50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for

Applications in the Alumina Industry

Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for
Applications in the Alumina Industry

Content of presentation

- Introduction

- History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

- Piston Diaphragm Pump Technology

- Applications in the alumina industry

- Future development

- References

- Summary

2 Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

 50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for
Applications in the Alumina Industry

Introduction

Foliennr. 3 Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

Introduction

A piston diaphragm pump is:

- A piston pump where the main pumping parts are separated from the slurry by means of a
rubber diaphragm

valve valve
piston

cylinder liner

valve
valve

4 Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

Introduction

A piston diaphragm pump is:

- A piston pump where the main pumping parts are separated from the slurry by means of a
rubber diaphragm

- Only wearing parts are suction and discharge valves

• Lower parts costs

• No leakages over piston

• Maintain high pressure capability

• Higher availablity

- Depending on abrasivity of slurry, extra costs for diaphragm configuration are amortized
within short period of time

5 Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

 50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for
Applications in the Alumina Industry

History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Piston diaphragm pump before

Piston diaphragm pump now

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Traditional

- Circular diaphragm pump

• Single diaphragm

• In case of leakage immediate

stop required

• Leakage indication after

leakage has occurred

• Complicated propelling liquid

compensation system

Single circular diaphragm

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Present

- Tubular diaphragm pump

• Double diaphragm

• In case of leakage pumping

can continue

• Leakage indication as soon as

leakage occurs

• Simple mechanical propelling

liquid compensation system

Double tubular diaphragm

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Piston diaphragm pump performance range

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Piston diaphragm pump performance range

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Piston diaphragm pump : 1000 m³/hr @ 85 bar

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Largest Piston Diaphragm Pump in the world

• Weight : > 150 ton

• Driving power : > 3.000 kW

• Maximum capacity : 1.000 m³/hr

• Maximum pressure : > 300 bar

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Previous applications in the mining and metallurgical industry

• Sewage sludge transfer : sludge transfer through short distance pipelines

up to 35 bar

• Filter press feed : feeding sludge into plate and frame filter
presses at 15 bar

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History of Piston Diaphragm Pumps

Current applications in the mining and metallurgical industry

• Underground mine dewatering : pumping dirty mine water from underground

to surface in one stage (up to 200 bar)

• Pressure vessel feed : autoclaves, digesters (up to 100 bar)

• Slurry concentrate transfer : pipeline transfer of copper, iron, gold, etc to

metallugical plant of port (500 km, > 250 bar)

• Slurry tailings transfer : pipeline transfer of copper, iron, gold tailings

to TSF (6.000 m³/hr @ 100 bar)

Piston diaphragm pumps are used as an alternative to multistage

centrifugal pumps

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 50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for
Applications in the Alumina Industry

Piston Diaphragm Pump Technology

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Piston Diaphragm Pump Technology

Configuration of piston diaphragm pumps:

• One piston single acting (1 diaphagm)

• One piston double acting (2 diaphragms)

• Two pistons double acting (4 diaphragms)

• Three piston single acting (3 diaphragms)

• Five piston single acting (5 diaphragms)

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Piston Diaphragm Pump Technology

New technology

• Valve Performance Monitoring System

• Acoustic sensor monitors valve performance

• In case of leak, extra noise is generated

• Noise is noticed by acoustic sensor

• Operators are informed by signal

• Catastrophic damage to valve is avoided

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Piston Diaphragm Pump Technology

New technology

• Pulsation Dampening System

• For pipeline applications with changing

discharge pressures

• Nitrogen charge pressure needs to be

adjustable, relative to the actual
discharge pressure

• Automatic nitrogen charge pressure

adjustment system ensures that
pulsations are stable at all discharge
pressures

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Piston Diaphragm Pump Technology

New technology

• Electronic Crankshaft Connection

• In case multiple pumps discharge in

one pipeline

• Pumps may run synchronus in

phase)

• As a result, pulsations will become

too high

• Electronic Crankshaft Connection

puts pumps automatically out of
phase

• Pulsations are minimized

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 50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for
Applications in the Alumina Industry

Applications in the Alumina Industry

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 Applications in the Alumina Inustry

Pipeline slurry transfer Digester feed Lime injection Red mud transfer

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

Transportation of bauxite

• From mine to refinery

• From port to refinery

• From refinery to port

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

First pump to be used for transportation of bauxite

• Plant : Paragominas, Brazil

• Year : 2005

• Q@H : 356 m³/hr @ 137 bar

First in India

• No applications in India

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

Digester feed

• Hatch Outotec Technology (HOT)

• Feed pressures up 100 bar

• Capacities up to 500 m³/hr

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

First pump to be used for digester feed

• Plant : VAW Stade, Germany

• Year : 1976

• Q@H : 325 m³/hr @ 90 bar

First in India

• Plant : Hindalco, Renukoot

• Year : 1996

• Q@H : 230 m³/hr @ 69 bar

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

Lime injection

• Alumina is separated from the

bauxite slurry by using a hot
solution of caustic soda and lime

• Feed pressures of lime is higher

than pressure in digester

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

First pump to be used lime

injection

• Plant : Sherwin Alumina, USA

• Year : 1999

• Q@H : 80 m³/hr @ 47 bar

First in India

• No applications in India

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

Red Mud transfer

• Centrifugal, multi station, Refinery

multi stage, multi pipeline

• Piston diaphragm, single

station, single pipeline

Multistage Piston
centrifugal diaphragm
pumps pumps

TSF

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

First pump to be used for red mud

transfer
Refinery
• Plant : K.A.P., Montenegro

• Year : 1979

• Q@H : 85 m³/hr @ 100 bar

First in India Multistage Piston

centrifugal diaphragm
• Plant : Nalco, Damanjodi pumps pumps

• Year : 2000

• Q@H : 312 m³/hr @ 71 bar

TSF

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

Applications of piston diaphragm pumps in the alumina industry

• Application Number of pumps in service worldwide

• Bauxite transfer 35

• Digester feed 160

• Lime injection 20

• Red mud transfer 80

• Total number of pumps in service 295

• Total number of pumps in service in India +/- 20

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Applications in the Alumina Inustry

Applications of piston diaphragm pumps in the alumina industry

Bauxite transfer Digester feed Lime injection Red mud transfer

32 Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

 50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for
Applications in the Alumina Industry

Future Development

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Future development

Hydraulically driven piston

diaphragm pump

Pump consisting of

• Hydraulic power pack

• Piston diaphragm pump

• Piston is driven by high pressure

hydraulic oil

• One cylinder can be shut down for

maintenance, during operation

• Virtually pulsation free

• Lower price than conventional

crankshaft driven piston diaphagm
pump

34 Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

 50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for
Applications in the Alumina Industry

References

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References

Bauxite transfer

• Capacity 350 m³/hr

• Pressure 150 bar

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References

Digester feed

• Capacity 350 m³/hr

• Pressure 90 bar

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References

Lime injection

• Capacity 34 m³/hr

• Pressure 92 bar

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References

Red mud transfer

• Capacity 95 m³/hr

• Pressure 120 bar

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 50 years of development of Piston Diaphragm Pumps for
Applications in the Alumina Industry

Summary

Foliennr. 40 Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

Summary

Piston diaphragm pumps are widely used in the alumina industry

• Piston diaphragm pumps are available for Q of < 1.000 m³/hr or H of > 300 bar

• Applications in the alumina industry

• Bauxite slurry transfer
• Digester feed
• Lime injection
• Red mud transfer

• In total approx 300 piston diaphragm pumps are or have been in service in the alumina
industry since 1976

• In total about 20 piston diaphragm pumps are or have been in service in the alumina
industry in India since 1996

• Modern piston diaphragm pumps are among others equipped with

• Valve Performance Monitoring Systems
• Pulsation dampners with automatic nitrogen charge pressure adjustment
• Electronic crankshaft connection

• New technologies are being developed which make piston diaphragm pumps even more
feasible

41 Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH

Thank you for your attention

Copyright FELUWA Pumpen GmbH