The
disc pump's no-shear operation has lead to significant cost
savings for a manufacturer of ammonium bromide crystals in
Arkansas. The product being pumped is one of the toughest
applications for any pump; it is highly abrasive,
non-homogeneous, sensitive to shear and has a solids content
by volume of 45%. The flow rate is 300 GPM and the pump system
runs for 12 hours a day.
Previously, the company used a
centrifugal style pump. As well as suffering from excessive
abrasion and frequent breakdown, this pump would destroy
anywhere from 30% to 60% of the crystals by reducing them to a
sand-like consistency. The company spent a minimum of $100,000
a year in spare parts and repairs alone, before taking into
account the cost of lost production. These crystals retail at
around $1.24 per lb. If we assume that the production cost was
just a sixth of this figure, then at a destruction rate of
30%, the centrifugal pump was costing the company $84,000 per
day in lost production.
After searching for a pump that would
reduce shear to a minimum and cope with the abrasive, high
solids nature of the slurry, the company decided to try the
Discflo pump. The system was started up in June 1995, and
since then has been operating with no downtime and no spare
parts have been purchased. More importantly, the pump has
reduced crystal losses to nearly zero, giving a payback time
for the Discflo pump of 6 hours, or less than one day's
production!
Case Study:
Polymer Emulsions
One of the world's largest chemical producers, based in
Germany, has made the Discflo disc pump its worldwide standard
for manufacturing a proprietary emulsion. This follows
extensive testing of different pump types to find one that
could handle the company's dispersions with minimal damage.
The company tested a number of pumps, including progressive
cavity, rotary, lobe and vortex models, and found the disc
pump gave superior performance. The tests showed the disc
system could handle the full range of product viscosities,
from 50 mPas to 1000 mPas, at different temperatures, and most
importantly, would not shear the emulsions.
Case Study:
Chemical Additive Slurry
For
over 10 10 years, the pumps used by this motor oil and gas
additive processing plant in Texas would fail frequently. The
slurry being pumped was at times the consistency of peanut
butter, and at other times, an oil/water two-phase liquid.
Shutdowns were required once or twice a week, at anaverage
cost of $650 for parts and labor. In addition, around four to
five hours' production would be lost due to pump failure. To
resolve the problem, the plant engineers decided to try the
Discflo pump system, which could handle the wide changes in
viscosity. The pumps have operated without any problems for
two and a half years, with no mechanical failures, no
shutdowns to replace worn parts and no lost production. The
company estimated that the savings in maintenance costs are
around $65,000 annually, and the time to recover the cost of
the new pumps was less than three months.
Case Study:
Paint Intermediate Waste
A supplier of paint intermediates, based in Tennessee, used
the disc pump system to solve a number of tough pumping
problems. Its worst problem was the monthly clean-up of its
spent solids treatment basins. This task required four men,
two of whom were assigned permanently to keep the prior pumps
working. The maintenance department had tried all types of
pumps without success and were sure that no pump could handle
this slurry, which was so thick a broom handle could stand up
in it.
They installed a Discflo pump and had
immediate success; downtime dropped from two days to three
hours, and the spare parts bill fell from $3000 per year to
zero. The company estimates that the total cost savings from
the disc pump amount to more than $57,000 annually. The
maintenance department has found similar cost savings in other
Discflo pump applications at the plant.
Case Study:
Corrosive Chemical Slurry
In
a project in Fall 1997 for a US-based chemical company,
Discflo designed, manufactured, tested and shipped a batch of
titanium disc pumps in just three weeks - considered the
fastest order-to-ship time in the pump industry! The
exceptionally fast delivery was the deciding factor for the
chemical plant, which needed the pumps urgently to meet the
market launch date for a new product line.
The product being pumped, a proprietary
cleaning fluid, is a chemical slurry with 5% solids, a
viscosity of 1000 cP and a pH of 13. The pumps, several
302-10-2HHD and 402-14-2HHD models, have pump flow rates from
20 GPM to 100 GPM at heads of 42 ft and 226 ft respectively.
During a recent visit to the plant,
Discflo's representative reported that the user was extremely
satisfied with the disc pumps' performance to date: "They
were impressed with the smooth and quiet operation of the
titanium pumps, and the ability to run with suction and/or
discharge valves closed. Also the ability to run dry for long
durations reduced the opportunity for system damage. The plant
engineers and maintenance people liked the simplicity of the
pump, and ease of operation. The lack of close tolerances was
also well received... But what sold them on the disc pump was
the fast delivery time. It took us three weeks from receiving
the order to the shipment; nobody could beat that!"
Case Study:
Viscous Oil Sludge
Viscous, abrasive sludge, with a varying solids content and
size, is a nightmare for most pumps. For the disc pump,
however, it is no problem. This versatility is the key to the
pump's success at a major refinery in Torrance, California.
The first Discflo units at the refinery were installed four
years ago. They are pumping a viscous, abrasive sludge used in
the quenching phase of the coking process at 400 GPM, 465 TDH.
The sludge itself consists of water, hydrocarbons and about
10-20% solids by weight and varying in size, basically
anything collected from the tank bottoms.
"The sludge's viscosity varies a
great deal from one batch to another," comments a Discflo
distributor in California. "Sometimes, it is as viscous
as water and at other times as much as 1000 cP. The disc
pump's ability to handle variations in viscosity without
breaking down was one of the key factors for choosing the
Discflo design."
Previously, the refinery used multistage
centrifugal pumps. These pumps would fail frequently in
service due to the high solids content and abrasive wear. They
would run only two to three weeks before repair was required.
They had tried several different pump designs, all without
success, before turning to Discflo.
"They had had so many promises
before from pump companies and were cynical about finding a
pump that could really solve their problems. But in the end,
the engineer just got fed up with the constant repairs to the
existing pumps and felt he had nothing to lose by trying a
'new' design of pump."
And it has paid off handsomely! Since
start up, the pumps have performed exceptionally well. The
problems of frequent breakdown and high wear have been solved.
More importantly, the refinery is realizing considerable
savings with the disc pumps.
Chemical, Oil and Petroleum Industries
The
disc pump's no-shear operation has lead to significant cost
savings for a manufacturer of ammonium bromide crystals in
Arkansas. The product being pumped is one of the toughest
applications for any pump; it is highly abrasive,
non-homogeneous, sensitive to shear and has a solids content
by volume of 45%. The flow rate is 300 GPM and the pump system
runs for 12 hours a day.
For
over 10 10 years, the pumps used by this motor oil and gas
additive processing plant in Texas would fail frequently. The
slurry being pumped was at times the consistency of peanut
butter, and at other times, an oil/water two-phase liquid.
Shutdowns were required once or twice a week, at anaverage
cost of $650 for parts and labor. In addition, around four to
five hours' production would be lost due to pump failure. To
resolve the problem, the plant engineers decided to try the
Discflo pump system, which could handle the wide changes in
viscosity. The pumps have operated without any problems for
two and a half years, with no mechanical failures, no
shutdowns to replace worn parts and no lost production. The
company estimated that the savings in maintenance costs are
around $65,000 annually, and the time to recover the cost of
the new pumps was less than three months.
In
a project in Fall 1997 for a US-based chemical company,
Discflo designed, manufactured, tested and shipped a batch of
titanium disc pumps in just three weeks - considered the
fastest order-to-ship time in the pump industry! The
exceptionally fast delivery was the deciding factor for the
chemical plant, which needed the pumps urgently to meet the
market launch date for a new product line.