Vibration Hazard Of Slurry Pump

1. Affect the service life of centrifugal slurry pump parts

According to relevant statistics, equipment failures caused by the vibration of the slurry pump account for 74% of the slurry pump failures. During the operation of the pump, the centrifugal force increases the load of the bearing due to the imbalance, and the load of the slurry pump exceeds the permission of the slurry pump. Vibration within the range will cause the lubricating oil film on the surface of the bearing ball to be destroyed prematurely, and the bearing cannot be effectively lubricated and dissipated, resulting in an increase in the temperature of the bearing and faster damage.

2. Damaged leakage of mechanical seal

The impact of the vibration of the slurry pump on the service life of the mechanical seal is not as great as the vibration of the slurry pump on the use of the bearing, but it is also the main reason for the damage of the mechanical seal. At the same time, because the slurry pump uses mostly double-end face machine seals, the vibration of the machine seal will also cause the two end faces to be mixed with pulp particles during the friction process, which leads to the premature damage of the compression spring and the premature fatigue failure of the compression spring caused by vibration and the excessive wear of the mechanical seal O-ring cause leakage.

3. Wear and leakage of the pump body

In order to improve the working efficiency of the centrifugal pump, the spare parts inside the pump cavity, such as the impeller, front/rear guard plate, volute and other parts, are designed to minimize the gap between the parts (under the same conditions). The smaller the lower clearance, the higher the efficiency of the pump.) Vibration will cause the movement of the pump drive shaft and the movement of the shaft head. This movement will cause great harm to the internal parts of the pump cavity, and will also cause the impact of the guard plate and the impeller. Abrasion will cause damage to some of the spare parts, which will make the pump incapable of working or reduce the use efficiency, and the joint surface will leak due to the friction of the spare parts in the pump cavity.

4. Increased energy consumption of single equipment

The vibration of the centrifugal slurry pump will produce additional friction loss and uneven centrifugal force. This situation will not only reduce the stability of the pump operation, but also reduce the efficiency of the pump, making the pump useless when doing the same work. And produce higher power consumption.

5. The occurrence of broken shaft

For the drive shaft of the slurry pump, the shaft not only plays the role of driving rotation, but also makes the impeller run smoothly at a fixed position, and the vibration of the pump will cause the impeller to produce unbalanced centrifugal force, which will cause the end of the shaft to be unbalanced. The impeller is always in an unbalanced mounting platform and the stress generated by the shaft is too large. Long-term operation will inevitably produce metal fatigue and lead to the occurrence of broken shaft failure.

KTH Heavy Duty Slurry Pump

6 Steps to Take When You Have a Slurry Pump Vibration Issue

ㆍCheck the framework for loose bolts and/or cracked welds. A loose bolt or cracked weld can cause looseness and allow the pump to vibrate. Depending on the severity, this can lead to bearing failure.

ㆍUse some sort of listening device to detect irregular noise in the bearings. Most of the time if you are losing a bearing, you will hear a popping noise. If you are unsure of the noise you are hearing, go listen to a good bearing on another piece of rotating equipment so you can judge whether the noise you are hearing in the suspect bearing is abnormal.

ㆍCheck for coupling or sheave misalignment. Always check that keys are 180 degrees apart as this can be a source of imbalance.

ㆍOpen the wet end and check for blockage in the impeller vanes. Check for looseness of the impeller.

ㆍCheck and make sure the sheaves are correct for the speed at which you are supposed to be operating. If direct drive and running on a VFD, check your setting to ensure you are not running in the critical speed range.

ㆍCheck for airlocks. An airlock in the pump can cause a shut-off scenario, high vibration and ultimately pump failure.

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