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 difficult process and requires the largest slurry pump in the oil sands industry.
When it involves pumping slurry, there can be only a few functions that are more difficult than the hydro-transport of professional quality slurries in oil sands manufacturing. Not solely do the pumps have to cope with the extremely aggressive nature of the fluid being pumped, they’re additionally expected to function in a few of the harshest environments on the planet.
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, specifically the Tie Bolt Construction (TBC-92). Named after its 92 in (2337 mm) impeller, the TBC-92 is the most important and heaviest slurry pump obtainable within the oil sands trade and the newest in a line of highly effective high-pressure pumps supplied by GIW.
Slurry transportation Slurry transport covers a considerable range of business sectors, ranging from meals and beverage to mining. What is common to all, is that the pumps used should have the ability to transport liquids containing particles and solids of varying sizes and viscosities. In mining, dredging and oil sands production, the most important challenge is to accommodate high density slurry and extremely abrasive grits.
It is important that the slurry passes via the pump with the minimum amount of damage to the pump casing, impeller, shaft and sealing mechanism. Furthermore, the pump should be capable of delivering high flows and capable of withstand harsh operating environments.
Alberta in Canada has in depth oil reserves and these are in the form of oil sands. Extracting and processing the oil from the sands and bedrock is challenging, involving the removing 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 could be transported in the pipeline in the direction of extraction, where the bitumen is separated from the sand and rock. After extraction, the remaining solids (or tailings) are often transported by way of completely different pumps to settling ponds.
The processes require in depth use of slurry and water transportation pumps able to handling huge quantities of liquids at high pressures and high temp- eratures. Drawing on its long experience of designing slurry pumps for mining, GIW has custom-engineered slurry pumps that mix advanced materials, hydraulics and patented mechanical designs, the latest of which is the TBC-92.
เกจวัดแรงดันออกซิเจน challenges Mollie Timmerman, GIW enterprise development supervisor, explains more: “Our shopper wanted a better capability pump which was able to 10,000–11,000 m3 per hour of output at nearly forty m of developed head and a maximum working stress of 4000 kPa. The pump also needed to be able to move rocks of approximately 130 mm in diameter with a total passage measurement requirement of 10 in (or 254 mm) and handle slurry densities in excess of 1.5 SG.
In addition, the customer was focusing on a upkeep interval (operational time between deliberate maintenance) of round three,000 hours. They had expressed an interest in maximising the upkeep intervals and based on preliminary wear indications, they are presently hoping to attain around 6,000 hours between pump overhauls (i.e. 6–8 months).”
The immediate software for the first batch of GIW’s TBC-92 pumps in Alberta is in hydro-transport service the place they are used to move bitu- minous ore from the crusher to the extraction plant. The liquid pumped is a mixture of water, bitumen, sand, and large rocks. Screens are in place to keep these rocks to a manageable dimension for the method, however the top measurement can still typically reach as a lot as 130 mm in diameter or larger.
The abrasive nature of the slurry is what separates a slurry pump from other pumps used in the trade. Wear and erosion are information of life, and GIW has many years of experience in the design of slurry pumps and the development of materials to assist lengthen the service life of these important elements to match the deliberate maintenance cycles within the plant.
“GIW already had a pump able to the output requirement, this being the MDX-750, which has been a preferred size in mill duties for nearly 10 years through- out Central and South America,” explains Mollie Timmerman. ”However, the customer’s application required a pump with larger strain capabilities and the aptitude of dealing with bigger rocks so we responded with the development of the TBC-92 which provided the best resolution for maximised production.”
The TBC series The development fashion of GIW’s TBC pump vary options giant, ribbed plates held together with tie bolts for very high-pressure service and most wear performance. First developed for dredge service, then later introduced into the oil sands in the 1990s, the TBC pump series has grown into a completely developed vary of pumps serving the oil sands, phosphate, dredging and onerous rock mining industries for tailings and hydrotransport applications.
The pumps are sometimes grouped collectively in booster stations to build strain as high as 750 psi (5171 kPa) to account for the pipe losses encountered over such lengthy distances. The robust development of the TBC pump is well suited to do the job, while making certain most availability of the equipment under closely abrasive put on.
Capable of delivering pressure as much as 37 bar and flows of more than 18,200m³/h and temperatures as much as 120o C, the TBC vary is a horizontal, finish suction centrifugal pump that gives most resistance to wear. Simple to hold up, the pump’s tie-bolt design transfers stress masses away from the wear and tear resistant white iron casing to the non- bearing side plates without the usage of heavy and unwieldy double-wall development.
The TBC-92 combines the best elements of earlier TBC fashions, including the TBC-84 oil sands tailing pump, also referred to as the Super Pump. The pump additionally incorporates options from GIW’s MDX product line, which is utilized in heavy-duty mining circuits throughout the world of onerous rock mining.
In complete, the TBC-92 weighs about 209,000 lbs (95,000 kg), which is roughly equivalent to a fully-loaded Airbus A321 aeroplane. The casing alone weighs 34,000 lbs (15,500 kg). Key options of the pump embrace a slurry diverter that dramatically increases suction liner life by decreasing particle recirculation between the impeller and the liner. The giant diameter impeller allows the pump to run at slower speeds so that wear life is enhanced. The decrease pace also offers the pump the flexibility to operate over a wider vary of flows so as to accommodate fluctuating circulate conditions.
To make upkeep 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 receive pump-specific lifting devices to facilitate the secure elimination and set up of wear and tear comp- onents. The pump additionally 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 necessary milestone for GIW, which now has pumps in service in any respect operating Canadian oil sands crops for hydrotransport purposes. The TBC-92 has been designed to sort out heavy-duty slurry transport while offering a low complete price of possession. Minimal labour and upkeep time assist to maximise production and revenue.
“This new pump incorporates the teachings learned from operating in the oil sands over many years, and features our newest hydraulic and put on technologies,” says Mollie Timmerman. “Because that is the heaviest TBC pump we’ve ever designed, particular attention was given to maintainability, in addition to materials choice and construction of the pressure-containing elements.”
That GIW has established itself as a significant drive in pumping solutions for the oil sands industry is far from surprising on situation that it has been developing pumping technologies and put on resistant supplies within the world mining business for the rationale that Forties.
These pumps have had a substantial impact on the finest way that excavated sand, rock and bitumen are transported to the upgrader plant. By adding water to the excavated materials it becomes highly environment friendly to pump the slurry along a pipeline to the upgrader. The pipeline agitation assists in separating the bitumen from the sand as it is transported, plus there is the extra good factor about removing using vehicles.
GIW has estimated that the value of shifting oil sand in this means can reduce prices by US$2 a barrel, and it’s much more environmentally pleasant. These pumps additionally play a major function in transporting the coarse tailings to the tailings ponds. GIW provides pumps used in the extraction course of and other areas of manufacturing (HVF, MDX, LSA).
Understanding slurries Understanding the character of slurries and how they behave when being pumped has been elementary to the development of these merchandise. GIW has been acquiring slurry samples from clients over a few years for testing hydraulics and materials both for pumps and pipelines. Research & Development services embrace multiple slurry check beds on the campus, along with a hydraulics laboratory that is devoted to pump performance testing.
These activities are central to the company’s pump improvement programmes. If companies are experiencing issues the GIW R&D personnel can see the place the problem lies and supply advice for remedial motion. Experience does indicate that in many instances the issue lies not with the pump however, but within the interaction between the pipeline and the pump.
Feedback from prospects about appli- cations helps within the growth of recent tools and pump designs. By bringing to- gether clients and academics from all around the world to share their expertise and analysis with in-house specialists, the large investment in analysis, development and manufacturing has advanced the design of the entire GIW pump products,supplies and wear-resistant elements.
The future “There is a clear pattern towards bigger pumps in mining and dredging and oil sands are not any exception,” comments Leo Perry, GIW lead product supervisor. “The first TBC pump within the oil sands industry was the TBC-46 (46 in being the diameter of the impeller). Customers are designing their amenities for greater and better production and demanding the identical of the tools that retains their production moving. While these larger pumps demand more energy, they also allow for larger production with less downtime required for upkeep. Overall, the efficiency improves when compared to the identical output from a bigger quantity of smaller pumps. “
In conclusion, he says: “Larger pumps go hand-in-hand with larger amenities, bigger pipelines, and increased manufacturing, all of which proceed to pattern higher 12 months after yr. Other prospects and industries have additionally shown an interest on this size, and it would be no surprise in any respect to see more of these pumps constructed within the close to future for related functions.”
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