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 may be very few applications which may be more challenging than the hydro-transport of industrial quality slurries in oil sands manufacturing. Not only do the pumps should deal with the highly aggressive nature of the fluid being pumped, they are also anticipated to function in a variety of the harshest environments in the world.
In January 2020, GIW Industries, Inc., a KSB firm, commissioned its largest ever heavy-duty centrifugal slurry pump for operation in Canada’s oil sands, particularly 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 out there within the oil sands business and the most recent in a line of powerful high-pressure pumps supplied by GIW.
Slurry transportation Slurry transport covers a considerable vary of trade sectors, ranging from meals and beverage to mining. What is widespread 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 production, the biggest challenge is to accommodate high density slurry and highly abrasive grits.
It is crucial that the slurry passes via the pump with the minimum quantity of wear and tear to the pump casing, impeller, shaft and sealing mechanism. Furthermore, the pump should be capable of delivering excessive flows and in a position to face up to harsh operating environments.
Alberta in Canada has intensive oil reserves and these are within the type of oil sands. Extracting and processing the oil from the sands and bedrock is difficult, involving the removing of bituminous ore which is transported to a crushing plant. The crushed ore is then blended with warm water to kind a dense slurry that might be transported in 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 completely different pumps to settling ponds.
The processes require in depth use of slurry and water transportation pumps capable of handling vast quantities 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 enterprise growth supervisor, explains extra: “Our shopper needed a better capacity pump which was able to 10,000–11,000 m3 per hour of output at practically 40 m of developed head and a most working pressure of 4000 kPa. The pump additionally needed to have the power to pass rocks of roughly 130 mm in diameter with a complete passage size requirement of 10 in (or 254 mm) and handle slurry densities in excess of 1.5 SG.
In addition, the customer was targeting a upkeep interval (operational time between planned maintenance) of around three,000 hours. They had expressed an interest in maximising the upkeep intervals and based mostly on preliminary put on indications, they are currently hoping to realize round 6,000 hours between pump overhauls (i.e. 6–8 months).”
The immediate application for the primary batch of GIW’s TBC-92 pumps in Alberta is in hydro-transport service where they are used to maneuver bitu- minous ore from the crusher to the extraction plant. The liquid pumped is a mixture of water, bitumen, sand, and huge rocks. Screens are in place to keep these rocks to a manageable size for the process, however the top size can still usually attain up to one hundred thirty mm in diameter or bigger.
The abrasive nature of the slurry is what separates a slurry pump from other pumps used within the trade. Wear and erosion are information of life, and GIW has a long time of expertise in the design of slurry pumps and the event of supplies to help lengthen the service life of those important parts to match the planned upkeep cycles within the plant.
“GIW already had a pump capable of the output requirement, this being the MDX-750, which has been a well-liked measurement in mill duties for almost 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 capability of handling bigger rocks so we responded with the event of the TBC-92 which offered the most effective solution for maximised production.”
The TBC sequence The building 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 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 onerous rock mining industries for tailings and hydrotransport functions.
The pumps are sometimes grouped together in booster stations to construct strain as excessive as 750 psi (5171 kPa) to account for the pipe losses encountered over such lengthy distances. The strong building of the TBC pump is nicely suited to do the job, while guaranteeing most availability of the equipment beneath closely abrasive put on.
Capable of delivering strain as much as 37 bar and flows of more than 18,200m³/h and temperatures up to 120o C, the TBC range is a horizontal, finish suction centrifugal pump that offers maximum resistance to put on. Simple to keep up, the pump’s tie-bolt design transfers stress masses away from the wear and tear resistant white iron casing to the non- bearing facet plates without the usage of heavy and unwieldy double-wall development.
The TBC-92 combines one of the best parts of earlier TBC fashions, together with the TBC-84 oil sands tailing pump, also called the Super Pump. The pump also incorporates features from GIW’s MDX product line, which is utilized in heavy-duty mining circuits throughout the world of onerous rock mining.
In เกจวัดแรงดันน้ำ10บาร์ , 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 include a slurry diverter that dramatically increases suction liner life by reducing particle recirculation between the impeller and the liner. The massive diameter impeller permits the pump to run at slower speeds so that wear life is enhanced. The decrease velocity additionally provides the pump the ability to function over a wider range of flows so as to accommodate fluctuating flow circumstances.
To make upkeep easier, the pump is fitted with a particular two-piece suction plate design which helps to reduce back software time and supply safer lifting. Customers obtain pump-specific lifting devices to facilitate the protected removing and installation of damage comp- onents. The pump also features a longlasting suction liner that can 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 operating Canadian oil sands crops for hydrotransport functions. The TBC-92 has been designed to deal with heavy-duty slurry transport while providing a low whole value of possession. Minimal labour and maintenance time assist to maximise manufacturing and profit.
“This new pump incorporates the lessons discovered from operating in the oil sands over many years, and options our latest hydraulic and put on technologies,” says Mollie Timmerman. “Because this is the heaviest TBC pump we’ve ever designed, explicit consideration was given to maintainability, in addition to materials choice and development of the pressure-containing components.”
That GIW has established itself as a major pressure in pumping solutions for the oil sands industry is way from stunning provided that it has been developing pumping applied sciences and wear resistant supplies within the world mining trade because the 1940s.
These pumps have had a considerable impact on the way that excavated sand, rock and bitumen are transported to the upgrader plant. By including 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’s transported, plus there is the additional benefit of removing using vans.
GIW has estimated that the value of moving oil sand in this method can reduce costs by US$2 a barrel, and it’s far more environmentally pleasant. These pumps also play a significant position in transporting the coarse tailings to the tailings ponds. GIW provides pumps used in the extraction process and different areas of manufacturing (HVF, MDX, LSA).
Understanding slurries Understanding the nature of slurries and how they behave when being pumped has been elementary to the development of those merchandise. GIW has been acquiring slurry samples from clients over many years for testing hydraulics and materials each for pumps and pipelines. Research & Development amenities embrace multiple slurry take a look at beds on the campus, together with a hydraulics laboratory that’s dedicated to pump efficiency testing.
These actions are central to the company’s pump improvement programmes. If companies are experiencing problems the GIW R&D personnel can see where the issue lies and provide recommendation for remedial motion. Experience does point out that in many circumstances the issue lies not with the pump nonetheless, but in the interaction between the pipeline and the pump.
Feedback from clients about appli- cations helps in the development of latest tools and pump designs. By bringing to- gether customers and teachers from everywhere in the world to share their experience and research with in-house specialists, the massive funding in analysis, development and manufacturing has superior the design of all of the GIW pump products,materials and wear-resistant components.
The future “There is a clear development toward bigger pumps in mining and dredging and oil sands are not any exception,” feedback Leo Perry, GIW lead product manager. “The first TBC pump within the oil sands trade was the TBC-46 (46 in being the diameter of the impeller). Customers are designing their amenities for larger and better manufacturing and demanding the identical of the tools that keeps their manufacturing moving. While these bigger pumps demand extra energy, in addition they permit for larger production with less downtime required for upkeep. Overall, the effectivity improves when in comparability with the same output from a larger quantity of smaller pumps. “
In conclusion, he says: “Larger pumps go hand-in-hand with bigger services, bigger pipelines, and elevated production, all of which continue to pattern higher year after year. Other prospects and industries have additionally shown an curiosity on this dimension, and it would be no shock in any respect to see extra of these pumps built within the close to future for related applications.”
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