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A guide to common slurry pump and gland problems and how you can overcome them.
Symptoms - Hopper Overflows
Possible causes:
- Pump not primed
- Excessive amount of air or gas in liquid
- Inlet of suction pipe insufficiently submerged
- Blocked suction line
- Suction valve closed
- Inlet pipe diameter too small or length of inlet pipe too long
- Pump speed too slow or wrong direction of rotation
- Coupling or drive belts not transmitting power
- Total head of system higher than design head
- Specific gravity of liquid different from design
- Entrained air in pump, pump hopper requires baffles
- Badly installed pipeline or gaskets partly blocking pipe
- Foreign matter in impeller
Symptoms - Overheating or Seizure of Pump
Possible causes:
- Pump not primed
- Insufficient margin between suction pressure and vapour pressure
- Operation at very low capacity
- Drive misalignment
- Lack of lubrication
- Improper installation of bearings
- Rotating part rubbing on stationary part
- Impeller out of balance, resulting in vibration
- Excessive thrust caused by a mechanical failure inside the pump
- Excessive amount of lubricant in bearing housing causing high bearing temp
Symptoms - Short Bearing Life
Possible causes:
- Drive misalignment
- Shaft bent
- Rotating part rubbing on stationary part
- Bearings worn
- Impeller out of balance, resulting in vibration
- Shaft running off-centre because of worn bearings or misalignment
- Lack of lubrication
- Excessive amount of lubricant in bearing housing causing high bearing temp
- Improper installation of bearings
- Dirt getting into bearings
- Rusting of bearings due to water getting into housing
Symptoms - Vibration and noise from Pump
Possible causes:
- Pump or suction pipe not completely filled with liquid
- Suction lift too high
- Insufficient margin between suction pressure and vapour pressure
- Foot valve too small
- Foot valve partially clogged
- Inlet of suction pipe insufficiently submerged
- Operation at very low capacity
- Badly installed pipe line or gaskets partly blocking pipe
- Drive misalignment
- Rotating part rubbing on stationary part
- Shaft running off-centre because of worn bearings or misalignment
- Foreign matter in impeller
Symptoms - Packing has short life
Possible causes:
- Misalignment
- Shaft bent
- Shaft or shaft sleeves worn or scored at the packing
- Packing improperly installed
- Shaft running off-centre because of worn bearings or misalignment
- Gland sealing water flow inadequate due to worn shaft seal components
- Gland sealing water pressure inadequate
- Dirt or grit in sealing liquid, leading to scoring shaft sleeve
- Expeller worn or blocked
- Excessive clearance at bottom of stuffing box, forcing packing into pump
Symptoms - Leakage from the stuffing box
Possible causes:
- Misalignment
- Shaft bent
- Shaft or shaft sleeves worn or scored at the packing
- Packing wrong size
- Packing improperly installed
- Incorrect type of packing for operating conditions
- Shaft running off-centre because of worn bearings or misalignment
- Gland sealing water pressure too high causing packing extrusion
- Dirt or grit in sealing liquid, leading to scoring shaft sleeve
- Expeller worn or blocked
- Excessive clearance at bottom of stuffing box, forcing packing into pump
Symptoms - Excessive motor power required
Possible causes:
- Speed too high
- Wrong direction of rotation
- Total head of system higher than design
- Total head of system lower than design
- Specific gravity of liquid different from design
- Viscosity of liquid differs from that for which designed
- Misalignment
- Shaft bent
- Rotating part rubbing on stationary part
- Packing improperly installed
- Gland too tight, resulting in no flow of liquid to lubricate packing
Symptoms - Pump loses prime
Possible causes:
- Pump or suction pipe not completely filled with liquid
- Suction lift too high
- Excessive amount of air or gas in liquid
- Air pocket in suction line
- Air leaks into suction line
- Air leaks into pump through stuffing box
- Inlet of suction pipe insufficiently submerged
- Blocked suction line
- Foreign matter in impeller
- Inlet pipe diameter too small or length of inlet pipe too long
- Entrained air in pump. Pump hopper requires baffles
- Badly installed pipe line or gaskets partly blocking pipe
Symptoms - Insufficient pressure
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Possible causes:
- Excessive amount of air or gas in liquid
- Speed too slow
- Total head of system higher than design
- Viscosity of liquid differs from that for which designed
- Entrained air in pump. Pump hopper requires baffles
- Badly installed pipe line or gaskets partly blocking pipe
- Impeller damaged or worn
- Casing gasket defective, permitting internal leakage
- Foreign matter in impeller
Symptoms - Reduced discharge delivery
Possible causes:
- Pump or suction pipe not completely filled with liquid
- Suction lift too high
- Insufficient margin between suction pressure and vapour pressure
- Excessive amount of air or gas in liquid
- Air pocket in suction line
- Air leaks into suction line
- Air leaks into pump through stuffing box
- Foot valve too small
- Foot valve partially clogged
- Inlet of suction pipe insufficiently submerged
- Blocked suction line
- Inlet pipe diameter too small or length of inlet pipe too long
- Speed too slow - slippage of vee belts
- Speed too slow - incorrect size pulleys
- Speed too slow - incorrect "pole" of electric motor
- Wrong direction of rotation
- Total head of system higher than design
- Viscosity of liquid differs from that for which designed
- Entrained air in pump. Pump hopper requires baffles
- Badly installed pipe line or gaskets partly blocking pipe
- Foreign matter in impeller
Symptoms - Failure to discharge
Possible causes:
- Pump not primed
- Pump or suction pipe not completely filled with liquid
- Suction lift too high
- Insufficient margin between suction pressure and vapour pressure
- Air pocket in suction line
- Inlet of suction pipe insufficiently submerged
- Blocked suction line
- Inlet pipe diameter too small or length of inlet pipe too long
- Speed too slow
- Total head of system higher than design
- Impeller damaged or worn
- Foreign matter in impeller
Steps for the correct fitting of packing into the stuffing box
1. Packing is normally available in pre-cut and formed rings, or alternatively the user can cut rings from a roll.
2. It is critical that each packing ring is cut to the correct length.
3. The packing cut should be at an angle of 45°, ie, a scarf joint.
4. The packing should fill the annulus. A length of key steel or similar should be used to push the packing into the stuffing box. Care should be taken to start fitting the packing on the joint side and then work around the ring to the opposite side. This should prevent stretching the ring, which could lead to overlap at the cut.
5. The packing should push in easily. If not, check the section dimensions. If incorrect the packing should be replaced. Do not roll formed rings.
6. Each packing should be tamped into position before fitting the next packing. Optimum arrangements for multiple rings of packing are shown below.
7. When all packing rings have now been fitted, assemble the gland and nip the bolts to flatten packing rings evenly. Do not tighten fully.
8. Run the pump. If excessive leakage occurs, tighten the bolts slightly and leave for at least an hour. Repeat if excessive leakage continues. Note that a good steady even drip or constant stream is desirable to cool and lubricate the gland
Slurry pumps are a commonly used machine that uses centrifugal force to increase the energy of solid-liquid mixed media. These machines are used in a multitude of different industries such as mining, metallurgy, and construction. Considering how integral they are to many work operations, it’s important to understand how to address common problems that affect how slurry pumps perform.
While this may seem complicated, it’s definitely something that you will be capable of as long as you are well informed about the issues that can affect your pump. If you want to know more about this, read on as we break down three common slurry pump problems and how to fix them!
The last thing you want for your pump is an unstable flow. To make matters worse, an unstable flow from the pump can be rather tricky to fix. This is because the solution will fully depend on what the main issue is. Here are a couple of things to check for.
The first thing you’ll want to check is the suction pipe or the bottom valve. If there is any amount of leakage, then it would be best to seal this up. You’ll also want to clear any sludge you find in it, as this can also contribute to the unstable flow.
You’ll also want to check the sealing ring or the impeller. If these parts are damaged then it can contribute to the unstable flow of your slurry pump. Unfortunately, there is no other solution for a faulty sealing ring and impeller other than to replace the damaged parts.
Cavitation refers to the process of vaprisation bubbles rapidly forming in the liquids that move through the pump. This can negatively affect your pump’s performance as well as the erosion of critical pump parts.
Contrary to popular belief, cavitation has nothing to do with temperature. If you want to fix cavitation, then focus on pressure. You’ll want to control the suction liquid surface pressure and make sure that it isn’t too low. You can also try to reduce the height of your slurry pump as this may be what’s causing cavitation.
The slurry pump seal can fail due to a variety of different reasons. To address this problem as best as possible, you first have to determine the main cause of the faulty seal.
The seal can be problematic from the get-go as something may have gone wrong during the installation process. To see if this is the case, just perform a static pressure test. If the leak is small then the problem is most likely the moving ring or static ring sealing ring in the small shift. For larger leaks, then it may be the dynamic and static ring friction pairs.
Aside from the reason mentioned above, sometimes the seal really just wears out over time. Cavitation can speed this process up so you’ll want to make sure that you address it to prevent your seals from wearing down too quickly. If this is the case, then it’s time to have it replaced.
We hope this article proves to be useful in helping you deal with any problems that can hamper the performance of your slurry pump. As you can see, many of these issues are rather easy to manage as long as you are well informed about the problems. With that being said, if a problem seems like it is beyond the limits of your expertise then it would be wise to leave it to the professionals or get the pump replaced altogether. The last thing you want is to damage the pump even further as this can further delay your day-to-day operations.
Egger Pumps has gained a reputation as an industrial pump supplier offering superior products that are tested to the highest standards. Our brand of wastewater pumps is built to withstand the harshest conditions and can accommodate the most arduous materials. If you’re looking for an established industrial pump supplier, trust only Egger Pumps. Contact us today to learn more about our products.
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