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 most important slurry pump within the oil sands business.
When it comes to pumping slurry, there may be very few functions which may be tougher than the hydro-transport of heavy-duty slurries in oil sands production. Not only do the pumps should contend with the extremely aggressive nature of the fluid being pumped, they’re also expected to operate in a number 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, specifically the Tie Bolt Construction (TBC-92). Named after its ninety two in (2337 mm) impeller, the TBC-92 is the most important and heaviest slurry pump obtainable within the oil sands industry and the newest in a line of highly effective high-pressure pumps offered by GIW.
Slurry transportation Slurry transport covers a considerable vary of trade sectors, starting from food and beverage to mining. What is widespread to all, is that the pumps used must be able to transport liquids containing particles and solids of varying sizes and viscosities. In mining, dredging and oil sands production, the largest challenge is to accommodate high density slurry and extremely abrasive grits.
It is essential that the slurry passes via the pump with the minimal quantity of wear to the pump casing, impeller, shaft and sealing mechanism. Furthermore, the pump have to be able to delivering excessive flows and capable of face up to harsh working environments.
Alberta in Canada has extensive oil reserves and these are in the type of oil sands. Extracting and processing the oil from the sands and bedrock is challenging, 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 might be transported in the pipeline in course 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.
The processes require extensive use of slurry and water transportation pumps able to dealing with huge portions of liquids at excessive pressures and high temp- eratures. Drawing on its lengthy expertise of designing slurry pumps for mining, GIW has custom-engineered slurry pumps that mix superior materials, hydraulics and patented mechanical designs, the latest of which is the TBC-92.
Meeting challenges Mollie Timmerman, GIW business development supervisor, explains more: “Our consumer wanted the next capability pump which was capable of 10,000–11,000 m3 per hour of output at almost 40 m of developed head and a most working stress of 4000 kPa. The pump also wanted to have the ability to cross rocks of roughly a hundred thirty mm in diameter with a complete passage dimension requirement of 10 in (or 254 mm) and deal with slurry densities in extra of 1.5 SG.
In addition, the shopper was concentrating on a maintenance interval (operational time between planned maintenance) of round three,000 hours. They had expressed an curiosity in maximising the maintenance intervals and based on preliminary put on indications, they are presently hoping to attain round 6,000 hours between pump overhauls (i.e. 6–8 months).”
The immediate utility for the first batch of GIW’s TBC-92 pumps in Alberta is in hydro-transport service the place they’re 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 maintain these rocks to a manageable size for the process, however the prime measurement can nonetheless usually attain up to 130 mm in diameter or larger.
The abrasive nature of the slurry is what separates a slurry pump from other pumps used in the business. Wear and erosion are details of life, and GIW has a long time of experience in the design of slurry pumps and the event of materials to assist extend the service life of these crucial components to match the deliberate maintenance cycles in the plant.
“GIW already had a pump able to the output requirement, this being the MDX-750, which has been a popular measurement 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 greater strain capabilities and the aptitude of handling larger rocks so we responded with the development of the TBC-92 which offered the best resolution for maximised production.”
The TBC series The building style of GIW’s TBC pump range options large, ribbed plates held together with tie bolts for very high-pressure service and most put on performance. First developed for dredge service, then later introduced into the oil sands within the Nineteen Nineties, 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 functions.
เกจวัดแรงดันco2 are often grouped collectively in booster stations to construct stress as excessive as 750 psi (5171 kPa) to account for the pipe losses encountered over such lengthy distances. The sturdy development of the TBC pump is well suited to do the job, while guaranteeing most availability of the equipment beneath heavily abrasive wear.
Capable of delivering strain as much as 37 bar and flows of greater than 18,200m³/h and temperatures as much as 120o C, the TBC range is a horizontal, end suction centrifugal pump that gives maximum resistance to put on. Simple to take care of, the pump’s tie-bolt design transfers stress hundreds away from the wear resistant white iron casing to the non- bearing aspect plates without the use of heavy and unwieldy double-wall building.
The TBC-92 combines the best components of earlier TBC fashions, including the TBC-84 oil sands tailing pump, also called the Super Pump. The pump additionally incorporates features from GIW’s MDX product line, which is utilized in heavy-duty mining circuits throughout the world of exhausting rock mining.
In whole, 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 reducing particle recirculation between the impeller and the liner. The giant diameter impeller permits the pump to run at slower speeds in order that put on life is enhanced. The lower speed also gives the pump the power to operate over a wider range of flows in order to accommodate fluctuating move circumstances.
To make upkeep easier, the pump is fitted with a special two-piece suction plate design which helps to reduce back device time and provide safer lifting. Customers receive pump-specific lifting gadgets to facilitate the protected elimination and set up of wear comp- onents. The pump also features a longlasting suction liner that can be adjusted while not having to shut the pump down.
New milestone The commissioning of the TBC-92 marks an essential milestone for GIW, which now has pumps in service in any respect working Canadian oil sands crops for hydrotransport applications. The TBC-92 has been designed to tackle heavy-duty slurry transport while offering a low total price of ownership. Minimal labour and maintenance time assist to maximise manufacturing and profit.
“This new pump incorporates the lessons realized from operating within the oil sands over a few years, and features our latest hydraulic and put on applied sciences,” says Mollie Timmerman. “Because that is the heaviest TBC pump we have ever designed, specific attention was given to maintainability, in addition to materials choice and construction of the pressure-containing components.”
That GIW has established itself as a significant drive in pumping options for the oil sands industry is far from surprising provided that it has been developing pumping technologies and wear resistant supplies within the global mining business since the Nineteen Forties.
These pumps have had a substantial impact on the greatest way that excavated sand, rock and bitumen are transported to the upgrader plant. By adding water to the excavated material it becomes 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’s transported, plus there’s the extra benefit of eradicating using trucks.
GIW has estimated that the cost of moving oil sand in this method can cut prices by US$2 a barrel, and it is far more environmentally friendly. These pumps also play a significant position in transporting the coarse tailings to the tailings ponds. GIW supplies pumps used in the extraction process and other areas of manufacturing (HVF, MDX, LSA).
Understanding slurries Understanding the nature of slurries and how they behave when being pumped has been basic to the development of these products. GIW has been obtaining slurry samples from customers over a few years for testing hydraulics and supplies each for pumps and pipelines. Research & Development facilities include multiple slurry take a look at beds on the campus, together with a hydraulics laboratory that is 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 offer advice for remedial motion. Experience does indicate that in many circumstances the issue lies not with the pump however, but within the interplay between the pipeline and the pump.
Feedback from clients about appli- cations helps in the development of recent tools and pump designs. By bringing to- gether prospects and teachers from all around the world to share their expertise and analysis with in-house specialists, the massive funding in analysis, development and manufacturing has advanced the design of all the GIW pump merchandise,materials and wear-resistant parts.
The future “There is a transparent development towards larger pumps in mining and dredging and oil sands are not any exception,” comments Leo Perry, GIW lead product supervisor. “The first TBC pump in the oil sands industry was the TBC-46 (46 in being the diameter of the impeller). Customers are designing their amenities for higher and higher manufacturing and demanding the same of the equipment that retains their manufacturing shifting. While these bigger pumps demand more energy, in addition they enable for larger production with less downtime required for upkeep. Overall, the efficiency improves when compared to the same output from a bigger amount of smaller pumps. “
In conclusion, he says: “Larger pumps go hand-in-hand with larger facilities, bigger pipelines, and elevated manufacturing, all of which continue to trend greater 12 months after yr. Other customers and industries have also proven an curiosity in this measurement, and it might be no shock at all to see more of those pumps built in the near future for comparable functions.”
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