Alberta, Canada has the world’s third largest oil reserves in the type of oil sands. Extracting and processing the oil from the sands and bedrock is a challenging course of and requires the biggest slurry pump within the oil sands business.
When it involves pumping slurry, there can be only a few applications which may be more challenging than the hydro-transport of heavy-duty slurries in oil sands production. Not only do the pumps have to deal with the highly aggressive nature of the fluid being pumped, they are additionally anticipated to function in a few of the harshest environments in the world.
In January 2020, GIW Industries, Inc., a KSB company, commissioned its largest ever heavy-duty centrifugal slurry pump for operation in Canada’s oil sands, namely the Tie Bolt Construction (TBC-92). Named after its 92 in (2337 mm) impeller, the TBC-92 is the biggest and heaviest slurry pump out there in the oil sands business and the newest in a line of powerful high-pressure pumps offered by GIW.
Slurry transportation Slurry transport covers a substantial range of business sectors, starting from meals and beverage to mining. What is common to all, is that the pumps used must be capable of transport liquids containing particles and solids of various sizes and viscosities. In mining, dredging and oil sands manufacturing, the largest challenge is to accommodate excessive density slurry and highly abrasive grits.
It is essential that the slurry passes via the pump with the minimum quantity of wear to the pump casing, impeller, shaft and sealing mechanism. Furthermore, the pump should be capable of delivering high flows and capable of withstand harsh working environments.
Alberta in Canada has in depth oil reserves and these are in the type of oil sands. Extracting and processing the oil from the sands and bedrock is difficult, involving the removal of bituminous ore which is transported to a crushing plant. The crushed ore is then mixed with warm water to type a dense slurry that can be transported within the pipeline in the path of extraction, where the bitumen is separated from the sand and rock. After extraction, the remaining solids (or tailings) are often transported via different pumps to settling ponds.
nuova fima pressure gauge ราคา require intensive use of slurry and water transportation pumps able to handling huge portions of liquids at high pressures and excessive temp- eratures. Drawing on its lengthy expertise of designing slurry pumps for mining, GIW has custom-engineered slurry pumps that combine superior supplies, hydraulics and patented mechanical designs, the most recent of which is the TBC-92.
Meeting challenges Mollie Timmerman, GIW business development manager, explains more: “Our client needed a better capability pump which was capable of 10,000–11,000 m3 per hour of output at nearly forty m of developed head and a most working pressure of 4000 kPa. The pump additionally wanted to have the power to cross rocks of approximately 130 mm in diameter with a complete passage dimension requirement of 10 in (or 254 mm) and handle slurry densities in extra of 1.5 SG.
In addition, the shopper was concentrating on a upkeep interval (operational time between planned maintenance) of around 3,000 hours. They had expressed an curiosity in maximising the upkeep intervals and based mostly on initial wear indications, they’re presently hoping to achieve around 6,000 hours between pump overhauls (i.e. 6–8 months).”
The quick application for the first batch of GIW’s TBC-92 pumps in Alberta is in hydro-transport service the place they are used to maneuver bitu- minous ore from the crusher to the extraction plant. The liquid pumped is a mix of water, bitumen, sand, and huge rocks. Screens are in place to maintain these rocks to a manageable dimension for the method, however the high size can still typically reach up to 130 mm in diameter or larger.
The abrasive nature of the slurry is what separates a slurry pump from different pumps used in the industry. Wear and erosion are facts of life, and GIW has a long time of experience within the design of slurry pumps and the event of supplies to help extend the service life of these critical components to match the deliberate upkeep cycles within the plant.
“GIW already had a pump able to the output requirement, this being the MDX-750, which has been a preferred dimension in mill duties for practically 10 years through- out Central and South America,” explains Mollie Timmerman. ”However, the customer’s utility required a pump with larger pressure capabilities and the aptitude of handling larger rocks so we responded with the development of the TBC-92 which supplied the most effective solution for maximised production.”
The TBC collection The development type of GIW’s TBC pump range options giant, ribbed plates held along with tie bolts for very high-pressure service and maximum put on efficiency. First developed for dredge service, then later launched into the oil sands in the Nineties, the TBC pump series has grown into a totally developed range of pumps serving the oil sands, phosphate, dredging and exhausting rock mining industries for tailings and hydrotransport purposes.
The pumps are often grouped collectively in booster stations to build stress as excessive as 750 psi (5171 kPa) to account for the pipe losses encountered over such lengthy distances. The robust construction of the TBC pump is well suited to do the job, whereas making certain most availability of the tools under closely abrasive put on.
Capable of delivering pressure as much as 37 bar and flows of more than 18,200m³/h and temperatures up to 120o C, the TBC vary is a horizontal, end suction centrifugal pump that gives most resistance to wear. Simple to maintain, the pump’s tie-bolt design transfers stress masses away from the wear resistant white iron casing to the non- bearing facet plates with out using heavy and unwieldy double-wall development.
The TBC-92 combines the most effective elements of earlier TBC fashions, together with the TBC-84 oil sands tailing pump, also called the Super Pump. The pump also incorporates options from GIW’s MDX product line, which is used in heavy-duty mining circuits all through the world of onerous rock mining.
In complete, the TBC-92 weighs about 209,000 lbs (95,000 kg), which is roughly equal to a fully-loaded Airbus A321 aeroplane. The casing alone weighs 34,000 lbs (15,500 kg). Key options of the pump include a slurry diverter that dramatically will increase suction liner life by lowering particle recirculation between the impeller and the liner. The giant diameter impeller permits the pump to run at slower speeds so that put on life is enhanced. The lower pace also offers the pump the power to operate over a wider range of flows to be able to accommodate fluctuating flow situations.
To make maintenance easier, the pump is fitted with a particular two-piece suction plate design which helps to scale back software time and supply safer lifting. Customers obtain pump-specific lifting units to facilitate the protected removal and set up of damage comp- onents. The pump also includes a longlasting suction liner that might be adjusted while not having to close the pump down.
New milestone The commissioning of the TBC-92 marks an important milestone for GIW, which now has pumps in service at all working Canadian oil sands plants for hydrotransport applications. The TBC-92 has been designed to deal with heavy-duty slurry transport while providing a low total cost of possession. Minimal labour and upkeep time assist to maximise manufacturing and profit.
“This new pump incorporates the lessons learned from working in the oil sands over many years, and features our latest hydraulic and put on technologies,” says Mollie Timmerman. “Because that is the heaviest TBC pump we have ever designed, particular consideration was given to maintainability, as nicely as materials selection and building of the pressure-containing components.”
That GIW has established itself as a major pressure in pumping options for the oil sands business is far from surprising on circumstance that it has been growing pumping technologies and put on resistant supplies in the global mining industry since the Forties.
These pumps have had a considerable influence on the way in which that excavated sand, rock and bitumen are transported to the upgrader plant. By adding water to the excavated materials it turns into highly environment friendly to pump the slurry alongside a pipeline to the upgrader. The pipeline agitation assists in separating the bitumen from the sand as it is transported, plus there may be the extra benefit of removing using vehicles.
GIW has estimated that the value of shifting oil sand in this method can cut prices by US$2 a barrel, and it’s much more environmentally pleasant. These pumps additionally play a significant position in transporting the coarse tailings to the tailings ponds. GIW provides pumps used within the extraction process and other areas of manufacturing (HVF, MDX, LSA).
Understanding slurries Understanding the character of slurries and the way they behave when being pumped has been basic to the event of these merchandise. GIW has been obtaining slurry samples from customers over a few years for testing hydraulics and materials each for pumps and pipelines. Research & Development services embody a number of slurry take a look at beds on the campus, along with a hydraulics laboratory that’s devoted to pump efficiency testing.
These activities are central to the company’s pump growth programmes. If companies are experiencing issues the GIW R&D personnel can see where the issue lies and provide advice for remedial motion. Experience does point out that in lots of instances the issue lies not with the pump however, however within the interplay between the pipeline and the pump.
Feedback from clients about appli- cations helps in the improvement of recent tools and pump designs. By bringing to- gether prospects and teachers from everywhere in the world to share their experience and analysis with in-house experts, the huge investment in analysis, development and manufacturing has superior the design of all the GIW pump products,materials and wear-resistant parts.
The future “There is a transparent trend towards bigger pumps in mining and dredging and oil sands are no exception,” feedback Leo Perry, GIW lead product manager. “The first TBC pump in the oil sands trade was the TBC-46 (46 in being the diameter of the impeller). Customers are designing their amenities for greater and better manufacturing and demanding the identical of the tools that keeps their manufacturing transferring. While these bigger pumps demand more power, additionally they enable for higher production with much less downtime required for maintenance. Overall, the effectivity improves when compared to the same output from a larger quantity of smaller pumps. “
In conclusion, he says: “Larger pumps go hand-in-hand with bigger amenities, larger pipelines, and increased production, all of which proceed to trend higher 12 months after yr. Other clients and industries have also shown an curiosity on this dimension, and it might be no surprise at all to see more of these pumps constructed within the close to future for related applications.”
Share