Mining is amongst the world’s oldest industries, tracing its roots again to these prehistoric days when somebody grabbed a digging instrument and began burrowing into the ground. In the various millennia since, mining has grown into one of many world’s most important and widespread industrial enterprises, with operations unfold throughout the globe whereas tasked with recovering an virtually inexhaustible record of priceless commodities.
In truth, according to the World Mining Congress’s World Mining Data 2020 report, 17.7 billion metric tons of mined products have been recovered in 2018, up from 11.three billion metric tons in 2000 and nearly double the 9.6 billion metric tons in 1985. Asian international locations accounted for 58 percent of the 2018 production, with North America second at 15.1 percent, adopted by Europe (8 percent), Oceania (6.eight percent), Latin America (6.3 percent), and Africa (5.three 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 51.1 % of production greater than the rest of the world mixed.
This means that the mining business is a robust one, with stable progress anticipated to proceed within the coming years in many areas of the world. It additionally means that mining operations will proceed to depend on pumping technologies that supply sturdy, reliable, and protected service in a selection of important liquid-handling operations. This white paper will illustrate why optimistic displacement air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pumps could be your best option for lots of of those functions.
THE CHALLENGE
While mining would possibly appear to be nothing more than a rough-and-tumble operation—holes are dug by heavy machinery or with explosives, opening the hidden ode to access from above—there are, actually, many advanced and generally delicate operations that should be performed properly if the mining operation is to perform at its highest level of effectivity.
From a macro standpoint, this requires a pumping technology that can function reliably in harsh and remote places, even when submerged, or when tasked with dealing with particulate-laden liquids or toxic/corrosive products, and also one that is prepared to be maintained and repaired just so downtime is lessened. The pumps should even be mild sufficient to be manually moved from location to location inside the mine itself.
For a few years, a preferred selection for use in these situations was centrifugal pumps. While centrifugal pumps are capable of create the excessive move charges which are required, they have numerous operational “pain points” that hamper their use in mining purposes: an lack of ability to self-prime or run dry; special seals needed to prevent leaks; special linings wanted to deal with solids; high motor speeds of as much as 1,800 rpm; and comparatively excessive maintenance requirements and costs, especially when charged with transferring solid-heavy liquids.
Another in style selection has been the progressive cavity pump, however, like centrifugal pumps, they have a selection of operational shortcomings. These include an inability to persistently deal with liquids with excessive levels of abrasives, which leads to elevated upkeep costs, put on on expensive stators and rotors that can finally need to be changed, and general larger purchase, working, and repair/replacement costs.
Here are a few of the particular liquid-transfer operations that take place in a mine and the ways in which some pump applied sciences can fall brief in satisfying them:
Mine dewatering: Removing excess produced water from the mine is a crucial 24/7/365 operation and the water that’s recovered is often filled with particulates that can be as massive as 0.12 to 0.16 inches in size. If used on this application, centrifugal pumps require particular materials of building, which may be cost prohibitive, to guard towards impeller wear caused by the abrasive particles. Centrifugal pumps are also not dry-run capable, which adversely impacts their stage of performance in this software.
General service: For widespread liquid-handling functions, you want an easy-to-operate pump that reliably can run dry, strip lines, function at low speeds whereas nonetheless delivering excessive circulate rates, and be simple to maintain and repair. Centrifugal pumps merely do not possess these capabilities.
Corrosive liquids: Much like solid-laden liquids, corrosive ones can wreak havoc on the wetted parts of centrifugal and progressive cavity pumps. This sometimes demands a need to use special mechanical seals, which may lead to exorbitant maintenance, repair, and substitute prices.
Press filter: Press filters are used to scrub the liquids which are produced within the mines and, once more, centrifugal pumps can fall short on this utility as a result of the solid-laden liquid can injury the pump’s internals unless particular, dearer supplies of construction or linings are used. Also, the nature of press-filter operation creates a robust discharge-pressure variation that can pressure the centrifugal pump to operate away from its finest efficiency point (BEP), resulting in high vibration and radial masses that can result in shortened service life. A answer to that is the incorporation of variable frequency drives (VFDs) and controllers, however these are expensive and can negatively have an effect on the cost-effectiveness of the operation.
Product switch: This comes in all types in a mining operation, from loading and unloading from transport trucks with new and used oil for the heavy machinery, fresh and fouled water, and any chemicals which are required. In digital pressure gauge , there is the danger that the pump will be compelled to run dry because the truck or storage vessel is emptied, while discharge-pressure variation can also generate excessive vibration and radial hundreds. As beforehand illustrated, centrifugal pumps cannot run dry, so that they want protection from this condition or the addition of special seals. However, all of those upgrades still can’t totally protect towards a catastrophic failure.
THE SOLUTION
While centrifugal pumps—despite their popularity—have proven to not be the simplest solution in many liquid-handling purposes in mining, one pump know-how that has proven to be an optimum alternative is AODD—in phrases of maximizing reliability, cost-effectiveness, ease of operation and upkeep, and safety for mining personnel and the surroundings.
AODD pumps are capable of perform effectively in mining purposes as a result of their technique of operation allows them to easily deal with variable move charges and pressures, whereas being dry-run and line-stripping capable, and nimble sufficient to transfer liquids which are shear-sensitive or high-viscosity, as well as slurries laden with rocks, pebbles, and other particulates.
The simple design of the AODD pump options few moving components and comparably decrease speeds than different pump applied sciences, which improves reliability and simplifies maintenance, whereas the pump’s seal-less development ends in fewer leaks, which is a important consideration when handling the many hard-to-seal, corrosive, or hazardous liquids which might be prevalent in a mining operation. AODD pumps can be found in both metallic (most commonly aluminum, ductile iron and forged iron) and plastic (polypropylene and PVDF) housing constructions, while a extensive selection of elastomers can be utilized in the diaphragms, which eliminates many chemical-compatibility concerns.
A wide variety of AODD pump configurations present operational flexibility that can additionally result in optimized performance at many levels. The ability to function AODD pumps in a wide range of applications, from primary common use to delicate chemical-handling processes, allows operators to extra cost-effectively outfit their mines. AODD pumps can be more value effective to function, especially those fashions which are outfitted with a next-generation mechanically actuated air distribution system (ADS). At their most simple, AODD pumps excel within the typical rugged and harsh operating conditions discovered in the world’s mines, which reduces breakdown incidents together with corresponding downtime and repair costs.
Specifically, Wilden, whose founder, Jim Wilden, conceived the AODD pumping precept sixty-five years ago, has been devoted to creating technologies that meet the needs of mining operations. Today, Wilden provides three AODD pump fashions which are built to excel in mining functions, available in ductile iron, cast iron, aluminum, polypropylene and Kynar materials of development:
Brahma® Series: The Brahma pumps, which feature a bolted configuration, have been constructed to be used in functions that require the handling of liquids that includes large solids. The Brahma pumps have a singular top-inlet/bottom-discharge circulate orientation and flap valves that allow the passage of huge solids with no risk that harm will occur because of product entrapment or the settling of solids throughout the pump’s inside move 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 reduce air consumption by up to 60 percent. The T810 and T1510 fashions 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 as much as a hundred twenty five psi with solids-handling capability ranging from 2 to 3 inches.
Stallion® Series: The Stallion pumps feature a clamped design with carrying handles for light-weight portability. Their design options large internal clearances and flow-through paths for easy passage of huge solids with no chance for clogging. An altered ball/seat check-valve meeting further enables solids passage, while a polyurethane display base on the inlet will increase the pump’s sturdiness. 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 featuring the Turbo-Flo ADS, Wilden’s most robust ADS design for the toughest environments. Flow charges amongst the six fashions range from 57 gallons per minute to 232 gallons per minute at working pressures as much as one hundred twenty five psi. Solids sizes that might be handled range from half of to 1 inch.
Pro-Flo SHIFT Series: Pro-Flo SHIFT pumps feature clamped or bolted configuration. Their design features different chamber materials, together with steel and plastics, even Kynar, which is capable of dealing with excessive ranges of abrasive supplies. The Pro-Flo SHIFT is also the most environment friendly AODD pump available in the market, capable of reducing up to 60 percent air consumption. This makes it the greatest choice for handling corrosive and abrasive products in mining processes. The pumps have a product range that goes from 1.5 to three inches and flows from 2 to 271 gallons per minute.
All of the Brahma, Stallion, and Pro-Flo SHIFT pumps are capable of be outfitted with a broad selection of diaphragm styles—including the newer Chem-Fuse, EZ-Install, and Reduced-Stroke models—in a varying array of supplies, such as Wil-Flex™ (Santoprene®), Geolast®, Polyurethane, Buna-N®, EPDM, Neoprene, FKM, and PTFE. This diaphragm range provides users the widest number of diaphragms on the market, all of which are capable of offering prolonged mean time between failure (MTBF) for optimized uptime with reduced upkeep, repair, and substitute costs.
All of those capabilities make AODD pumps the best selection for the aforementioned widespread liquid-handling applications in mining: dewatering, basic service, corrosive-handling, filter press, and day by day product transfer.
CONCLUSION
In abstract, Wilden AODD pumps are the greatest choice for mining applications as a result of they provide considerable operational benefits, like comparable low-speed operation, dry-run, line-stripping, self-priming, and deadhead functionality, along with increased operational security and a reduction in maintenance/repair costs that could be incurred by pumps that aren’t designed to handle abrasive/corrosive or solid-laden liquids.
Wilden AODD pumps also outperform other AODD technologies in other significant ways: simple design with the lowest number of components for sooner, easier, and safer repairs and the bottom number of spare elements to stock; recent improvements in materials of construction that improve the pump’s MTBF; and improved efficiency by way of the use of the Pro-Flo SHIFT ADS, which ultimately leads to quicker product transfer with lower air consumption. Wilden additionally continues to innovate through the event of the next-generation Chem-Fuse and EZ-Install diaphragms, each of which enhance service life and security while not compromising the dealing with of difficult liquids.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Fernando Meneses is the regional manager North Latin America for Wilden, a quantity one manufacturer of air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pumps. He may be reached at fernando.meneses@psgdover.com. Wilden is a product brand of PSG®, a Dover company. PSG is comprised of a number of leading pump companies, together with Abaque®, All-Flo™, Almatec®, Blackmer®, Ebsray, em-tec®, Griswold®, Hydro™, Mouvex®, Neptune®, Quantex™, Quattroflow®, RedScrew™, and Wilden®. For more data, go to www.wildenpump.com or www.psgdover.com.
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