Innovative engineering has resulted in minerals industry supplier FLSmidth’s new Krebs slurryMAX split-case slurry pump gaining a strong foothold in slurry applications across Africa.

The company recently exhibited the new features and safety benefits of the pump at mining and power exhibition Electra Mining Africa 2018, held at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg earlier this month.

Following the success of the millMAX range of pumps, FLSmidth improved on the design, with the assistance of customer feedback, resulting in the slurryMAX pump.

The pump incorporates hydraulic efficiency while the proven millMAX wear ring technology creates an efficient and long-lasting slurry pump. With multiple liner and impeller material options, the slurryMAX is designed to handle most applications in any plant across several different industries.

While access to water is a problem not only locally but across the African continent, the design of the slurryMAX significantly reduces water usage at plants, as it does not require expensive mechanical sealing arrangements.

The slurryMAX 8 X 6 pump and larger has a simple removable suction liner assembly for easy inspections of the internal components and replacement of the impeller without removing the discharge pipe. The volute liner with an integrated back liner bolts securely to the outer drive side casing for ease of assembly and hands-free safety, significantly improving the safety aspects on the pump. An easy-to-use lifting jig, meanwhile, provides safe and rapid rebuilds for maintenance crews.

Additional features on the newly designed pump include an improved, more efficient impeller and an optional water drain plug. This makes it easier for maintenance crews to drain water that might have settled at the bottom of the pump.

The slurryMAX range extends to an XD version, which has been successful in the most aggressive applications worldwide. Extremely thick elastomer liners and a heavy-duty impeller allows for extended wear life, in addition to the advantages gained from the millMAX suction side sealing system.

Meanwhile, the high-pressure version of the slurryMAX XD, the slurryMAX HP, is perfect for multistage high-pressure pumping systems. Within the high-pressure outer casing, the slurryMAX HP uses all of the same extreme wear parts as the XD, allowing for long life and consistent performance.

Further, the slurryMAX XHP has been added to the range to enable clients to design pumping systems with more stages and a higher final discharge pressure. As with the HD, the XHP uses the same wear parts as the XD, but with an even more robust outer casing than the HP version.

The pump’s reverse taper roller bearing assembly increases the effective load span to improve the life of the bearings and the shaft. The pumping action of the taper rolling bearings in operation ensures that grease is expelled outward instead of being expelled inward.

The heavy-duty shaft and taper roller bearings are rated at a minimum of 100 000 hours, providing long wear life.

Benefits of the slurryMAX pump include significant energy savings, the elimination of gland water requirements for more applications, long-lasting bearings that cannot be over greased, and predictable wear life across all wet-end parts.