The Importance Of Slurry Pump Maintenance

The Importance Of Slurry Pump Maintenance

Regular maintenance of the slurry pump can extend the wear life, help avoid unplanned downtime, and reduce the total cost of ownership for the end user. In the rigorous and demanding world of mining, slurry pumps often run to breakpoints before intervention. In the short term, this may seem beneficial, but in the long term, you may be doing your plant an injustice.

Regularly monitor the performance characteristics of the pump, so that you understand its operation, and provide sufficient time to take a measurement response, without failure and unplanned downtime.

From a preventive point of view, some tasks need to be performed regularly during pump operation to ensure that the pump runs longer. If abnormal sounds are detected, leaks or temperature or vibration spikes are found, more in-depth maintenance is required during the planned shutdown period before failure occurs.

Vibration

Every running machine will vibrate: put your hand on the refrigerator at home, and when the motor is running, you will feel a slight vibration. For most machines, vibration is one of the earliest indicators of machine health, so it is an important measurement indicator that requires close monitoring.

Different pumps have different vibration speed targets; for large pumps, the maximum target will be greater than that of medium pumps that treat water. Conversely, when solids are introduced into the fluid, the vibrations will increase in relation to the properties of the mixture and the duty cycle.

Vibration monitoring is about tracking trends on a regular basis to see if there are obvious changes.

Once the pump reaches its wear life, it is normal for its vibration readings to show an exponential growth curve and begin to increase gradually.

Bearing assembly

The bearing assembly is a key component of any rotating equipment. Generally speaking, the service life of the bearing assembly depends on the process and operation. When selecting bearing components related to hydraulic performance, the life of the L10 bearing should be considered. The increase in vibration and noise levels is a clear sign, which may be a problem with bearing assembly.

One of the main causes of premature bearing failure is insufficient maintenance of the gland seal, which may cause leakage and spray slurry and water directly onto the bearing assembly. This can be reduced by regularly adjusting the seal and applying correct and consistent lubrication.

Throatbush and impeller adjustment

The wear rate of the throatbush has a significant impact on the overall efficiency of the slurry pump. In many applications, it has the shortest life compared to other components.

The importance of adjusting the throatbush to ensure the best clearance between the impellers is crucial. Define the root cause

It is worth noting that the drop in efficiency is not always a pump problem. The operating parameters need to be analyzed and the application evaluated to determine the root cause.

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Products mentioned in the text: ZJ Series Electric Slurry Pump