In any slurry transport system, engineers fight a constant battle to reduce wear and increase productivity. Many factors affect those goals, but one of the biggest is the design of the slurry system itself.
Because pipelines are closed, it’s often hard to imagine how changes in design lead to changes in performance — for better or for worse. To allow engineers to actually see these changes, GIW Industries, Inc., offers a live demonstration of common slurry system operations challenges with its Slurry Loop model.
THE SLURRY LOOP IN ACTION
Recently, attendees got to see the Slurry Loop in person at the KSB/GIW Industries booth at the 2015 CIM Conference in Montreal, Onatario.
At the KSB/GIW Industries booth, visitors watched in fascination as GIW’s Slurry Loop demonstration gave them a close-up view of the slurry process that they could never witness in normal operations. The Slurry Loop, a portable pipe system modeled in clear plastic tubing, provides a way to see how the physics of particle transport works inside a slurry system.
ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS OF PARTICLE TRANSPORTATION
Scott Gillum, product manager for GIW Minerals’ MDX and FGD slurry pump lines, conducted the demonstrations, which highlight three essential concepts of particle transportation in pipelines:
- Small particle transport—Surprisingly, not large particles, but small particles the size of beach sand are the most difficult to pump.
- Cyclone operation—In the clear loop, a miniature cyclone demonstrates how particle separation happens inside a slurry system.
- Incline pipelines—In a moveable section of the model, visitors see how surging occurs in an inclined section of a pipeline.
The model is built to give users a visual representation of slurry pumping, but also to answer technical challenges that slurry system designers and engineers face. The clear Slurry Loop gives visitors the opportunity to see what happens inside a pipe and learn how bends and velocities affect flows.
APPEAL TO A WIDE VARIETY OF USERS
The Slurry Loop also wowed attendees of the 2015 SME Conference and Expo in Denver, Colorado, where GIW slurry pump expert Reab Berry conducted the demonstrations. Berry, who is an experienced trainer with more than fifty years in the industry, conducted multiple demonstrations during each day of the conference. He says, “This demonstration has a high appeal to a wide variety of attendees, including customers, equipment representatives, potential customers, operators, plant managers, professors, consultants, a lot of students—and a few competitors.”
Providing an open forum for training and education is a core value of GIW Industries. Throughout its history, the company has offered formal training courses in slurry transport and pump maintenance, and regularly partners with universities and standards organizations to create documentation and train students. The company actively integrates training into all aspects of its customer service.
REACHING CUSTOMERS IN REAL TIME
In addition, the GIW Hydraulic Lab is an internationally known research center that continually brings the industry ground-breaking developments in computerized methods for pump selection and slurry wear analysis, and numerous advancements in slurry pump and pipeline technology.
Because this type of interactive display is very popular at trade shows, the Slurry Loop and other educational displays will continue to be a significant part of KSB/GIW outreach at trade shows and conferences.
Meilin Ruiz, GIW Marketing Specialist, says, “This type of interactive display is very popular at our shows. They draw a crowd and are very educational. Because they are in demand, we are developing new interactive displays that will become a regular part of our shows going forward.” ◆
Pam Aaron is brand manager for GIW Industries, Inc. and can be reached at 706.863.1011 or via paaron@giwindustries.com. GIW Industries, Inc. was established as a small, privately owned foundry and machine shop in 1891. By 1914 the company was supplying slurry pumps to the Florida phosphate industry. Over the years, GIW became known for its severe abrasive handling pumps and began a century of facility expansion and technology growth. In 1996 GIW became a full subsidiary of KSB and in 2014 the GIW® Minerals brand was established. Through the GIW® Minerals product brand, KSB strives to be an innovative partner that provides you with the best and longest wearing slurry solutions. We are your partner, today and in the future. For more information, visit www.ksb.com/giw-en.
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MODERN PUMPING TODAY, August 2015
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