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 challenging course of and requires the most important slurry pump within the oil sands industry.
When it involves pumping slurry, there can be very few applications that are tougher than the hydro-transport of industrial quality slurries in oil sands production. Not only do the pumps need to cope with the extremely aggressive nature of the fluid being pumped, they’re additionally anticipated to operate in a few of the harshest environments on the earth.
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 biggest and heaviest slurry pump available in the oil sands industry and the most recent in a line of highly effective high-pressure pumps supplied by GIW.
Slurry transportation Slurry transport covers a considerable range of trade sectors, ranging from food and beverage to mining. What is common 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 manufacturing, the biggest challenge is to accommodate high density slurry and extremely abrasive grits.
It is crucial that the slurry passes through the pump with the minimal amount of damage to the pump casing, impeller, shaft and sealing mechanism. Furthermore, the pump must be able to delivering high flows and able to stand up to harsh operating environments.
Alberta in Canada has intensive oil reserves and these are in the type of oil sands. Extracting and processing the oil from the sands and bedrock is difficult, involving the removal of bituminous ore which is transported to a crushing plant. The crushed ore is then mixed with warm water to kind a dense slurry that can be transported in the pipeline towards extraction, the place the bitumen is separated from the sand and rock. After extraction, the remaining solids (or tailings) are often transported through different pumps to settling ponds.
The processes require in depth use of slurry and water transportation pumps capable of handling vast portions of liquids at excessive pressures and high temp- eratures. Drawing on its long expertise of designing slurry pumps for mining, GIW has custom-engineered slurry pumps that mix advanced materials, hydraulics and patented mechanical designs, the most recent of which is the TBC-92.
Meeting challenges Mollie Timmerman, GIW business development supervisor, explains more: “Our shopper wanted a higher capability pump which was capable of 10,000–11,000 m3 per hour of output at nearly forty m of developed head and a maximum working pressure of 4000 kPa. The pump additionally wanted to be able to move rocks of roughly one hundred thirty mm in diameter with a complete passage measurement requirement of 10 in (or 254 mm) and handle slurry densities in extra of 1.5 SG.
In addition, the customer was focusing on a maintenance interval (operational time between planned maintenance) of round 3,000 hours. They had expressed an curiosity in maximising the upkeep intervals and primarily based on initial put on indications, they are presently hoping to realize around 6,000 hours between pump overhauls (i.e. 6–8 months).”
The instant software for the first batch of GIW’s TBC-92 pumps in Alberta is in hydro-transport service the place they’re used to maneuver bitu- minous ore from the crusher to the extraction plant. The liquid pumped is a mix of water, bitumen, sand, and large rocks. Screens are in place to keep these rocks to a manageable dimension for the process, but the high measurement can nonetheless usually attain up to one hundred thirty mm in diameter or larger.
The abrasive nature of the slurry is what separates a slurry pump from different pumps used in the trade. Wear and erosion are facts of life, and GIW has decades of experience in the design of slurry pumps and the event of materials to help extend the service life of those crucial components to match the planned upkeep cycles in the plant.
“GIW already had a pump capable of the output requirement, this being the MDX-750, which has been a preferred dimension in mill duties for almost 10 years through- out Central and South America,” explains Mollie Timmerman. ”However, the customer’s software required a pump with larger strain capabilities and the aptitude of handling larger rocks so we responded with the event of the TBC-92 which provided one of the best solution for maximised production.”
The TBC sequence The building style of GIW’s TBC pump vary options giant, ribbed plates held together with tie bolts for very high-pressure service and maximum put on performance. First developed for dredge service, then later launched into the oil sands within the Nineteen Nineties, the TBC pump collection has grown into a totally developed range of pumps serving the oil sands, phosphate, dredging and onerous rock mining industries for tailings and hydrotransport purposes.
The pumps are sometimes grouped collectively in booster stations to construct strain as excessive as 750 psi (5171 kPa) to account for the pipe losses encountered over such long distances. The robust building of the TBC pump is properly suited to do the job, while guaranteeing most availability of the equipment under heavily abrasive put on.
Capable of delivering pressure as much as 37 bar and flows of more than 18,200m³/h and temperatures up to 120o C, the TBC vary 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 masses away from the damage resistant white iron casing to the non- bearing side plates with out the utilization of heavy and unwieldy double-wall construction.
The TBC-92 combines the most effective parts of earlier TBC models, including the TBC-84 oil sands tailing pump, also recognized as the Super Pump. The pump also incorporates options from GIW’s MDX product line, which is used in heavy-duty mining circuits all through 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 embody a slurry diverter that dramatically increases suction liner life by decreasing particle recirculation between the impeller and the liner. The large diameter impeller permits the pump to run at slower speeds in order that put on life is enhanced. The decrease speed additionally gives the pump the flexibility to operate over a wider range of flows in order to accommodate fluctuating move situations.
To make maintenance easier, the pump is fitted with a particular two-piece suction plate design which helps to reduce tool time and supply safer lifting. Customers obtain pump-specific lifting devices to facilitate the secure removing and set up of wear comp- onents. The pump additionally 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 essential milestone for GIW, which now has pumps in service at all operating Canadian oil sands plants for hydrotransport functions. The TBC-92 has been designed to deal with heavy-duty slurry transport whereas offering a low complete value of possession. Minimal labour and maintenance time assist to maximise manufacturing and revenue.
“This new pump incorporates the teachings realized from working within the oil sands over many years, and features our latest hydraulic and wear applied sciences,” says Mollie Timmerman. “Because that is the heaviest TBC pump we have ever designed, explicit attention was given to maintainability, in addition to material selection and development of the pressure-containing elements.”
That GIW has established itself as a major force in pumping solutions for the oil sands business is far from shocking on circumstance that it has been developing pumping applied sciences and wear resistant supplies within the global mining industry for the reason that 1940s.
These pumps have had a substantial impact on the way in which that excavated sand, rock and bitumen are transported to the upgrader plant. By including water to the excavated material it turns into extremely efficient 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 good thing about eradicating the use of vehicles.
GIW has estimated that เกจวัดแรงดันลม of shifting oil sand in this way can reduce prices by US$2 a barrel, and it’s far more environmentally friendly. These pumps additionally play a serious position in transporting the coarse tailings to the tailings ponds. GIW provides pumps used in the extraction course of and different areas of production (HVF, MDX, LSA).
Understanding slurries Understanding the character of slurries and the way they behave when being pumped has been basic to the event of these products. GIW has been obtaining slurry samples from clients over many years for testing hydraulics and materials both for pumps and pipelines. Research & Development facilities embrace multiple slurry check 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 development programmes. If firms are experiencing problems the GIW R&D personnel can see where the problem lies and supply advice for remedial motion. Experience does point out that in lots of circumstances the issue lies not with the pump nonetheless, but in the interplay between the pipeline and the pump.
Feedback from customers about appli- cations helps in the growth of latest instruments and pump designs. By bringing to- gether customers and lecturers from all over the world to share their expertise and research with in-house specialists, the massive funding in analysis, improvement and manufacturing has advanced the design of all of the GIW pump products,materials and wear-resistant parts.
The future “There is a clear trend towards larger 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 business was the TBC-46 (46 in being the diameter of the impeller). Customers are designing their amenities for higher and higher production and demanding the same of the tools that retains their production shifting. While these larger pumps demand more energy, they also allow for higher manufacturing with much less downtime required for maintenance. Overall, the efficiency improves when in comparability with the same output from a bigger amount of smaller pumps. “
In conclusion, he says: “Larger pumps go hand-in-hand with bigger services, larger pipelines, and increased manufacturing, all of which proceed to trend larger yr after yr. Other clients and industries have additionally shown an curiosity in this size, and it might be no surprise at all to see extra of these pumps built in the near future for similar applications.”
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