PREDICTION OF SLURRY PUMP COMPONENT WEAR AND COST

摘要

Slurry pumps are used for the transportation of solids in coal, copper, iron ore, phosphate and in other mining operations. They are also used on dredges cleaning waterways, in environmental cleanup and in reclaiming land throughout the world. Slurries by their very nature are very abrasive requiring the impeller, casing and suction liner wet end component parts be replaced at regular intervals. It is not uncommon, for example, for six liners, three impellers and two casings to be consumed in one year. It is estimated that about $500 million in slurry pump wear parts are consumed every year. Numerical models now exist to predict component wear for a given set of operating conditions with a given design. The use of these models is however available to a select few and no general relations exist for the user. The writers in this paper model a selection of pump designs producing general relationships for the different pump casing, impeller and liner components for different duties. They then take these and show which offer the lowest cost of ownership for different services.