Solids Handling Pump

Learn the important considerations for choosing the best pump for a high solid-laden application.

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This article includes:

  • Oil and Drill Mud Pumping
  • Liner-safe Dredging
  • Mine Waste and Mine Tailings Pumping
  • Wastewater Pumping
  • EDDY Pump – The Ultimate Solids Handling Pump

One of the biggest issues in the pump industry is that pump types are misapplied. They are put into applications that they are not suited to. Due to this, pumps are expected to do things that they were not designed to do. Sometimes this happens because a salesperson is focused on the pump types they have access to, rather than putting the customer’s needs first and suggesting a pump type that provides the specific value the customer needs.

One of the biggest challenges for many traditional pump types is the ability to pump large solids. Large solids are found in many pumping applications. Some examples of common solid-laden fluids are trash, debris, and rocks. The ability of a pump to handle these types of solids is crucial when choosing a pump for large solids applications. The two common types of pumps chosen for applications involving large solids are centrifugal and positive displacement. The issue with these pump types is that they can only pass solids that are half the size of the pump inlet diameter or smaller – usually smaller. This means that a centrifugal pump with a 6-inch diameter inlet port cannot pass any solids larger than 3-inches in diameter or less. Three of the major industries where solids handling pumps are most prevalent are the wastewater, mining, and oil drilling industries.

Oil and Drilling Mud Pumping

The Oil and Drilling Mud Industry has many pumping applications where mud must be moved from one area to another. When drilling mud comes from the boring hole the material is laden with rocks and cuttings. It is difficult, and in some cases impossible for centrifugal and positive displacement pumps to pump this material due to the lack of solids handling capabilities. In this example, what most often occurs is that the solid-laden material becomes clogged in the pump. For this reason, oil drilling companies often turn to very expensive vacuum truck services to come and vacuum up the drilling mud and transport it offsite. This type of application the EDDY Pump is ideally suited. The pump can be connected directly to a hopper or tank that is being filled with mud that is coming directly from the drilling rig. Then, the pump can move the mud thousands of feet downstream. The EDDY Pump is not just ideally suited for this type of application because of its ability to pass large solids, this pump is extremely wear-resistant to material containing abrasive particles. The EDDY Pump is capable of pumping solid-laden materials with solids that are almost the size of the diameter of the pump inlet porting. EDDY Pumps are available with porting diameter sizes ranging from 1-inch to 12-inches.

Dredge Pump Excavator Attachment Liner Safe

Liner-safe dredging options help to protect poly or clay liners that may be present in certain applications.

Liner-Safe Dredging

For the lined and unlined tailings pond reservoirs, EDDY Pump has various dredge configurations that are ideal for the solids handling needs of these reservoirs. One of the ideal dredge pump deployments is an excavator pump attachment with liner-safe wheels. The EDDY Pump Excavator Attachment not only is the best solids handling pump option, but also the least expensive and can pump the drilling mud miles downstream of the pump.

Mine Waste and Mine Tailings Pumping

In mining, there is a continuous need to move high solids from one process to another. This issue can get even more complex with high corrosive, abrasive and acidic slurries with high levels of solids. To Handle these high solid slurries, you need a pump that does not rely on close tolerances, and has adequate spacing between the impeller and volute which will allow the pump to pass abrasive, corrosive, and acidic solids.

Two of the most common solids-handling pump applications in the mining industry are tailings ponds and sumps. In tailings ponds, the residual acidic slurries gather for many years and fill the poly-lined ponds. Mineral water is often present, so a pump that can handle solids at a high concentration and often with large chunks of solids at sizes up to 12-inches are required. Another critical solids handling pump application within mining is draining the sumps that are common in mining and mineral processing facilities. These sumps collect a wide assortment of debris and cause major problems for centrifugal pumps. Often, it is so bad that costly vacuum trucks are brought in to remove the solid materials that the centrifugal pumps couldn’t handle. Both of these applications are a perfect example of areas where the solids handling EDDY Pump with its no-tolerance design can handle pumping the largest solids without causing any issues or downtime.

Wastewater Pumping

Finally, one of the most plagued solids handling pump industries is Wastewater treatment plants. As an example with the large influx of wet wipes being flushed down toilets, the solids handling capabilities of centrifugal pumps are being pushed beyond their limits regarding solids passage capabilities. Even with incorporating macerators and other choppers, the centrifugal solids handling pumps are clogging and constantly failing with burned motors and destroyed seals. These wet wipes are ideal for the EDDY Pump and pass through the large flow through design of the wetted path without any issues. In addition, the grit and other abrasives found in wastewater treatment facilities have little effect on the EDDY Pump.

EDDY Pump – The Ultimate Solids-Handling Pump

Using an EDDY Pump will allow you to pump high solids slurries while minimizing wear to pump components. This is achieved through the EDDY Pump’s highly recessed rotor, which comes into minimal contact with the abrasive particles found in the slurry. Additionally, the EDDY Pump lacks any critical tolerances which could lead to clogs in centrifugal pumps if large solids or rocks were to get stuck between the pump casing and the impeller. This is a common problem when using centrifugal pumps for slurries, and one of the reasons the EDDY Pump excels at slurry pumping. Our patented technology at EDDY pump has a high tolerance for pumping larger size solids than most other pumps available.

The large flow through design of the pump allows anything that can pass through the inlet porting, to move through the pump and exit through the discharge port of the pump. Our unique pump design allows for transfer of fluids than other pump types cannot accomplish. EDDY Pumps have been tested in numerous challenging applications across the world, and have succeeded time and time again in some of the harshest pump applications that exist.

Best Applications – Industries Most Served

The EDDY Pump Corporation is a premier manufacturer of pumping and dredging equipment. If you are pumping or dredging slurry, high solids, extremely viscous material, paste, high abrasives (sand & gravel) and material filled with solids, then you found the best suited product for the job. Go to: https://eddypump.com/ or Call Us!

Mining, Fly Ash, Coal Ash, Oil, Fracking, Gas, Wastewater, Pulp and Paper, Chemical, Energy, Water Municipalities, Irrigation, and Dredging Companies. For Access to Complete Product Line Go to: https://eddypump.com/

Order or Get Selection Help

Let our sales or engineering support help in your slurry pump and dredge equipment selection. Call (619) 258-7020

Why EDDY Pumps Are Better – Highlights

This video shows how EDDY Pump transports high slurry and abrasive materials. Featured dredge pump equipment includes the Remote Operated Subdredge, Diver Operated Pump and a Excavator Attachment Dredge Pump.