Exacting Requirements Fulfilled
Mining is Mongolia's most important industry. In January 2007, KSB's subsidiary GIW
supplied one of the largest slurry pumps ever installed in a copper mine. The extremely
robust pump was built with state-of-the-art KSB technology for the Erdenet mine
in order to increase production output in the medium and long term. Per hour, the
horizontally installed centrifugal slurry pump is capable of handling up to 15,000
cubic metres of tailings left over from copper production.
The hydraulic components are made of highly wear-resistant white cast iron which is
particularly suitable to withstand the wear caused by handling this medium. The parts
have been manufactured and heat-treated at GIW's own foundry. A special software
has been used to optimize pump selection for the extreme conditions of this system.
Considerable cost reduction
The robust design of the shaft and bearings has been field tested and proven over the years resulting in long service life and high availability of the pump for the customer. The variable frequency drive controlled motor allows the pump speed to be
adjusted to match the fluctuations in system parameters such as flow rate, head and slurry specific gravity. It is possible to achieve a cost saving of up to 30% with the use of such an energy efficient hydro-transport system.
The ease of replacing wear parts and the high operating reliability result in low maintenance and servicing costs.
In the past, even larger pumps of this design have been supplied for dredging applications in several land reclamation projects. The KSB product quality and service professionalism has obviously impressed the customer as several submersible borehole pumps have already been supplied to Erdenet in the past few years.
