WEAR ELEMENT FOR A SLURRY PUMP

Abstract

A wear element for a slurry pump. At least a portion of the wear element produces a magnetic field for attracting magnetic particles in a slurry processed by the slurry pump. The wear element includes a magnet arranged to generate a protective wear layer on a surface of the wear element. The slurry pump includes a pump housing and a wear element within the pump housing. At least a portion of the wear element produces a magnetic field for attracting magnetic particles present in a slurry processed by the slurry pump. A protective wear layer is formed in a slurry pump by arranging a wear element in a housing of the slurry pump. At least a portion of the wear element produces a magnetic field. A slurry including magnetic particles is pumped through the slurry pump and the magnetic particles are attracted by the magnetic field to create the protective wear layer.

Claims

1. A wear element for a slurry pump arrangeable in a pump housing, wherein at least a portion of the wear element produces a magnetic field for attracting magnetic particles in a slurry processed by the slurry pump, and wherein the wear element comprises one or more permanent magnets in at least portions thereof for producing the magnetic field, arranged such to generate formation of a protective wear layer on a surface of the wear element when used in a slurry pump.

2. (canceled)

3. The wear element according to claim 1, comprising a casing liner of a slurry pump.

4. The wear element according to claim 3, wherein the casing liner comprises a peripheral portion and at least one of a front liner and a back liner.

5. The wear element according to claim 1, comprising a suction liner.

6. The wear element according to claim, comprising a pump impeller.

7. The wear element according to claim 1, wherein the wear element is made of metal.

8. The wear element according to claim 3, wherein the casing liner is made of polymer.

9. The wear element according to claim 3, wherein the one or more permanent magnets are embedded in the wear element and arranged end to end.

10. The wear element according to claim 9, wherein the one or more permanent magnets are arranged with opposing poles facing one another.

11. A slurry pump comprising a pump housing and a wear element arranged within the pump housing, wherein at least a portion of the wear element produces a magnetic field for attracting magnetic particles present in a slurry processed by the slurry pump, and wherein the wear element comprises permanent magnets in at least portions thereof for producing the magnetic field, which magnet is arranged such to generate formation of a protective wear layer on a surface of the wear element when slurry is processed by the slurry pump.

12. (canceled)

13. The slurry pump according to claim 11, wherein the wear element comprises at least one of a casing liner, a suction liner, and a pump impeller.

14. The slurry pump according to claim 13, wherein the wear element is made of polymer and comprises permanent magnets embedded therein, the permanent magnets being arranged end to end with opposing poles facing one another.

15. The slurry pump according to claim 13, wherein the wear element is made of metal and comprises permanent magnets embedded therein, the permanent magnets being arranged end to end with opposing poles facing one another.

16. The slurry pump according to claim 13, wherein the wear element comprises a suction liner and the axial distance between a flange end of the suction liner and a front end of an impeller of the slurry pump, also referred to as the nose gap, prior to use is from 2 to 10 mm.

17. The slurry pump according to claim 11, wherein the pump housing is annular.

18. A method for producing a protective wear layer in a slurry pump comprising the steps of: arranging a wear element in a housing of the slurry pump, wherein at least a portion of the wear element produces a magnetic field, and wherein the wear element comprises a permanent magnets in at least portions thereof for producing the magnetic field; and pumping a slurry comprising magnetic particles through the slurry pump, whereby magnetic particles of the slurry are attracted by the magnetic field, thereby creating the protective wear layer on a surface of the wear element.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] The disclosure will by way of example be described in more detail with reference to the appended schematic drawings, which show presently preferred embodiments of the disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a perspective, partly cross-sectional view of a portion of a slurry pump with a wear element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 2 shows a perspective, partly cross-sectional view of a portion of a slurry pump with a wear element according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a wear element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a wear element according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferred embodiments of the disclosure are shown. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness, and to fully convey the scope of the disclosure to the skilled person.

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a portion of a slurry pump 1 in accordance with an embodiment of this disclosure. The slurry pump 1 comprises a pump housing 2 and a wear element 23 arranged within the pump housing 2. The slurry pump 1 further comprises an impeller 4 and an impeller shaft 5, which holds the impeller 4, and which extends through an outside of the pump housing 2. The impeller is thus also arranged within the pump housing 2.

[0036] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the wear element 23 embodies a casing liner 3 of the slurry pump 1. The casing liner 3 comprises a front portion 8, a peripheral portion 9, and a back portion 10. The casing liner 3 is thus U-shaped. More particularly, the back portion 10 corresponds to the back liner of the slurry pump 1, thus the casing liner 3 is integrated with the back liner 10 of the slurry pump 1. The casing liner 3 further comprises portions that produce a magnetic field. More particularly, the casing liner 3 comprises permanent magnets 6 arranged along the surface 7 of the casing liner 3, which is a surface that is contacted by slurry during operation of the slurry pump 1. The permanent magnets 6 are here embedded in the casing liner 3 and distributed uniformly along the surface 7 of the front portion 8, the peripheral portion 9, and the back portion 10 in an end to end manner. The permanent magnets may be arranged with opposing poles facing one another, such to create a plurality of small magnetic field arcs for generating a uniform protective layer on the casing liner 3 during operation of the slurry pump 1. For a uniform distribution of the magnetic field over the casing liner 3, the permanent magnets 6 are relatively short in length. As an example, the permanent magnets 6 may be 1-10 cm long. In a preferred embodiment, the permanent magnets 6 are 2-8 cm long. In a more preferred embodiment, the permanent magnets 6 are 3-5 cm long. This allows creating a uniform protective wear layer on the wear element 23.

[0037] The space between the impeller 4 and the casing liner 3 of the slurry pump 1 is typically called the base circle 17. In the slurry pump 1 comprising the magnetic casing liner 3, the base circle 17 is deeper than that generally used for slurry pumps. This is advantageous in order to prevent the impeller 4, generally made of metal, from being affected by the magnetic field produced in portions of the casing liner 3. Increasing the depth of the base circle 17 allows radially moving particles to slow down before they contact the surface 7 of the casing liner 3, thereby minimizing aggressive particle impingement and, thus, wear of the surface 7. During use of the slurry pump 1, build-up of an autogenous layer on the magnetic casing liner 3 further protects the wear element 23 from being worn. Thus, although an increased depth of the base circle 17 of a slurry pump 1 generally leads to reduced efficiency of the pump 1, the gain obtained from the magnetic casing liner 3, reducing wear considerably, compensates for and overcomes such a drawback. However, providing a shallow base circle 17 in combination with a wear element 23 comprising at least a portion that produces a magnetic field is also possible within the concept of the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a portion of a slurry pump 1 in accordance with an embodiment of this disclosure. The slurry pump 1 of this embodiment comprises essentially the same elements as that disclosed in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. However, in this exemplifying embodiment, the slurry pump 1 comprises several wear elements 23 comprising portions that produce a magnetic field. The wear elements 23 here comprise a casing liner 3 and a suction liner 13. The casing liner 3 is in accordance with that described with respect to FIG. 1. The suction liner 13 comprises a cylindrical portion 14 and a flange portion 15. The cylindrical portion 14 extends into the suction inlet of the slurry pump 1 and is coaxial with the impeller shaft 5. The flange portion 15 extends from the cylindrical portion 14 in a radial direction thereof and within the impeller housing 2. The flange portion 15 here corresponds to the front liner 15 of the slurry pump 1. In this embodiment, both the cylindrical portion 14 and the front liner 15 comprise permanent magnets 6 embedded therein close to the surface of the suction liner 13 which is contacted by slurry during operation of the slurry pump 1. It is possible, however, to provide permanent magnets 6 in the front liner 15 only, or in the cylindrical portion 14 only, within the context of the present disclosure. Further, the skilled person realizes that providing permanent magnets in a particular portion of the cylindrical portion 14, the flange portion 15 or of the casing liner 3, is also conceivable and in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0039] Further, a distance 19 between the flange end 16 of the suction liner 13 and the front end 18 of the impeller 4, also referred to as the nose gap 19, is shown in FIG. 2. Due to the wear element 23 comprising portions which produce a magnetic field, allowing magnetic particles passing by to stick to the surface thereof and thereby generating an autogenous layer protecting the wear element 23 from wear, the nose gap 19 can be increased at mounting. This facilitates the mounting process. During operation of the slurry pump 1, an autogenous layer will be generated on the surface of the flange end 16 of the suction liner 13, thereby reducing the nose gap 19 and, thus, recirculation of slurry within the slurry pump 1.

[0040] FIG. 3 shows a wear element 30 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. In the embodiment shown, the wear element 30 embodies a casing liner 30 arrangeable within the housing of a slurry pump. The casing liner 30 is here made of rubber. However, providing the casing liner of another polymer material is also conceivable within the concept of this disclosure, as is providing a full metal casing liner or a liner of a composite material. The casing liner 30 comprises a front portion 8, a peripheral portion 9, and a back portion 10. Here, only the peripheral portion 9 of the casing liner 30 comprises permanent magnets 6 embedded therein. The permanent magnets 6 are distributed uniformly around the extension of the peripheral portion 9 of the casing liner 30 up to a discharge portion 22 of the casing liner. Thus, when arranged in a pump housing of a slurry pump processing a slurry comprising magnetic particles, the permanent magnets 6 will attract magnetic particles of the slurry to stick to the surface 7 of the peripheral portion 9 of the casing liner 30, thereby forming a protective wear layer thereon.

[0041] FIG. 4 shows a wear element 40 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. In this embodiment, the wear element 40 embodies a pump impeller 40 arrangeable in a slurry pump. The pump impeller 40 here comprises permanent magnets 6 embedded in portions of the pump impeller 40 which are generally susceptible to wear. In this particular embodiment, the permanent magnets 6 are embedded in portions of the front end 18 of the pump impeller 40. The pump impeller 40 further comprises permanent magnets 6 embedded in radially extending inner portions 24 of the pump impeller 40. However, providing permanent magnets 6 embedded in other portions of the pump impeller 40 is also possible within the concept of this disclosure.

[0042] The person skilled in the art realizes that the present disclosure by no means is limited to the preferred embodiments described above. On the contrary, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims.

[0043] For example, a wear element comprising electromagnets in portions thereof for producing a magnetic field is also possible within the concept of this disclosure, although it is a more laborious solution than that of providing permanent magnets in the wear element.

[0044] Further, according to some embodiments, the wear element comprises a composite material. That is, the wear element may be made of a composite material and comprise magnets in at least portions thereof. As an example, the wear element may be made of metal reinforced with ceramic particles. According to another example, the wear element is made of polymer reinforced with ceramic particles. Such ceramic particle reinforcement of the wear element provides increased wear resistance.

[0045] Additionally, variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by the skilled person in practicing the claimed disclosure, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.