Bredel
pumps reduce downtime and maintenance at Australian water treatment plant
- Progressive cavity pumps failed when pumping
abrasive lime slurry
- Piston diaphragm pumps failed when pumping
corrosive chlorine
- Both applications solved by replacing with Bredel
SPX50 hose pumps
Since adopting
Bredel SPX50
hose pumps from Watson-Marlow Pumps Group in various parts of its process, the
water treatment plant at Kembla Grange has saved significant costs associated
with downtime and maintenance. The pumps were selected for tough applications
such as pumping abrasive lime slurry and corrosive chlorine solutions, which
were causing expensive and inconvenient failures of existing pumps.
Reliability paramountLocated some 50 km south of
Sydney, Australia, the water treatment and filtration plant at Kembla Grange is
operated by Veolia Water. It produces 210 ML/day of high quality drinking water
across the Illawarra region on behalf of Sydney Water. Failures and downtime
are simply not conducive to efficient operations, so having reliable equipment that
can be maintained safely and quickly is vital.
“When you add up the ongoing
hassles of other pumps types, it became evident that Bredel pumps were our
preference,” says Pino Taglieri, the plant’s Operations Supervisor. “The nature
of the hose pump - it just pushes the lime aside with its shoe, they’re gutsy
and get the job done.”
Hose pumps are well suited to
water treatment processes as they move fluid by compressing a shoe on to a
reinforced hose in a circular motion, pushing pockets of fluid downstream
quickly and easily by positive displacement.
Abrasive lime slurryOriginally, two progressive
cavity pumps had been specified and installed at Kembla Grange for dosing lime
slurry, which is used to maintain and control pH in water. However, the
abrasive nature of the substance wreaked havoc on the PC pump’s rotor and
stators.
“It was hard to maintain the
set-point flows and there were constant blockages,” states Mr Taglieri. “Depending
on the demand we’d go through rotors and stators every couple of months, which
was a costly exercise. On top of the parts, it would take two guys two hours to
fix, plus the hassle of cleaning the lines. A few years ago we replaced these
with
Bredel
SPX50s and the hoses last over a year. The performance of the pump was far
beyond our expectations and we had huge cost savings.”
The inherent design of Bredel
hose pumps means there are no intrusions in the flow path, eliminating any risk
of blockages. This makes them particularly adept at handling problematic fluids
such as abrasive lime, chemicals or sludge with high solids content, for
example.
Corrosive chlorineIt was a similar story in another
part of the plant where two piston diaphragm pumps were originally specified
and installed to pump a chlorine solution into a 750mm main at 16 bar. Chlorine
is a corrosive disinfectant, in effect bleach, making it a tough application.
“These pumps were a nightmare to
maintain, the amount of time and effort involved as well as getting the parts.
It would take up to a day and a half to get each pump up and running; from the
set-up, the timing, etc.”
Mr Taglieri again turned to
Bredel pumps for the solution. Bredel pumps are self-priming and dry-running,
making them easy to start and stop. Relative to other pump types, Bredel hose
pumps have one wearing part – the hose. In this instance, the two SPX50s
installed at Kembla Grange were fitted with
Hypalon hoses,
which offer excellent chemical resistance.
“They last 3-4 months and take an
hour to switch out - what a difference it has made,” adds Mr Taglieri.
Proven track recordIn truth, these two applications
are not the first time Bredel pump technology has saved the day at Kembla
Grange. Mr Taglieri has been on site here since day one and has seen multiple
investments in equipment upgrades over the years.
“We are constantly looking to
improve the processes on site as new technology becomes available,” he says.
During the design phase of the
plant in 1996, Mr Taglieri was engaged with consultants regarding some of the
equipment selection. A Bredel SP100 sludge pump was installed in the drying bed
area, and to this day, the site has only had to replace a single hose from wear
over a 16 year period.
“We have an old 100mm Bredel pump
used to transfer very thick sludge that is indestructible,” he confirms. “It is
turned on for only 2-3 hours a week, but literally we have serviced it twice
since it was commissioned. The first time was due to operator error, the second
time it was from wear, that’s it.”
It is clear that the engineering
behind Bredel hose pumps has more than paid off at Kembla Grange.
www.wmpg.co.uk