Sludge Pumps

Tough Job For Sludge Pumps

Sludge pumps are primarily used for the pumping of sludge or slurry from one location to another. Sludge or slurry is a mixture of solid and liquid waste and is usually characterised by being highly abrasive which means that the job of sludge pumps is made that much more taxing. For this reason the sludge or slurry pumps have to be manufactured to exacting standards if they are to function in this extremely hostile environment.

The pumping of abrasive and corrosive materials is a requirement in industries such as various mining undertakings, including gold and silver mining and mining involving oil shale which is becoming increasingly popular as the price of oil maintains its high levels, making the exploitation of oil shale and sands economically viable. Sludge pumps are also used in the transport of human and animal waste to either settling ponds or to treatment plants.

Sludge pumps also have to be manufactured to exacting specification sin part because of the very nature of the material that they pump. The viscosity of the slurry is the challenge as this can change from day to day. The solution is not simply to alter the pumping characteristics i.e. speed of the sludge pump but to rather manufacture a sludge pump that is able to cope with changes in viscosity on a continual basis. This has resulted in the design of pumps that can handle abrasive liquid / solid mixes while continuing to perform per spec for long periods of time.

There are a variety of different types of sludge or slurry pumps each suited to a different application, slurry pumps include the single stage and multi stage slurry pumps, and the vertical split case slurry pump.  Each of these different types of slurry pump is manufactured for different environments, such as mining and sewerage treatment.

For more information on which type of the many sludge pumps available would be most suitable for your operation, contact us.