PUMPS AND PIPELINES
Weir Minerals says its Warman ® MCR ® 760 pump is the biggest capacity mill discharge / cyclone feed pump in the world that has been successfully operating for more than five years in some of the largest hard-rock mines
Heading in the right direction
Pump selection has increased in complexity in recent years as miners have adopted a more sustainable mindset that goes beyond choosing equipment based on throughput alone . At the same time , pump maintenance has gained in sophistication with the old insurance policy of keeping oodles of spares on site replaced by more digital oversight . Dan Gleeson speaks to pump producers and providers about the key selling points they are highlighting amid this evolving backdrop
Pumps are integral to an optimised flowsheet , whether that is as a transport mechanism from the mill , as a feed into filter presses , as a tailings distribution method to the dam or in any part of the process plant .
Given that pumps touch so much of the overall process , correctly sizing and maintaining them is integral to keeping up production targets and overall plant availability .
In recent times , the leading vendors in this part of the market have looked to augment their in-house expertise with a digital offering that keeps pumps working for longer at optimal speeds . These benefits play nicely into the sector ’ s sustainability requirements – requirements that are growing with each year as net-zero targets to 2030 , 2040 and 2050 get that much closer .
IM delved deeper to find out how pump solution providers are integrating into the wider mineral processing framework at mine sites for the benefit of not just individual equipment , but the whole circuit .
Changing the world with data
For FLSmidth , the priority with pumps
digitalisation is not about accessing new data streams through the addition of sensors but making the most of the information already being generated up- and down-stream of these industry workhorses .
“ All the information to optimise pumps already exists in the plant ,” Kenny Don , Global Product Line Manager Pumps , Cyclones , and Valves – FLSmidth , told IM . “ The key customers – especially with mission-critical pumps – have all the flows , heads , RPMs , etc that are needed .
“ What we are now trying to do is leverage that data and create key performance indicators or complex calculations to optimise not only the pump operation , but the full grinding circuit .”
For critical individual items like gland water flow hitting a threshold or bearing failure prevention , the company , through its SiteConnect app , can notify operators of the need to act quickly .
Yet , as a full flowsheet provider , FLSmidth can look beyond the pump silo to generate real value for its clients .
“ Within a process plant , the pumps are the heart , the cyclones are the brain and the mills are the brawn ,” Don explains . “ As a pump person , I always get called aside and told that the pumps are lagging , but , after I walk the line , I may check out the cyclones and discover that they are roping because the operators are trying to push too much material through them . too much material through them . Yet , before fixing the cyclone , we should go to the mill expert and take a look at the mills . This process may lead to the discovery that they ’ re not charging the mills properly . So , we fix the mills , then we change the cyclones and , third , change the pumps .
“ Our customers are not in the business of pumping ; they are in the business of making metal , so the pumps should typically be the last element to be changed out .”
This diagnosis process is part of FLSmidth ’ s aftermarket DNA – not just within pumps – with the company ’ s support services team always looking to optimise the full circuit .
Brad Moralee , Head of GPLM , Pumps , Cyclones & Valves at FLSmidth , said : “ There is not really much you can add to a pump from an optimising circuit point of view that doesn ’ t already exist in various forms of downstream equipment . The power we can bring to this , as a full flowsheet provider , is to string together all this knowledge from the various streams to influence flotation , grinding , etc .”
This type of thinking is emphasised with FLSmidth ’ s digitalisation , or ‘ smartification ’, of the process plant .
“ In the process plant , pumps are the perfect
JUNE 2022 | International Mining 17