A Techniflo High Viscosity Drum Pump is being used to pump lime slurry from IBCs.
The Challenge
A water authority in Western Australia needed to transfer lime putty, a slurry of water with suspended particles of calci um hydroxide of very high viscosity (2200cP) from IBCs at a rate of 50L/min. Because of its viscosity, suspended particles and chemically corrosive properties, it required a pump that could effectively pump viscous slurries, but that was chemically resistant to alkaline solutions as well as resistant to the abrasive properties of the suspended particles. The other constraint on the situation is they only had a small hole in the top of the IBC to insert a pump.
The Solution
Global Pumps recommended a Techniflo eccentric screw drum pump suitable for viscous liquids to suit this purpose. In this type of pump design, a multi-spiral “rotor” or screw rotates inside a rigid “stator”. This rotation gently displaces the liquid by nature of the geometry of the rotor-stator assembly, and is appropriate for highly viscous fluids as well as sensitive fluids, due to the low mechanical effect of the pump on the pumped product. The entire assembly, in this case, is made of material that is resistant to the medium strength alkaline chemical properties of the lime putty and is hard wearing to resist the abrasive properties of the slurry due to the suspended particles of calcium hydroxide. This pump design can be used to pump liquids with viscosity up to 100,000cP with or without solids, for example; paint, oil, soap, shampoo, sauces, glues, etc. The pump was supplied with a 54mm diameter by 1200mm long immersion tube to allow complete emptying of the IBCs being used to store the lime putty.
The Result
Global Pumps supplied this pump in November of 2012. It has proven its reliability in the pumping of lime slurry from IBCs and continues to benefit the customer today. Officials from the water authority recently reported that the pump has been working well ever since its installation.
