Are your pumps putting your production and on-site safety at risk ?
Ernst & Young ( EY ) have identi 昀 ed costs and productivity as one of the major risks the mining industry will have to contend with this year 1 . Despite in 昀 ationary pressures easing , higher operating costs ( driven primarily by energy & labour costs ) continue to persist . Moreover , many miners have to manage the ever increasing cost of carbon . EY states “ Improving productivity will depend upon a combination of data , information , knowledge and wisdom that is centered around people and powered by technology .”
This has long been the foundation of Weir Minerals ’ business , according to Elias Aho , Weir Minerals Divisional Director , Centrifugal Pump Product Management . “ As an OEM , we ’ re focused on partnering with miners to provide them with not only equipment solutions based on their operational requirements , but also product & process expertise that they can leverage to ensure their production isn ’ t jeopardised .”
This failed non-OEM frame plate liner insert ( FPLI ) caused an emergency shutdown of a ball mill .
Don ’ t risk production
Mines are challenging environments often located in remote regions that are dif 昀 cult to service . Equipment is subject to a lot of stress , which can lead to failures and lost production . This is true of all equipment , but particularly pumps . If a pump stops working , production on that line halts .
At a Peruvian copper mine , two replicated feed cyclone pumps were installed in an attempt to reduce costs . Weir Minerals engineers had previously advised operators that replicated pumps & spare parts would increase their maintenance burden and expose them to a greater risk of unplanned shutdowns & production loss . Responding to the concerns , the operators agreed to compare the performance of Warman ® pumps vs . replicated pumps to understand the Total Operating Cost ( TOC ) of each .
While the circuit ’ s Warman ® pumps with genuine OEM parts achieved their forecast wear life before wet-end replacement , the replicated pumps suffered eight premature failures in six campaigns . The longest-lasting replicator frame plate liner insert ( FPLI ) managed just half of the genuine Warman ®
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‘ Top 10 business risks and opportunities for mining and metals in 2024 ’, Oct 11 2023 , EY . com . part ’ s life before failing , while several inserts failed to last 1,000 hours , resulting in 昀 ve costly consecutive premature failures .
Without a stand-by pump , these failures increased the maintenance burden and negatively impacted production . One catastrophic failure resulted in slurry leaking from the frame plate , requiring the emergency shutdown of a ball mill .
“ Weir Minerals has a global network of state-of-the-art factories & foundries manufacturing its Warman pump spares ,” Aho explains . “ Slurry pumps and parts require speci 昀 c heat treatment , along with a variety of proprietary moulding , methoding and pouring techniques for high-quality casting with all the required mechanical properties . Our genuine Warman parts are manufactured to be the proper dimensional and hydraulic 昀 t with our supplied volutes and liners . These complex manufacturing processes can ’ t be reverse engineered . That ’ s why replicated parts are typically structurally inferior and possibly defective , prone to cracking in these environments , and don ’ t usually achieve the required 昀 t because of their poor tolerancing .”
A failed non-OEM metal impeller .
Don ’ t risk safety
The failure of critical components can lead to high-pressure slurry spray – as it did in this instance . Fortunately no one was injured , but it poses signi 昀 cant risk of injury .
“ The slurry can be toxic , corrosive and / or hot . It can also cause high-energy brittle fracture projectiles , which endanger personnel working in the vicinity ,” said Aho .
Weir Minerals has stringent quality control and conducts extensive safety testing . Moreover , genuine Warman ® parts are manufactured from the highestquality materials , designed to operate under demanding conditions that place every component under signi 昀 cant stress . “ Replicators don ’ t do any of their own design work and they cut corners in the manufacturing and transporting of parts , often with catastrophic consequences . They use inferior wear-resistant materials & don ’ t supply safe lifting methods , putting those
This non-OEM impeller at an aggregates site became deformed , caused vibration , and failed .
on-site at risk ,” said Aho . “ Even tiny gaps between imperfectly replicated components can lead to leakage , vibration or excessive stress concentration , causing dangerous and unpredictable cracks in components .”
Don ’ t risk unplanned maintenance
Inferior alloys found in non-OEM pump spares are not only prone to failure , their reduced , unpredictable lifespan also makes it challenging to align pump maintenance requirements with scheduled campaigns .
A copper miner in Peru expressed interest in trialling the existing genuine Warman ® MCR ® 650 pump wet-end components against those of a replicated parts supplier .
For the trial , the replicator provided a metal impeller , rubber throatbush , a cover plate liner , a frame plate liner and a FPLI to compare against genuine Warman ® MCR ® 650 wet-end components .
After 960 hours ( 6 weeks ) of operation the pump was inspected for wear . The replicator ’ s FPLI and throatbush had already suffered 62mm of wear , almost 1.5mm per day . This was far greater than the wear of the genuine Warman ® components .
Deciding that continuing with the replicated components posed an unacceptable risk of unplanned shutdowns , the trial was discontinued . Non-OEM parts were replaced with genuine Warman ® components .
Don ’ t risk lack of support
While many non-OEM suppliers may sell parts at lower prices , they ’ re unreliable because they don ’ t have the service network or product knowledge to provide crisis management when parts fail catastrophically .
Learn more at www . global . weir / warman-pump-parts