Water is present all over the place in mining and its management varies based on its function in the mining processes. In a current in-depth article by pumps major KSB, the corporate outlines how this in turn influences the number of applied sciences used in pumping water. “Alongside the secure supply and restoration of course of water is the challenge of removing floor water. Process water and groundwater comprise abrasive and corrosive elements in varying quantities which have an opposed affect on pump performance and life. Working conditions, distant locations, various temperature ranges and the dearth of electrical power are additionally highly influential elements.”
The copper mines in Chile and the iron ore mines in Western Australia could also be many thousands of miles aside, however these mining operations nonetheless require dewatering and the secure disposal of potentially contaminated water. “The same could be said of the coal mines of Mozambique and the silver mines of Mexico. What all of them have in widespread is a requirement for environment friendly and efficient water and slurry pumps. Well-matched solutions assist to maximize the longevity and effectivity of the system and likewise optimise cost-performance ratios, all attributes fulfilled by KSB’s Hard Rock Mining Division.”
The changing face of mining
The seek for extra uncommon and valuable minerals and metals has opened up mining in countries and locations where previously the industry was small scale or non-existent. Consequently, mining firms and gear manufacturers have had to develop new techniques and products. And with the most important mining companies having operations in plenty of world locations, changing into a preferred equipment supplier is essential. “The dewatering market is slowly shifting from a pure CAPEX viewpoint to an more and more OPEX perspective,” stories Brett Lewis, Mining Manager at KSB Australia. “This is particularly true for the big mines that realize that poorly designed equipment that often fails, causes a big increase in alternative and servicing cost. Some mining companies at the moment are committing to a carbon impartial target within the next 20 to 30 years, so are focussing on excessive effectivity equipment. pressure gauge octa want to part out diesel reliance by connecting most bores to their native electrical grid.”
KSB says it’s conscious that mining corporations are recording pump efficiency and are accumulating information to match manufacturers and better rank their qualities or deficiencies. “This is nice information for KSB as the corporate is committed to delivering high reliability and effectivity pumps, so serving to to cut back the carbon footprint of mining dewatering operations.
Is there a ‘one-fits-all’ pump solution?
KSB says the reply to it is a resounding ‘no’, but “by sharing experiences between offices and in addition incessantly working with the identical worldwide mining companies, KSB has been capable of develop acceptable solutions. KSB’s involvement within the iron ore industries in Brazil and Australia reveal two completely different approaches to dewatering, each using vertical multi-stage pumps.”
In Brazil’s Minas Gerais State open pit iron ore mines extreme floor water, monsoons and underground lakes are issues. To maintain steady manufacturing water needs to be pumped to a dewatering lake which has a dynamic water degree that should be raised two or three times a 12 months. KSB Brazil’s solution is a floating station fitted with KSB vertical turbine B pumps positioned over a pontoon (Fig.1). The pontoon rises and falls with adjustments in the water degree so there is not any need for the pumps to be repositioned. This ends in cost-savings to the shopper. After 20 successful years it has become the usual for this sort of gear in South America.
“The floating station supporting the pumps over the pontoon delivers the flow price requested by the client,” explains Jardel Ribeiro, Sales Manager, KSB Brazil. “Sometimes the pumps, excessive energy motors and related gear leads to the dimensions of the floating station being increased. Stabilizing tools that weighs greater than 200 t requires plenty of planning, along with the challenge of building a system in such a remote space.”
Boreholes in Australia
In the Pilbara Region of Western Australia iron ore is mined in several locations around the Chichester hub zone, an space between 5 and 9 km broad and eighty km long. The mineral deposit sits between ninety m and 117 m beneath the surface. With the groundwater and water desk often replenished in wet seasons and cyclones adding to the inundation, greater than 75% of the iron ore is under the water table. If pressure gauge octa with iron ore, it becomes low grade and unsuitable for export, which outcomes in huge income losses. Also, surface dewatering processes are extremely costly if the water could be very excessive.
The accepted dewatering process within the area is to pump the water out through boreholes. However, this isn’t without its challenges. High water temperatures and excessive salinity end in extreme corrosion, while iron micro organism can grow on motors which prevent efficient motor cooling. The presence of fuel is a continuing threat in some areas as this causes fuel lock on the impellers resulting in heavy vibrations, which locations a great strain on the motor, lack of flow rate and motor failure.
This implies that standard off-the-shelf products are not all the time suitable and the incidence of failures is high. Typically, most bore pumps fail inside 12 months, and generally only a few weeks. At its Hope Valley facility in Western Australia, KSB provides mine operators with its UPA multistage borehole pump, customised to resist web site conditions. Although a dearer product than its opponents, the UPA has been shown to deliver a considerably longer working life and lowered costs of possession. KSB’s proprietary technology that inhibits the expansion of iron bacteria makes the UPA a winner.
Trailer mounted items
In Africa the environment and minerals being mined require progressive approaches to dewatering. In the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, house to several open minimize and underground copper mines wet seasons wreak flooding havoc. Here, pressure gauge octa is delivering several completely different pumping solutions involving each UPA Z borehole pumps and surface-mounted Omega pumps. “To prevent mining operations from being shut down, a fast localised response is required,” says Rob Bond, Area Manager Mining-Sub-Saharan Africa. “Our answer has been to provide Omega pumps mounted on tough terrain trailers. We supply an entire package deal made up of the pump, engine/motor, couplings, gearbox, hydraulic drives and auxiliary gear including vacuum pump, control panels, displays and so forth that delivers excessive head pumping.”
A similar solution is also offered for the open forged Moatize coal mine in Mozambique the place the water ranges should stay low for steady production reliability. Whilst borehole pumps supply good reliability on a relentless foundation, when the wet season starts, more sources are in demand KSB SA offers skid-mounted Omega items. To date, KSB SA has provided 152 models and all are working reliably.
Latin America
In Mexico’s Zacatecas silver mines underground water is a constant drawback. According to Roberto Valenzuela, Sales Manager Mining KSB Mexico, the water incorporates strong particles so the excessive stress encapsulated UPA borehole pumps must be wear-resistant for long run effectivity. Because the dewatering pumps work at a high pace, the impellers and the wear ring can undergo from untimely put on. Using Multitec horizontal multistage pumps with KSB’s C6 standard chrome coating, put on is tremendously minimised. “We have had pumps running on this mine for over two years with out the impellers being changed,” says Roberto Valenzuela. “It is a solution that no competitor offers, and adds value for the client via lowered maintenance, spare components and larger mining uptime.”
In Chile’s Atacama Desert copper and gold is mined at altitudes ranging between 2,000 m and four,500 m. Remote websites, mine depths and the unavailability of electricity needed to drive high capacity pumps complicate dewatering. High volumes of water contaminated by minerals can delay drilling and blasting and lead to environmental air pollution. KSB Chile has met these challenges by supplying encapsulated borehole pumps and cantilevered Etanorm pumps, pushed by diesel motors.
“Our clients require high-pressure pumps in a modular configuration that can be moved with the expansion of the open pit,” comments Patricio Araya, Mining Head KSB Chile. “The answer is to use horizontally positioned borehole pumps with a special configuration for sand filters encased in a strain shroud. This offers the customer flexibility and flexibility as a end result of the tools is compact, develops high pressures and is simple to maneuver around the website.
To accommodate increasing flows and discharge pressure pumps are configured in sequence and in parallel particularly for the client’s necessities. Being coupled to diesel engines permits steady, autonomous operation in places without electrical energy for between 12 and 24 hours with out refuelling. Vertical Etanorm pumps and cantilever-type UPA pumps put in on a raft enabling them to deal with the accumulation of water contained in the mine, eliminating components corresponding to adverse suction head at excessive altitudes. KSB gear for mine drainage is equipped in standard variations, with variations for rafts or properly pumps put in in strain jackets. Having viable options for dewatering provides value to the customers operations and can additionally be necessary as a outcome of annually minerals are found at deeper ranges.
Innovation in Indonesia
Indonesia is among the world’s largest exporters of thermal coal, and likewise a serious player in copper, gold, tin, bauxite, and nickel. Here KSB pumps are acknowledged for their outstanding capability to perform in extreme open pit mine websites. Its development of dewatering and dredge pump units (DnD), as an answer for mining applications, particularly for open-pit mine websites is one instance of KSB’ dedication to continuous product enchancment and development. To date, more than 260 DnD pumps with GWI® LCC and LSA pumps have been installed in mines throughout Indonesia and South East Asia. In 2013, KSB Indonesia launched a new mannequin, the DnD Cruiser with enhancements requested by prospects.
KSB builds the whole diesel pushed pump unit on a barge, full with gas tank, vacuum pump, control panel and so on, and ships them on trailers for easy commissioning at web site. Because monsoon rains are seasonal dewatering can be a seasonal exercise and this means pumps can stand idle for a number of months during the dry durations. Recognising this example, KSB has launched a rental programme, whereby the pumps are supplied fully-kitted out according to the customer’s requirements. By not having to purchase the pump units, clients are relieved of the costs of possession and know that after they require models they arrive ready for operation.
Summary
KSB’s mine dewatering techniques allow the secure and environment friendly lowering of groundwater in open pit dewatering, underground drainage and borehole drainage applications. Regardless of a mine’s location, the sort of mining operation being carried out, the geological and the aggressive and corrosive nature of the water, KSB has fluid handling technologies that will fit all eventualities. This scenario has come about through the cross-fertilisation of ideas, applied sciences and experiences gained over many decades by our corporations around the world, supported by extensive investment in research and improvement. Wherever a pumping answer is required, we are able to bring a co-ordinated response to the desk.
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