For all the dedication of a mine’s service group to the recommended finest practice in pump administration, sometime, encountering circumstances of pump component wear and tear is inevitable – a matter of when and never if. And when it does happen, element put on inhibits pump performance. It is at that point where, timeously, mines may have to seriously think about retrofitting as a possible choice.
A rational enterprise determination
In this setting, the place costs of capital gear prices are increasing, alternative may be a wise enterprise decision. In an advisory targeted at mines and other industries, pump OEM, KSB Pumps, recommends retrofitting as a rational business determination: “Retrofitting is a superb various to purchasing a new product and could be carried out on pumps regardless of their meant use. Hidden is equally appropriate for industrial, water provide and waste water disposal applications as properly as for the power supply industry.”
It is just pure for mine operators to ponder acquiring new pumps. New pump models meet contemporary necessities like improved energy efficiency, compliance with new legal requirements (relating to emissions and safety), extended service life and know-how which produces operating information. But this will not necessitate changing an old pump mannequin, KSB Pumps says, as retrofitting could give an previous pump a model new lease of life, particularly within the following ways:
Save maintenance prices
Reduce energy consumption
Achieve longer service life
Increase system availability
Comply with legal requirements (e.g: TA-Luft, ATEX)
READ: Full-service capability important for reliable pump supply
Core areas in Retrofitting
The core focus areas in retrofitting are: hydraulic and mechanical modifications to the supplies, above and past changes to the supplies.
Hydraulic modifications
Some of the hydraulic modifications might contain:
Remachining of present impellers
Installation of recent impellers for off-design circumstances
Optimisation of volute casing for off-design situations
Adjustment of the variety of levels (on multistage pumps)
Mechanical adjustments
The following are some of the mechanical changes:
Closed bearing brackets improve the smoothness of operation and lengthen the bearing life
Installation of mechanical seal methods
Employment of cellular floor put on rings to enhance effectivity, rotor dynamics and dry running properties
Use of optimised supplies
The following are its some of the materials that a variety of the optimised supplies that might be used:
Super duplex stainless steel grades or nickel alloys
Ceramic mineral castings for impellers, wear plates, cowl and casing – for use with finely dispersed, highly abrasive options
Non-metallic rings and bushes
Ceramic plain bearings
Surface coatings
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