TOPICS COVERED

• Piping Basics
• Cavitation
• Field Maintenance
• Slurry Basics
• Pump Selection
• Testing Slurry
• Effect of Slurry on Pump Performance
• Field Work
• Pump Spacing

1
PIPING
BASICS

2
• Bernoulli’s Equation
2

 v  z  H
P
E=
g 2 g f


fLV
H f

Where 2 gD
(Darcy-Weisbach equation)

3
Hydraulic Gradient—Absolute pressure changes in the system

Friction Losses (Hf)

TDH

4
 CONSIDERATION FOR SLURRY
PIPELINE DESIGN

• Design requirements:
– Solids transport rate
– Concentration, fixed or varied (affects cost)
– Pipeline diameter
– Slurry Type, settling or non-settling
• Slurry specifics:
– Size
– Type
– Concentration

5
 • Typical conditions required for cavitation
• Boiling liquid (usually caused by a local pressure
drop)
C AVITATION
• Moving flow
• Pressure increase downstream (leads to vapor
bubble collapse)

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CAVITATION

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 MITIGATION OF CAVITATION

• NPSHA—Net Positive Suction Head (Available). When NPSHA at any point

reaches zero, the liquid vaporizes.
• NPSHR—Net Positive Suction Head (Required). Local pressure at pump vanes
may be less then NPSHA, as a result NPSHR is needed.
• Slurry concentration increases with increased suction (vacuum). NPSHR of the
pump limits the concentration of the slurry (3:25, 3-b)

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WATER HAMMER

9
 Phosphate Matrix

Approximately 4.5 miles of pipe

Velocity of 15,000 GPM (~17 ft/s)

MODELING
SAMPLE Design flow of 16,000 GPM (~18 ft/s)
PARAMETERS
40% slurry concentration

2,000 TPH production rate

19” pipe diameter (Typical)

10
 FRICTION FACTOR PER SLURRY
CONCENTRATION
0.048 friction factor at design velocity of 18 ft/s,

Solid lines: const. CW (%)

0.06

Slurry Hydraulic Gradient J ( ft

0.05
5%
0.04 10%
slurry / ft )

15%
0.03
20%
0.02 30%
40%
0.01

0
0 5 10 15 20
Mixture Velocity V (ft/sec)

11
 FLOW RATE VS. PIPELINE HEAD
Increase in pipe head of approximately 100 ft

Solid lines: const. CW (%)

1400

1200

Pipeline Head ( ft slurry )

5%
1000
10%
800
15%

600 20%

30%
400
40%
200

0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000

Flowrate ( gpm )

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 PIT WATER REQUIRED VS.
PRODUCTION/COST
Cost increases significantly with decreased concentration for the same targeted production
rate

Solid lines: const. CW (%)

Dashed lines: const. gun water (gpm)
6
5%

5 10%

Specific Energy Consumption

15%

4 20%

(hp-hr/ton-mi)
30%

3 40%
8000

2 10000
12000

1 14000
16000

0 17000
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Production (tons/hr)

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 Pipe wear can be monitored with an ultrasonic thickness
measuring device

Pipe should be rotated to increase service life

Vertical pipes experience much less wear than horizontal pipes

FIELD
CONSIDERATIONS Long radius elbows wear much better than short radius elbows

Booster pump location is critical to proper operation

Pump start up should be sequential and not all at once in order

to reduce system pressures and possible water hammer

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 Slurry is a mix of something solid and
liquid.

Water is the primary liquid used in

hydraulic transport of solids.

SLURRY BASICS
In theory, there is no limitation on the
size of particles that can be transported
hydraulically.

In practice, maximum solid size is about

12 inches in diameter.

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 What you need to know when
designing a slurry pumping system
• Particle size of solids in slurry
• Type of slurry being pumped
• Concentration rate of slurry
SLURRY BASICS • Desired flow rate
CONT’D
Pencil Test
• Get a sample of the slurry you want to pump.
• Poke a pencil in to the sample about ½”.
• If the pencil stands on its own, it may not be a
slurry concentration that can be pumped.

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 Settling (also • Matrix material
known as • Head vs. flow rate is U shaped
heterogeneous)

SLURRY TYPES
• Fine clays (solids less than 80
microns)
Non-settling • Head vs. flow rate shows a laminar
(also known as and turbulent flow region
homogeneous) • In theory, pipeline velocity can be low,
but larger particles may settle if
velocity is too low

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 Slurry concentration is usually defined in
one of three ways:
• Cv – Concentration by volume
• Cw – Concentration by weight
• Sm – Mean specific gravity of the slurry
SLURRY
CONCENTRATION Pump selection by engineers is usually done
using Sm, while mine personnel use Cw.

Formulas available to convert from one

concentration definition to another.

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 To select the correct pump for a system,
items that need to be known are:
Suction Discharge
Sump Static
Entrance pipe pipe
static discharge Exit loss
loss friction friction
head head
loss loss

PUMP
SELECTION

Pump curves and a system curve are

also useful to have.

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PUMP SELECTION CONT’D

Pump Curve System Curve

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 PUMP
SELECTION
CONT’D

• System curve is overlaid on to

the pump curve. Where the
curves cross will be the
operating point.
PUMP SELECTION CONT’D
• Also need to know the classification of the slurry being
pumped:
• Class 1: Mildly Abrasive (Dirty Water)
• Class 2/3: Slightly Abrasive (Medium Size Particles)
• Class 4: Highly Abrasive (Large Particles)

- Knowing the abrasiveness

of the slurry allows for
proper planning of wear on
pump parts.
 Slurry pump designs include
horizontal, vertical, and submersible
pumps.

The most common type of pump

used in the phosphate industry is a
horizontal, centrifugal pump.

PUMP SELECTION These pumps are usually made of

CONT’D cast white irons.

White irons offer much better wear

resistance than steel.

Pumps may also have rubber or

urethane liners to combat wear and
corrosion.
 Do not Do not add a safety factor to the system head.
add

Do not Do not add a safety factor to the pump speed.

add
PUMP SELECTION
CONT’D
Add If needed, add safety factor to hp/motor sizing.

Consider Consider variable speed motors when a range of

flows is required.
 In heavy duty service, pump
must be sized correctly for
solids in the pipeline.

Velocity too high can lead to

PUMP SELECTION premature wear of system
CONT’D components from internal
impacts.

Velocity too low can lead to

material build up in impeller
housing leading to uneven
wear and unstable operation.
CENTRIFUGAL
PUMP PARTS

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 SHELLS AND
IMPELLERS

• Various shell and impeller

types:

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 SHELLS AND
IMPELLERS

Note: QBEP is the best efficiency

point for flow.

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 Head is used to measure the kinetic energy which a
pump creates. Head is a measurement of the height of
the liquid column the pump creates from the kinetic
energy the pump gives to the liquid.

PUMP HEAD The units are in feet or meters.

Head is used because a pump’s pressure will change

based on the specific gravity of the fluid being pumped,
but the head will not.
PUMP HEAD CONT’D

Various types of head:

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PUMP HEAD CONT’D

Pumping system diagram showing various heads:

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VARIATION OF PERFORMANCE WITH
CHANGE IN SPEED
• Flow rate (Q) increases linearly with speed (N) change.
• Head (H) increases to the square of the speed change.
• Power (P) increases to the cube of the speed change.
• The relationships also hold true for change in impeller
diameter.

2 3
Q1 N H1 N1 P1 N1
 1  2 
Q2 N2 H 2 N2 P2 N 2 3

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 • Slurry pumps are typically much more robust than
water pumps.

WATER • Slurry pumps are designed with replaceable parts

due to wear on the pump.
PUMPS VS. • Slurry pumps run at slower speeds than water
SLURRY pumps to help reduce wear.
PUMPS • Slurry pumps are more expensive to operate (~ 4
times more than H2O pumps)

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 • Phosphate industry slurries are usually one of four
types:
• Matrix (raw unprocessed material)
• Clay or Clay/Tailings Mix
• Tailings (waste product)
TESTING • Testing is done to determine:
SLURRY • Operating velocity
• Pipeline diameter
• Concentration
• Aid in pump selection
• Allow for energy and cost savings while increasing
component life
 • A slurry sample is taken and particle size analysis is
done using sieves and shakers.
• Laser diffraction can also be used to find particle
size.
TESTING
• Dmax and D50 are found through testing.
SLURRY
• As a general rule of thumb, the largest particle
CONT’D should be no larger than one third of the pipeline
diameter.
• Viscometers can also be used to find the viscosity of
the slurry.
 TESTING
SLURRY
CONT’D

• Small scale closed loop

pumping systems can also be
created to see how the system
will perform.
 EFFECT OF SLURRY ON PUMP
PERFORMANCE

• The solids effect:

• System requires more power input
• Less efficient overall
• Less system head
• Increasing slurry density leads to more power needed, but same head, and same efficiency.
• Higher viscosity in a slurry leads to more power needed, less head, less efficiency.
• The solids effect decreases approximately in proportion to the increase in impeller
diameter.

37
EFFECT OF SLURRY
ON PUMP
PERFORMANCE

• Various forms of erosion occur

inside the pump housing which
can lead to shortened
component life

38
 FIELD WORK

Pros: Cons:
• Full scale data • Impact on plant
collection production
• Able to obtain • Instrumentation set up
transient system data is limited
• Observation of • Limited operational
system in operation flexibility

39
 • Field testing provides:
• Ability to see full system in operation
• Better understanding of pump operation and
opportunities for improvement
• Better understanding of pipeline operation and most
FIELD efficient pipeline set up

WORK • Data collection from the system in real time under true
load conditions
• Support for the pump and pipeline models for future
applications

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 PUMP SPACING

• Phosphate Matrix Pumping

• Parameters:
• Type B Matrix
• 2,000 ton/hour
• 40% Solids by Weight
• 15,000 GPM 17 FPS pipeline velocity
• 19 inch I.D. Piping
• 24,200 feet of system
• Static Head of 100 feet
• 20x25 LSA62 Pit Pump
• 18x20 WBC54 Booster Pumps

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 PUMP SPACING
CONT’D

• Using the FIPR spreadsheet,

enter given parameters.

42
PUMP SPACING CONT’D
• Find the slurry hydraulic gradient (~.044)

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PUMP SPACING CONT’D
• Find the pipeline head (~1160 feet)

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 PUMP SPACING CONT’D

• Determining amount of pumps required:

• TDH = 1160
-140 (from the pit pump)
1020
• Using pump performance curve for the WBC54, 225 feet of head is produced
by each booster.
• 1020/225 => 5 boosters needed

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PUMP SPACING CONT’D

• Determining pump spacing:

• Start with static head - 100 ft
• Suction pressure upstream + 69 ft
• TDH produced by each pump +225 ft
• Net TDH available for friction 195 ft
195 ft / .044 = 4432 feet
• Next booster would be at:
• TDH produced by pump 225 ft / .044 = 5113 feet

• Final Booster would be at:

• TDH produced by pump 225 ft
• Less 40 psi for downstream pump - 69 ft
• Plus 20 psi from pit pump + 35 ft
191 ft
191 ft / .044 = 4340 feet

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