Problems That Might Occur to Slurry Pumps in Mining

1. Unstable flowrate

In mining, slurry pumps often face the problem of unstable flowrate. This is mainly caused by air leakage in the suction pipe or bottom valve, blockage of the water inlet, too low voltage resulting in a speed reduction, pipeline leakage, severe wear of the sealing ring or impeller, and insufficient water immersion depth of the bottom valve. To solve these problems, it is necessary to check and promptly block the leakage source, clean the blockage, adjust the power supply voltage, exhaust the air in the pipeline, replace the worn parts, and adjust the bottom valve depth.

2. Cavitation

Cavitation is another major problem for slurry pumps in mining. When the suction pressure is lower than the saturated air pressure corresponding to the water temperature, the inhaled liquid will undergo a gasification reaction, forming bubbles and gathering on the back of the blades above the impeller inlet, causing noise and vibration, which will cause erosion to the impeller in the long run. To solve the cavitation problem, it is necessary to control the suction liquid surface pressure and suction flow rate, appropriately reduce the installation height of the slurry pump, ensure that the suction valve is open enough, and clean the filter frequently.

3. Shaft seal leakage

Shaft seal leakage is particularly common in mining slurry pumps, which is mainly caused by poor sealing quality of the seal end face due to scaling of the compression spring and cooling water. This will cause fine materials such as the pumped medium to be siphoned from the shaft seal into the shaft seal water pipe, causing blockage and damage to parts. To solve this problem, a bypass line can be added at the end of the shaft seal water pipeline and a check valve can be installed to reduce the material sucked back from the shaft seal and reduce the risk of blockage.