Mines are renowned for circulating their own water. Of course, this makes sense, but the extremely high acid content and small solids in the water inevitably leads to the quick erosion of your liquid & liquid ring vacuum pumps.
Potentially, the products these pumps pull vacuum on, already have a high acid content so it keeps adding more acid into the water you are recirculating. This has a detrimental effect on the pumps & vacuum pumps.
The correct installation of world-class liquid & liquid ring vacuum pumps is requisite if you are to remain competitive and productive. And you are required to do so at the lowest cost possible. Something’s got to give in this tug-of-war between quality and cost-saving. Unfortunately, it is often the quality of installations that goes bye-bye and then you find yourself replacing pumps every three to five months as acid eats away at the substandard casings.
Throughout our 37 years of experience supplying mines across Africa we have seen the tangible effects of insufficient management of quality & quantity of water into pumps. Motors burn because the water feed is too high and the pumps flood, pushing the amps well above their safe working limits. We have witnessed many plants where pumps are continuously running on acidic service water eroding its internal parts, using liquid ring pumps that either have cast iron housing and bronze impellers which are materials that aren’t acid resistant. And sometimes only one pump takes on the entire burden.
Panic stations ensue when a pump self-destructs! The short-term continuous running of one substandard quality pump may have saved some downtime but now you are faced with an even bigger problem - thoughtless short-term cost-savings turn into eventual catastrophe.
Lack of back-ups, poor quality materials and incorrectly specked piping installations are among the biggest red flags for the liquid ring vacuum pumps self-destruction. Any one or a combination of these factors, wreaks havoc. Not to mention the taxing pressure this asserts on trying to be energy efficient and comply with reduced carbon footprint requirements.
Here’s how to ensure that your pumps don’t self-destruct:
They are more expensive, but last much longer. It really is as simple as that and will cost you less down the line.
I cannot stress the importance of properly specking your pumps!
This is paramount and unfortunately very often ignored. Stainless steel is of course a much better alternative in many cases and will give you a much better results with a much longer time.
Pompetravaini has a full range of pumps with these qualities.
Water can also be chemically dosed to neutralize the acid. Few mines still manually dose their water with chemicals by hand but skip by one day and your pump goes bust and is fast tracked to self-destruct.
We can build dosing pumps to automate the treatment of the water to a more alkaline state.
This highly eliminates human error and does not need sick days.
Firstly, if the intake of water into the pump is too high, bearings can seize and motors can burn. Install a flow bin with a valve that keeps service water at the right levels, so as not to flood the pump.
Also, a Water filter that removes any solids in the service water before the water goes to the pump will make a huge difference in pump lifecycle.
Secondly, too much service water in the pump causes lower surface area so it displaces less air and pulls less vacuum. This causes the mechanical seals to “burst”. One thing in the industry no one wants to see.
Thirdly, what's great is that if you take care of all the points mentioned the liquid & liquid ring vacuum pumps are almost maintenance free - you don't need to service them. Just plug ‘em in and run ‘em till they inevitably do stop. Of course, you will have backups…
Complying with carbon footprint requirements and more effective energy efficiency will also be facilitated by following the guidelines as set out above.
Older pumps use more energy, waste water and eventually take up more time.
Newer models like the trusted TRVX Pompetravaini series, increase your efficiency and lower your carbon footprint.
And with their special decibel lowering units they run more quietly too. The Earth, your staff and any neighbors may appreciate this…
I am happy to come and test the ph of your water and take a look at your pumps, free of charge, and give you an assessment:
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