Tired of your operations being disrupted by unreliable submersible slurry pumps? We explore how the versatile Warman® SHW provides reliable submersible dewatering in the most aggressive mining applications.

Varying fluid levels, changing slurry consistencies, mineral types and even the beneficiation chemicals present can significantly impact the performance and wear life of your pump. This transforms what should be a reliable, low maintenance piece of equipment into something that not only demands significant time to repair, but also has a negative impact on your bottom line due to part replacements and production downtime.

Issues commonly affecting submersible pumps include moisture intrusion into critical internal electrical or lubricated components, abrasive wear of wetted components, impellers clogging due to particle size or slurry fluid composition, and insufficient slurry feed flows that causes overheating and cavitation.

In this article, we explore the root causes of these problems, and how different features allow the heavy-duty Warman® SHW submersible slurry pump to provide reliable dewatering in almost any application.

If your submersible slurry pump regularly goes into a failure state, there’s a good chance it’s because slurry has penetrated the motor housing or seal chamber. There are a number of ways you can prevent this from occurring and reoccurring, whether the fluid intrusion is due to the pump’s housing, the wear materials being unsuitable for the slurry it’s processing, or incorrect mechanical seal selection.

Leverage the right wear materials

In the case of a general failure in the pump casing, this is likely due to the wear material being unsuitable to withstand some aspects of the slurry being pumped - either the abrasive qualities of the particles contained within or a corrosive property of a chemical that was introduced at some point in the beneficiation process.

Without changing the slurry composition or processing method, the only real way to resolve these problems is to ensure that you’re using a heavy-duty submersible slurry pump with wear materials especially designed to meet the challenges of your application. For example, the Warman^® SHW has specifically been built for the most demanding submersible pumping applications, with a heavy-duty, all high-chrome (A05) wet end.

Ultrachrome^® A05, is proprietary high chrome white iron designed by Weir Minerals to provide a long, dependable service life in highly abrasive applications. The Warman^® SHW casting material can be selected to meet the needs of specific applications with different wear factors, such as in copper ore processing and other corrosive applications.

Use mechanical seals to prevent leakage

Most of the failures of submersible pumps can be attributed to a mechanical seals failure; a failure in the seal will permit moisture ingress to the electric motor and components, causing major electrical and mechanical damage to both the electric motor’s stator and rotor. Finally this causes the pump to stop operating, requiring an expensive, time consuming repair process that often requires specialist expertise.

The Warman SHW pump’s double mechanical seal arrangement not only prevents slurry leakage into the motor, but only exposes a minimal wear area to the slurry. The Warman^® SHW's balanced double-seal arrangement encloses both sets of seal springs in an oil reservoir, which means the silicon carbide seal faces are only subjected to the submergence pressure, greatly increasing the wear life of the pump.

A moisture detector protects the motor and mechanical seal

When leakage can’t be prevented, the best way to manage a pump is to use a moisture detector which will automatically shut off the pump when moisture makes its way into the motor. The Warman^® SHW pump uses a twin electrode system that provides double protection, by detecting intrusion in the motor housing and the chamber of the mechanical seal.

Once detected, the Warman^® SHW shuts off the motor to prevent pump failure and raises an alarm to let operators know that maintenance is required. The pump’s T-bolt construction makes gaining access to the wet end simple, allowing rapid disassembly of the pump for quick maintenance.

Tired of your operations being disrupted by unreliable submersible slurry pumps? We explore how the versatile Warman® SHW provides reliable submersible dewatering in the most aggressive mining applications.

Leverage the right wear materials

Use mechanical seals to prevent leakage

A moisture detector protects the motor and mechanical seal

Preventing cavitation and overheating