A mineral sands operation on the West Coast of South Africa will be using submersible pumps across various areas on the plant, with the aim of optimising performance and reliability.

Integrated Pump Technology key account manager JD Nel reveals that the company will be supplying Grindex Bravo submersible pumps to the operation for a range of pumping applications, where the plant had been experiencing premature failure on competitor pumps.

Nel says that when it comes to pumping in harsh applications such as this it is vital that the operating parameters are assessed to ensure that the correct pump is specified. Nel explains that Integrated Pump Technology completed an on-site assessment at the mine before proposing a solution that would achieve the required flow and head.

“Pumping in a mineral sands operation requires robust pumps constructed of the correct materials to deal with the abrasive nature of the material being transported. Further, in all applications at the plant the pumps are required to move fluids with high solids concentrations which is more complex than just pumping water,” Nel says.

In the first application, 20 Grindex Bravo 600 pumps featuring a 25.5% chrome content wet end will be pumping excess water overflow or spillage back into the system. These pumps offer a flow rate of 35 ℓ/second at a head of 25 m and are capable of handling particles sizes from 8 mm to 40 mm with a specific gravity from 1.2 to 1.6. An agitator beneath the pump intake is designed to ensure effective material suspension and transfer, making these pumps ideal for the challenging conditions.

In addition, six Grindex Bravo 200 slurry pumps were provided to the customer for pumping spillage from the thickeners. These smaller pumps have the same features as the larger Bravo 600 units and are able to handle large particles.

Several Grindex Bravo Salvador sludge pumps designed for continuous unattended operation have also been deployed to handle drainage at the mineral sands plant.