated radial clearances mean the lubrication which is important to optimising seal life is maintained continuously and consistently.
A pressurised barrier tank system is central to the environmental sustainability of this answer. It employs a thermosiphon process which provides clean, cool water to the barrier space between the double seals at a pressure higher than the product stress, making certain a constant, stable and clean fluid movie to keep the seal faces cool and lubricated.
As the mechanical seals generate heat, the recent water within the barrier space rises to the tank and is radiated to the atmosphere, allowing the cooler, denser water to sink back down to offer cool lubrication to the seal faces. Most importantly, the flush water is consistently recycled, flowing across the seal faces in a steady loop and lowering leakage to the absolute minimal, roughly a teaspoonful a day.
While API Plan 32 is unsuitable for servicing a quantity of slurry pumps in a ‘series train’ with out the want to install particular pump methods, pressurised barrier tanks offer scores up to 435 psi (30 bar), making them perfect for these functions. Self-topping and self-pressurising, they’re also nearly maintenance-free.
Where no plant water provide is out there for topping up the tank techniques, or the provision has inadequate pressure, fluid delivery models could be selected to supply the barrier fluid to seal faces. These have the added advantages of having the power to supply a water/glycol combination or oil to provide freeze protection in extremely chilly climates.
Wide-ranging benefits The benefits of upgrading to trendy sealing solutions and support systems were felt by a coal mine in Poland utilizing a slurry pump to produce coal mud at 9 bar (135 psi) to filter press. Flushed packing resulted in big dilution of product, resulting in tremendously increased filtration instances and prices. The pump was sealed with a double mechanical seal designed to fulfill the arduous requirements of the method.
The supporting seal tank system lowered leakage and product dilution to virtually zero. Return on funding was swift and the savings long-term. The advantages when it comes to water conservation have been equally longlasting and the company’s status enhanced.
The mining industry should take care of a tricky and costly problem in phrases of maintaining rotating gear. But the planning, processing and disposal of flush water constitutes an operational and monetary burden which is totally avoidable.
And when an organization can get rid of water waste at the same time as rising reliability and reducing long term operational costs, the choice to improve to fashionable systems ought to surely be an ethical imperative as properly as making sound enterprise sense.
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