a centrifugal pumps wear ring

Power to the pumps

Power to the pumps

Paul Moore looks at new technologies and new installations in mining across slurry and dewatering pumping applications and duties including interviews with the key OEMs

1st December 2024

To reflect what is possible in terms of power and performance in mining pumps, it is good to start with some superlatives, and Weir recently installed what it says is the world's largest slurry pump. IM got some insight into the project from José Antonio Bautista, Weir Slurry Pumps Trials Manager. Specifically it is the largest operating mil circuit pump in the world - a Warman® MCR* 760 - and has been commissioned at a Chilean copper mine. The Warman* MCR® 760 is a rubber-lined pump, installed in a mill discharge application and is the culmination of a project that required close collaboration between the miner, the EPCM and Weir the OEM.

Bautista states: "The development of the Warman® MCR* 760 was a response to operators requiring mill circuit pumps capable of unprecedentedly-high flow rates to satisfy both the desire to minimise the number of operating lines in a plant and the global trend of declining ore grade, requiring increased throughput to attain economical mineral recoveries."

He added that the manufacture of parts of this scale presents some unique technical and engineering challenges. "Weir is only able to produce them using specialised equipment in its factories and foundries, operated by its expert craftspeople. In other words, it's an engineering and manufacturing feat that's not easily replicable."

The operation in Chile already had Warman® MCR® 750 pumps installed on its three lines; it wanted to increase the tonnages on each line and needed a slurry pump capable of dealing with the high throughput. Moreover, the operator planned to increase tonnages even further in the future, so that needed to be factored into the pump’s design and development.

At the same time, it was important that the wear performance improved, as well as being consistent across all the wear parts. This would ensure the customer could implement a maintenance schedule safe in the knowledge that the pumps wouldn’t fail prematurely and, instead, would perform reliably between maintenance schedules. Since there were no backup pumps installed, reliability was of utmost importance to mitigate against significant potential financial losses due to unplanned downtime.

The customer set the Weir team a goal to develop a pump that had a wear life to meet their desired outages, while also ensuring that the different components – the impeller, throatbush and liners – wore predictably so they could implement a maintenance schedule that minimised downtime.

When Weir presented them with the solution, it predicted that the Warman® MCR® 760 pump would allow them to reduce their operating costs. Weir also recommended a rubber lined slurry pump. Because of thoughtful and careful design, the MCR® 750 pump was easily interchanged with the MCR® 760 version by only changing a few parts.

The pump was installed on the first campaign and performed well; it was stopped slightly past the desired outage and the impeller and throatbush were changed. At the next planned maintenance, the customer changed the impeller and throatbush again, as well as all the liners.

As well as performing well, the rubber lining reduced the weight of the pump and, along with the split casing, made maintenance easier and reduced the risk to those working on the pump.

Bautista: "Based on these trial results, the customer calculated that their total cost of ownership (TCO) was significantly reduced and that the Warman® MCR® 760 pump would be the best solution to manage their projected future throughput increases. As a result, they agreed to change out all their existing pumps."

With ore grades declining, ever increasing plant throughput will be required to supply the demand of a world moving towards electrification. In addition, operators and owners may find that minimising the number of mills and pumps in a plant can reduce capital expenditure for new plants or expansions.

He added: "Operators that need to accommodate the highest flow rates through their mill circuit pumps could benefit from a Warman® MCR® 760 pump. Weir has local experts in all major mining regions who can assess a mine’s process and determine whether the Warman® MCR® 760 pump would provide the best solution."

Throughout the entire process of trialing, commissioning and installing the Warman® MCR® 760 pump at the Chilean mine, Weir worked closely with the operator to ensure there were minimum disruptions to production.

It has a service centre and workshop located nearby and Weir personnel are typically on-site three or four times a week to deal with any routine issues, while their close proximity to the customer ensures they can be there quickly if and when they’re required.

Weir personnel are also present for scheduled maintenance shutdowns; the impeller and liners are scanned and an operational duty report is provided to the customer. Weir evaluates the pumps’ performance, looks at how the cyclones are being fed and the metallurgy, as well as analysing the wear trends. Based on this data, Weir can then provide advice and recommendations to help them further optimise their operations.

*_This article was first published in International Mining, June 2024_

Warman® MCR® 760 was developed to address the current unprecedentedly-high flow rates and future tonnage increases required by miners

**Jose' Antonio Bautista**

Slurry Pumps Trails Manager