Water waste is often deemed an undesirable, however inevitable by-product of mining processes. Yet trendy pump sealing technology exists which may virtually remove this waste whereas conserving energy, improving pump reliability and attaining long term operational financial savings.
Water is among the most important, and increasingly imperilled, assets on earth. That a lot is understood and acknowledged by industries across the globe.
However, additionally it is one of the unnecessarily squandered assets in mining operations. And while เกจวัดแรงดันน้ําไทวัสดุ has begun to embrace efficiency and sustainability-led advances similar to automation and renewable power, it remains steadfastly set in its methods in relation to slurry pump technology.
Three approaches are routinely specified by pump manufacturers to seal slurry pumps: mechanical packing, expellers (also generally identified as ‘dynamic’ seals’) and single mechanical seals. All include important limitations, including poor reliability, reduced mean occasions between failure (MTBF), intensive upkeep requirements and higher operational prices.
These factors alone should give mine managers trigger for a re-evaluation of the sealing strategies used on slurry pumps. However, any firm with a commitment to the International Standards Organisation ISO-14001 Standard for environmental administration methods and ISO-50001 Standard for power administration systems ought to pay attention to the extreme water waste and excessive power consumption that outcomes from choosing these conventional sealing strategies.
Inefficient sealing When used to seal the process pumps in a mine’s scrubber and floatation circuits, gland packing, single mechanical seals and expeller seals all demand one of the wasteful elements of slurry processing which is seal flush water injection.
On gland packed pumps it’s important that packing is flushed with clean water to maintain it cool and lubricated, while each single slurry seals and expellers require a provide of cool, clean flush water to be injected into the process at excessive stress, sustaining a secure fluid film between the delicate seal faces to keep 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 method at the next pressure than the stuffing field pressure, 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 shipped to the tailings dam. This also has an impact on the water stability of the plant.
This method constitutes a lack of clear water amounting to billions of gallons a 12 months globally. One large, standard slurry pump sometimes consumes 10 US gallons (37.eight litres) per minute, amounting to five.2 million US gallons (19.6 million litres) of water every year – a surprising statistic by any measure.
At a time when international water supply is predicted to fall in need of demand by some 40% by 20301 , eradicating pointless use of this useful useful resource ought to arguably be a central plank of any responsible sustainability programme. Yet extreme water use, and the higher power consumption it entails, remain embedded in the processes of many mining corporations. Worse still, it’s truthful to say that it is often accepted as merely ‘par for the course’ by reliability engineers and administration alike.
But the fact is that water waste on any scale is a completely unnecessary characteristic of slurry operations as it could be almost completely eradicated just by using advanced double mechanical seals and modern water administration assist methods.
Improve reliability The type of seal chosen, the setting in which it operates, and crucially, the tank support system which provides the water to maximise seal life, combine to supply the answer to excessive water waste and energy use.
Modern double mechanical seals have two units of faces, one sealing to the method fluid and one to atmosphere, with a barrier area between the two. They are designed to satisfy the arduous requirements of heavy obligation slurry functions, with fortified metallic parts which are highly resistant to corrosion and erosion. Large ports and elevated radial clearances imply the lubrication which is important to optimising seal life is maintained continually and constantly.
A pressurised barrier tank system is central to the environmental sustainability of this solution. It employs a thermosiphon process which supplies clean, cool water to the barrier area between the double seals at a pressure higher than the product stress, making certain a constant, steady and clear fluid film to maintain the seal faces cool and lubricated.
As the mechanical seals generate warmth, the hot water within the barrier area rises to the tank and is radiated to the ambiance, permitting the cooler, denser water to sink back down to provide cool lubrication to the seal faces. Most importantly, the flush water is consistently recycled, flowing throughout the seal faces in a steady loop and lowering leakage to absolutely the minimal, roughly a teaspoonful a day.
While API Plan 32 is unsuitable for servicing a number of slurry pumps in a ‘series train’ without the necessity to set up special pump systems, pressurised barrier tanks offer scores up to 435 psi (30 bar), making them perfect for these functions. Self-topping and self-pressurising, they are also nearly maintenance-free.
Where no plant water supply is on the market for topping up the tank systems, or the supply has insufficient stress, fluid delivery units may be selected to provide the barrier fluid to seal faces. These have the added benefits of being able to provide a water/glycol mixture or oil to provide freeze safety in extraordinarily chilly climates.
Wide-ranging benefits The benefits of upgrading to modern sealing options and help systems have been felt by a coal mine in Poland using a slurry pump to supply coal mud at 9 bar (135 psi) to filter press. Flushed packing resulted in large dilution of product, resulting in significantly increased filtration occasions and costs. The pump was sealed with a double mechanical seal designed to meet the arduous requirements of the process.
The supporting seal tank system reduced leakage and product dilution to just about zero. Return on funding was swift and the savings long-term. The benefits by method of water conservation have been equally longlasting and the company’s status enhanced.
The mining trade should take care of a tough and expensive problem when it comes to sustaining rotating tools. But the planning, processing and disposal of flush water constitutes an operational and financial burden which is entirely avoidable.
And when an organization can remove water waste at the identical time as rising reliability and reducing long term operational prices, the decision to improve to trendy methods should absolutely be a moral crucial in addition to making sound business sense.
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