Over the holidays my son asked me if I had ever been on an oil drill rig. In enlightening him as to what his old man did in the 80s I realized the story might me interesting to others, so here goes. It started with a telephone call from a purchasing engineer with the Gulf Canada Resources. He was interested … Read More
Cleaning Carbon Tanks In Carbon in Leach And Carbon in Pulp Processes
The two gold extraction processes CIL (Carbon in Leach) and CIP (Carbon in Pulp) are quite similar, both using granulated activated carbon to extract the gold from the solution. For the extraction processes to function efficiently a specific carbon granule size must be maintained. It is therefore critical to handle the fragile carbon particles in a manner that does not … Read More
Understanding How Static And Dynamic Balancing Affect Cantilever Pumps
I was recently asked to investigate a vibration in a vertical cantilever pump. The client had recently rebuilt the pump and was wondering what he had missed or done wrong. In the absence of any vibration monitoring equipment, we resorted to physical checks. With the pump out of the sump, we carefully rotated the shaft and there was no evidence … Read More
What exactly is an impeller’s “tip speed” and how do you calculate it?
Establishing an impeller’s “Tip Speed” is very useful when selecting the best pump for your application, but what exactly is tip speed and how do you calculate it? The tip speed is simply the distance that any selected point on the peripheral of the impeller travels in a set time. In other words the “speed” of that point. To calculate … Read More
Differences Between Flush and Quench In Slurry Pump Seal Support Plans
When discussing slurry pump seal support plans it seems that the terms “Flush” and “Quench” are often confused and or misused. With the concept being slightly different for mechanical seal boxes vs packed seal boxes I will separate these, discussing each in turn. Mechanical Seal The basic mechanical seal flush plan is very simple. It calls for a clear/clean liquid, … Read More
The Future of Custom Design and Development
Computational Fluid Dynamic Software Saves Time and Money Through Simulation At Hevvy/Toyo Pumps we utilize the latest in technology to solve our customers’ problems. Whether it’s a custom impeller and volute for a specific customer application, a new impeller capable of transporting the heaviest solids in the most efficient manner, putting in time researching how wear might affect existing designs … Read More
Challenges of Dewatering: Will adding another pump to my system help?
Recently I was asked for support at an open pit mine that was having trouble dewatering. The main challenge in short was that the inflow from springs and rainfall was exceeding their capacity to pump water from the pit floor and this was affecting mining operations. The first step was to tour the mine to get an overview of the … Read More
No Flow Meter, No Problem
The Open Pipe Flow Measurement Method Over the years our team has been involved in countless pump start ups, many of which were field applications where instrumentation was non existent. There is always an expectation of a specific flow rate or at least a minimum flow rate. Without a flow meter, how do you know if your pump is performing with … Read More
What is the Difference Between Malleability and Ductility?
In the blog article, “Thermal Shock” I used the word ductility. This word is one of a handful of terms commonly used to describe the characteristics of metals and how they react to externally applied forces. Terms such as malleability, hardness, brittleness, toughness, abrasion resistant and impact resistant are commonly used when describing metals but not always completely understood. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN … Read More
How Do You Solve Vibration Issues in a Slurry Pump?
Vibration issues with your slurry pump might be obvious: your slurry pump shakes like a wet dog, or subtle: you keep losing bearings or seals prematurely and don’t understand why. In either case, vibration can cause a number of problems with your pump that can lead to costly repairs, downtime, and shorter mean times between failure. How to Confirm a … Read More
