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 The development trend and story of slurry pump

Slurry pumps are widely used in metallurgy, mining, coal, electric power, petrochemical, food, urban construction, environmental protection and river port dredging, reclamation and other sectors of the national economy.

The pipeline hydraulic transportation technology of solid materials has a long history, and the long-distance pipeline transportation technology developed rapidly in the 1950s. Due to the advantages of high efficiency, less land occupation, low cost and no pollution, this conveying method has been paid more and more attention by people.

The United States, Brazil, Japan, the former Soviet Union, South Africa, Canada and other countries have successively built a number of solid material hydraulic transmission pipelines. The development process we understand includes the following points:

1. According to the literature, from the 1950s to the early 1980s, there were 28 slurry pipelines in operation, with a maximum length of 440km, the Black Mesa coal pipeline in the United States.

2. According to reports, the Wyoming-Arkansas coal pipeline planned to be put into operation in the United States in 1979 is 1670km long, with an annual coal transportation capacity of 25 million tons.

3. It is also reported that the coal transportation pipeline of ETST Energy Systems in the United States is 2,500km long, with an annual coal transportation capacity of 3.7 million t, which was originally planned to be completed in 1985.

4. In 1980, the Soviet Union conducted a feasibility analysis on the Kuzbass coal pipeline. The pipeline was 2500km long and the annual coal volume was 25 million tons. The slurry delivery concentration has developed from 40% to 60% in the 1950s to 60% to 70% in the early 1980s. Due to the development of pipeline transportation technology, the demand for various types of pumps, which are essential for the hydraulic transportation of solid materials in pipelines, is increasing. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 300 foreign companies specializing in pump production. Many of them include Australian Warman International Equipment Company, American Goulds Pump Company, Worthington Pump Company, Holthuis Company of Holland, Wirth Company of Germany All kinds of pump products produced by the company and KSB companies are advanced in design, reasonable in structure, high in efficiency and long in life. They are widely used in conveying projects of various materials and enjoy a high reputation in the world.

5. At present, each industrial sector mainly uses four types of pump products—centrifugal pump, reciprocating pump, diaphragm pump and screw pump. Among these four types of pump products, centrifugal pumps account for the vast majority (about 80% of the total pump usage). The total investment cost and manufacturing cost of the centrifugal pump are low, the disassembly and assembly are convenient, and there is a tendency to be applied to long-distance pipelines. In recent years, reciprocating pumps such as plunger mud pumps, Mars pumps, piston diaphragm pumps, oil or water isolated mud pumps, etc. have been developed and attracted attention. The total investment cost of this type of pump is equivalent to 2~5 times that of a centrifugal pump, but the maintenance and operation cost is low, and it is suitable for long-distance pipeline transportation of high-concentration abrasive slurries such as concentrates and tailings.

With the development of the national economy, the demand for pumps is increasing, and the requirements for varieties, specifications, performance and scope are also increasingly extensive. At the same time, great progress and great development have been made in the theoretical research of slurry pump, product development, manufacturing and product quality level. As far as the centrifugal slurry pump product itself is concerned, it is developing towards the aspects of high lift, large flow, high efficiency, long life, many varieties, wide performance and high degree of sanitation.