Other Industry Sectors: including
mining, metal, environmental clean-up
Case Study:
Environmental Clean-up
A
landmark project for Discflo in Europe will be completed in
1998. The project, described as the most important environmental
clean-up project ever undertaken and one of the most important
contracts yet for Discflo, is costing Norwegian Krona 350
million in total. The project aims to establish treatment
facilities for all types of hazardous waste - organic and
inorganic - originating in Norway.
The first part of the project, the
construction of a plant for handling inorganic waste on the
Norwegian island of Langoya, was completed last year. This is
where the first Discflo pumps were installed. They are pumping a
wide variety of fluids, including acids, bases, hazardous waste
for direct mix with gypsum, petroleum coke and contaminated
earth.
These first pumps have proven very
successful and have exceeded the customer's expectations. Based
on this success, the project managers specified disc pump for
the second part of the project, where Discflo's technology will
feature even more prominently. This involves the building of a
treatment facility in Brevik for disposing of organic waste. It
will treat 30,000 tonnes a year and will be ready for start up
at the end of this year. Disc pumps will be used in a number of
applications, including tank loading, transfer, circulation and
feeding. Again, a very wide variety of fluids will be pumped,
with viscosities from 1 cP to 500 cP and specific gravities from
0.9 to 1.5. The maximum solids size is 60mm [2.5"] and most
of the fluids are abrasive.
Discflo won the contract after fierce
competition with several other pump manufacturers. The reasons
that the customer gave for choosing the unique disc pump
technology were as follows:
The disc pump was the best solution
technically because of its ability to pump difficult fluids
and its operation is versatile enough to handle a range of
fluid conditions without breaking down.
The disc pump was the best solution
economically, according to the Life Cycle Cost analysis
carried out by the project contractors, ABB Offshore
Technology.
A number of disc pumps already
installed at a cement plant in Brevik provided an excellent
reference for the project. The cement plant pumps have been
running 24 hours/day since start up in February 1997 without
any problems.
The project managers considered and
rejected centrifugal open impeller type, hose type and membrane
type pumps because all fell short in terms of either Life Cycle
Costs or technically.
Case Study:
Abrasive Mill Spill
Pasminco,
one of Australia's largest mining groups, has achieved a first
with the disc pump. A specially designed disc pump at the Broken
Hill mine in New South Wales is being used to pump a highly
abrasive and dense mill concentrate. It has been operating
continuously since January 1st, 1998, beating all previous
pumps, none of which could last longer than four weeks in this
application.
The pump is a combination of a 604 and a
403-2HHD, and has been rubber-lined for extra abrasive
protection. The first prototype was designed and tested last
years by George Fyfe of Transco, Discflo's distributor for
Australia. The first production model was installed mid-
December 1997 and has run continuously without any downtime
since then, pumping 500 GPM at 35 ft TDH.
Mill spill concentrate is a remarkably
difficult material to pump. It contains steel balls and ultra
fine, highly abrasive particles, and is extremely dense, with a
specific gravity of 2+. The mining company tried a number of
different pumps before finding the disc pump, but all failed
within four weeks or less due to abrasive wear.
Pasminco is happy with the disc pump's
performance and plans to purchase an additional pump for Broken
Hill and another for an application at a mill in Hobart,
Tasmania. The pumps will be designed and installed by Transco
Mfg Australia P/L.
Case Study:
Plankton
Discflo
donated two disc pumps to the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, US, for a highly unusual application - pumping
living plankton. The pulsation-free, non-impingement action of
the disc pump system ensures that no plankton is damaged in the
pumping process.
The Smithsonian is happy with the quality
and operation of the pumps, and has experienced no problems with
their operation. Pump models 2015-2D and 312-2D are installed,
using plastic Discpacs.
Case Study: Acid
Slurry in Steel Mill
The Pennsylvannia plant of a major US
steel manufacturer is using the Discflo disc pump technology for
some extremely abrasive applications. One such application is
pumping hydrofluoric/nitric acid solution at 1800 degF
containing 1/2" ceramic brick particles. Some of the disc
pumps are made of a non-metallic PVDF material, while the rest
are our standard stainless steel construction.
The steel manufacturer originally employed
end-suction centrifugal pumps in this application. However,
these pumps suffered complete failure at least four times a
year, each time costing $8000 to repair. The first disc pumps
replaced them six years ago, and the Discflo equipment has
performed exceptionally well ever since. "In six years, we
have never had a pump failure," says Discflo's distributor
in Pennsylvania. "Every time we've inspected the disc
pumps, there has been no sign of appreciable wear on the Discpac".
A
landmark project for Discflo in Europe will be completed in
1998. The project, described as the most important environmental
clean-up project ever undertaken and one of the most important
contracts yet for Discflo, is costing Norwegian Krona 350
million in total. The project aims to establish treatment
facilities for all types of hazardous waste - organic and
inorganic - originating in Norway.
Pasminco,
one of Australia's largest mining groups, has achieved a first
with the disc pump. A specially designed disc pump at the Broken
Hill mine in New South Wales is being used to pump a highly
abrasive and dense mill concentrate. It has been operating
continuously since January 1st, 1998, beating all previous
pumps, none of which could last longer than four weeks in this
application.
Discflo
donated two disc pumps to the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, US, for a highly unusual application - pumping
living plankton. The pulsation-free, non-impingement action of
the disc pump system ensures that no plankton is damaged in the
pumping process.