china dredge pump manufacturers

Desire for higher efficiency than centrifugal pumps

Submersible Slurry Pump

Slurry Pump

The design of the slurry pump is critical to ensure that the abrasive and often corrosive aspects of the slurry do not damage the impeller. In addition, slurries and sludges may contain large amounts of unforeseen solids, which will inevitably clog many types of pumps. Since most centrifugal pump impellers have very tight tolerances on the worm gear, the abrasive (and sometimes corrosive) nature of the slurry will quickly wear down the worm gear and destroy the tolerances. In turn, this causes the pump to lose suction. This can lead to extensive downtime of the slurry pump, as well as expensive maintenance and spare parts.

Sites often rely on centrifugal pumps to provide slurry service. These pumps (and their associated piping systems) require special provisions that demand detailed knowledge of the properties of solids and slurries to prevent wear, corrosion, erosion and other adverse effects such as solids settling. Specifying the optimum combination of speed, geometry and material requires a proper balance of often conflicting pump priorities; this requires consideration of stable operation, maximum wear life, operational flexibility and minimum energy consumption.

Because of these requirements, slurry pumps are usually larger than their clear liquid counterparts. In addition, it usually sacrifices efficiency, i.e. maximum efficiency and efficiency throughout its operating range, in exchange for the ability to achieve good operation in these challenging services.