MATERIALS HANDLING
DURABLE PUMPS FOR CHALLENGING TASKS
2,800m3
/h VAS pump on test bench
Benoît Martin explains how a vertical turbine sulphuric acid pump increases mean time between maintenance
I
n a recent project, the operator – a leading minerals processor – was facing diffi culties in optimising the operation in one of its sulphuric acid plants because of limited pumping equipment lifetime and increased process downtime. Sulphuric acid is one of the most
important industrial chemicals. In the contact process, circulation pumps are required for pumping very corrosive high-temperature and high-concentration sulphuric acid in drying towers, absorption towers and heat recovery
46
www.engineerlive.com
systems. In most cases, vertical pumps are installed at the top of a tank to provide safe operation. In this particular case, the design featured a vertically mounted end suction pump with the volute casing installed on a suspension column with a separate discharge pipe. Typical process conditions include:
• Liquid sulphuric acid • Concentration: 92-99.9% • Temperature: 60-150°C (200-250°C for heat recovery system)
• Flow: up to 2,800m³/h • Head: 20-30m
OBSERVATIONS AND TROUBLESHOOTING
In the process, some issues were encountered with the vertically mounted volute casing. T e two most signifi cant issues were mechanical failure and corrosion. On the mechanical side, operators
were facing abnormal and fast vibration level increase. T is could have blocked the pump if it was not shut down in time. After dismantling the pump, erosion and corrosion damages were observed on wear parts.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
