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Your Guide to HDS Corrosive Applications

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

When it comes to slurry, not just any pump will do. Over time, slurry will ultimately break down most standard pumps—you need something stronger. Our heavy duty slurry (HDS) pumps are built right here in the U.S., and are made to withstand HDS corrosive applications. 

Keep reading for more information about HDS corrosive applications and how to handle them. 

The Importance of Performance

If you think a standard water pump is strong enough to continually pump slurry without any problems, think again. Slurry is a unique mixture of very abrasive solids and liquids, and requires a special pump to move. 

You need a pump specific to slurry—and one that will continually perform, resist wear and tear, provide the necessary power, and be easy to maintain. Not all slurry pumps are created equal. Every pumping environment is different, and requires different things out of its machinery. Because of the variety of requirements, you need a variety of pump sizes, types, and mounts. Custom submersible and slurry pumps are a must if you want optimal performance and a long machine lifespan. 

So, When Do You Need an HDS Pump Vs. a Regular Slurry Pump? 

While a slurry pump will perform significantly better than a water pump, sometimes—with certain applications—you need something with extra heavy-duty capabilities. Here are a few examples of HDS corrosive applications:

Applications with a low pH balance or a high amount of chlorides can be very challenging and costly when using a standard submersible pump. Applications with a pH balance of one to four require special materials like casings, impellers, suction liners, and a stand varying from super duplex 2205 and 2507 to Alloy 20. 

In regards to applications with a higher pH balance, you can consider CD4MCUN, 316 stainless steel. In this case, material changes will also need to be made to the machined parts and bolting. 

When it comes to seal upgrades, most applications require a more robust seal, such as the John Crane 5840 in the 2205 material, as well as silica carbide faces. Keep in mind that most standard submersible motor manufacturers don’t make a stainless steel motor with a robust slurry seal option. 

Getting your hands on a motor flange that’s crafted from a material suitable to the application is crucial, as it protects both the seal and the motor flange from corrosion, and helps prevent seal failures. 

You’ll also need to select motor and control cables for your specific application. Most cable materials are suitable, but it’s important that you always check. 

Can Your Pump Handle HDS Corrosive Applications?

The Vulcan HDS slurry pump is a top product for us—and with good reason. They’re made with application-specific metallurgies to withstand both standard and atypical abrasion. Everything about our pumps is high-quality and American-made. Interested in learning more about our HDS pumps? Vulcan Pumps is poised to meet your needs and deliver quality on every front. Get in touch with us today.

Why Maintaining Your Slurry Pump Matters

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

When it comes to demanding industries like mining, steel production, and power generation, it’s not uncommon for slurry pumps to reach their breaking point before being taken care of. Unfortunately, even though this method of maintenance can lead to serious problems with machinery as well as costly downtime, too many industry professionals opt for this short-sighted way of doing things. 

Keep reading for some expert advice on slurry pump maintenance, and how it will save you time and money in the long run!

The Importance of Maintaining Your Slurry Pump

Aside from helping you avoid even costlier repairs and downtime in the future, proper slurry pump maintenance is crucial to getting the best possible performance out of your machinery. With the proper monitoring, you can be sure you fix little problems before they become big ones. 

Make sure you’re looking out for strange sounds, spikes in things like vibration or temperature, leakage, and more to keep your slurry pump in tip-top condition!

How to Maintain Your Slurry Pump to Avoid Failures

There are several specific things you can keep an eye on to avoid machine failure. Keep reading for a short checklist of things you can look for on your maintenance rounds to make your slurry pump last as long as possible. 

Premature Bearing Failure

Inadequate gland seal maintenance is one of the biggest contributing factors to bearing failure. Applying the right lubrication consistently—and adjusting the seal regularly—can help you avoid premature failure. 

Vibration as an Indicator of Health

Because all machines vibrate, slurry pump vibration can act as one of the earliest indicators of health. When monitoring your slurry pump’s vibration, you’ll want to be on the lookout for any changes. An exponential growth curve in vibration readings typically indicates that the machine is nearing the end of its life—while a sudden spike in vibration typically means a problem that could be solved. 

Throatbush Wear Rate

The throatbush has the shortest life compared to other components in your slurry pump. This means it has a significant impact on the overall efficiency and lifespan of your slurry pump. Adjusting and fine-tuning the throatbush can extend the life of your pump by 50%. 

Use Preventative Maintenance to Extend the Life of Your Slurry Pump

Don’t operate like other companies in your industry. Take the preventative maintenance approach, extend the life of your slurry pump, and avoid costly downtime with maintenance know-how and a trusted maintenance partner. Contact Vulcan Pumps today. 

Ways to Make Your Slurry Pump Maintenance Even Easier

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

When it comes to slurry pump maintenance, the main components you should be focused on are the seals. Whether you’re talking about packing seals or mechanical seals, this is the part most commonly replaced in slurry pumps. Keep reading for why that is—as well as some expert tips for prolonging the life of your slurry pump seals and avoiding costly downtime. 

Packing & Mechanical Seals

There’s a good reason seals are the most commonly replaced part in slurry pumps. It’s all too easy for abrasive particles to wear through packing or clog up mechanical seal components. If either of these things happen, the life of your slurry pump’s seal can be drastically reduced—leading to downtime. 

In an industry where downtime can cost tens of thousands of dollars, having to replace a seal should be avoided at all costs. But when it’s inevitable, we have some tips to help speed things along. 

Mechanical Seals

When dealing with mechanical seals, it’s usually the installation that’s the holdup. Component seals are easier to install than single-piece cartridge seals, but still come with their fair share of obstacles. For example, when installing a component seal, you have to decouple the power end and—more often than not—move pump components around. 

With large slurry pumps, this takes a lot of time—time you’re paying for. Because split seals have fewer components, they’re the obvious choice for quick and simple installation. And, while a few years ago you’d be sacrificing on lifespan, advancements in split seals design now negate that drawback. 

The only thing to keep in mind with split seals is that they don’t have the same features that a heavy-duty cartridge seal has. All this means is that you have to be extra mindful of your slurry pump environment. Have a clean flush available, and brush often to limit the amount of particulate that can get into the seal chamber. 

Replacing Packing

When it comes to packing, the most common obstacle is the lantern ring. Because lantern rings can easily get clogged, removing them isn’t easy and takes a lot of time. Not to mention, they can easily get off-axis and bind up in the stuffing box. 

To avoid these problems, a lot of slurry pump maintenance involves leaving the lantern ring in place and only replacing the rings above it. The best way to avoid these problems? It’s pretty simple—don’t use a lantern ring. 

The first three packing rings do the majority of the heavy lifting. The bottom rings mostly serve to keep solids out. If you use a throat bushing with built-in flush ports, you won’t need to remove the lantern ring when you repack! Also, you’ll be able to use less packing. 

Stay on Top of Slurry Pump Maintenance

At Vulcan Pumps, we work faster—and are more flexible—than the competition so you can get back to work. Whether you need USA-made products and parts, industry resources, or sump service, you can rely on us to get the job done right. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. 

Our CombiTherm Product Lead-Times

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

You can blink and the world changes around you. Recent world events have set the stage for changes the world over—geographic, economic, and (unfortunately for so many) personal. Geopolitical conflict carries a ripple effect that isn’t contained in isolation. For many of our industry partners, they are understandably concerned about product logistics due to worldwide tensions. We are here to bring about confidence in our CombiTherm product lead-times despite current events, and reassure those who rely on our pumps, parts, and products. 

We Deliver When Others Don’t

The road to CombiTherm products is still open. CombiTherm hot oil and hot water pumps transfer bitumen, emulsions, and virtually every other liquid element inherent to makeup. A great asset of these pumps is their ability to replace most industry-leading pump brands and integrate seamlessly into pump systems. Being inventoried in North America, CombiTherm pumps offer quick and easy delivery when OEMs and other major manufacturers are unable to offer replacement pumps on short notice. 

As the master distributor of CombiTherm pumps in the U.S. and Canada, Vulcan Pumps is uniquely poised to deliver high-quality hot oil and hot water pumps right to your business. No need to worry about a short-notice replacement or costly OEM component: We have your industry part, pump, and product needs covered. 

Why You Can Count on Our CombiTherm Flow Product Lead-Times

The benefit of being a local provider of CombiTherm products is short lead-times and trusted expertise. Vulcan Pumps can offer quick shipments right from stock; in fact, our CombiTherm hot oil and hot water pumps are available for immediate shipment. There’s no need to worry about long and drawn out CombiTherm product lead-times when buying from us. We are here and ready to do business with you. 

If you’re in the market for OEM or aftermarket hot oil and hot water pumps, look no further than Vulcan Pumps. Contact us to start your shipment, resume processes or bring them back to scale, and/or ramp up production. We understand the concern current events have instigated: We are committed to doing our part to do right by our industry partners. We can offer product peace of mind in otherwise volatile circumstances. May lasting peace soon return to the global stage. 

Diamond Seals for Submersible Motors

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

The seal’s the deal. When pumping slurry, a quality seal makes a big difference. It helps ensure a long-lasting pump that withstands slurry’s highly abrasive nature. Vulcan Pumps utilizes John Crane Diamond® seals in our pumps so seal failure doesn’t upend your processes. We want your seals (and pumps) to last. 

The Difference Diamond Seals for Submersible Motors Can Make

Submersible motors are submersed in abrasive material such as slurry for extended periods of time. It doesn’t take much to realize how this setting could affect materials. Without high-quality components, motors and pumps inevitably face wear and/or breakdown in these kinds of highly toxic conditions. The pump seal is an integral part of this equation: It prevents leakage and contamination, helping to maintain the integrity of the pump and motor. 

Seals are made up of a rotary seal face and driving mechanism, which adopts the same rotation as the pump shaft. Seals also consist of a stationary seal face, which combines with the rotary and maintains integrity via a gland or stuffing box cover—as well as a tension assembly (metal bellows or springs) that’s designed to keep the faces positioned tightly together. 

Diamond seals for submersible motors provide pristine durability that offers unmatched gain for industrial equipment reliability. For years, manufactured diamonds have been used in abrasive applications and for cutting instruments. With ultrananocrystalline technology (UNCD®) technology, harnessing one of Earth’s hardest materials for use in mechanical seals is not only possible: It’s beyond profitable for systems. It drastically improves mechanical seal reliability and performance in challenging applications, including those involving abrasive slurry, weak lubricating liquids, and liquids that exceed their atmospheric boiling points. 

Diamond-treated seals manage abrasive and erosive conditions with much less effort, and UNCD® technology innately possesses a low coefficient of friction, which reduces heat production and energy use. This translates to significant improvements in mean time for mechanical seals, pumps, and more. 

Why We Choose John Crane

John Crane Diamond® seals offer our pumps the time-tested use they need. John Crane is also the sole manufacturer that integrates UNCD® technology directly into their process, offering premier seal and face treatments. Vulcan Pumps is all about quality—in each and every part of the project cycle, including in regards to seals. That’s why we trust and use John Crane seals in our pumps.

The seals, themselves, offer enormous cost and energy-efficient benefits. They improve durability through top-tier chemical stability and hardness. They enhance reliability and function through appropriately applied crystallinity, consistency, and adhesion. They help maintain production and keep integral equipment running optimally. They also lower costs courtesy of cooler running faces, reduced power, and less service life maintenance. Much like our pumps, John Crane seals demonstrate value time and again. 

Contact Vulcan Pumps

Every component of our pumps matters to us: That’s why we use diamond seals for submersible motors. Contact Vulcan Pumps for quality, U.S.-made pumps able to stand up to your applications and processes. We are a local, on-hand manufacturer and distributor you can trust.

OEM SPX Flow Hot Oil and Hot Water Pumps

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

When manufacturing high-quality boilers, every component matters. But so does the price point. So, the question often becomes this as an OEM: How do you effectively marry the two to remain market competitive? For some, the answer is seemingly elusive. However, the right distributor makes all the difference. With Vulcan Pumps, you can secure a quality, cost-effective, primary unit pump—at a fraction of the lead-time, cost, and without compromising on product integrity. 

Application-Ready Hot Oil and Hot Water Pumps

The 150-pound, 232 PSI CombiTherm and 300+pound, 560 PSI CombiTherm+ hot oil and hot water pumps see use in highly specific, high-temperature settings free from caustic and/or acidic conditions. These pumps offer niche industry use, including in thermal oil/hot water and heat transfer, asphalt production, marine, food production, boiler/reactor, paper and wood-based applications, rubbers and plastics, and other air-cooled thermal pumping and thermanol pump applications. These pumps can handle temperatures up to 662°F of glycol and hot water mix. 

All this said, not only are the SPX Flow line of hot oil and hot water pumps application-ready: They are also able to be quickly and cost-effectively supplied to meet ongoing OEM requirements and ensuing consumer assurances. With one-year service life guarantees for your consumers standard, you need a pump that lasts as long as what’s advertised—and then some. Vulcan Pumps offers hot oil and hot water pumps at a competitive price point and with fast delivery for an in-budget and on-time manufacturing process. 

We Help Provide Much-Needed Market Efficiency

Vulcan Pumps is in the pump business to help you manufacture quality, meet market benchmarks and metrics, and stay continually competitive. Many OEMs have a time finding a distributor that hits everything on their checklist. Many distributors have offerings out of price range, lack customer service, and/or have long lead-times that don’t work for your manufacturing process. Vulcan Pumps offers a partnership for OEMs that meets your requirements and more. We are even able to fully replace or interchange European-spec DEAN and SIHI pumps to your benefit. With us, you are not limited by pump brand—and have increased flexibility in this area. 

Partner with Vulcan Pumps

Vulcan Pumps is the master distributor for SPX Flow CombiTherm and CombiTherm+ pumps in North America (excluding Mexico). While this distinction positions us as a major player in specialized pumps and pumping systems, our compelling customer service is what really helps to set us apart for our OEM partners. Contact us to learn more about how we can provide quick delivery, competitive pricing, and excellent customer service for your manufacturing needs.

Aftermarket SPX Flow Hot Oil and Hot Water Pumps

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

When you’re in the field with a broken down hot thermal centrifugal pump, you can be hard-pressed to find a suitable replacement. You could try and reach out to the OEM or another manufacturer, but the turnaround—by itself—could cost you significant time and money. What you need is a reasonable pump replacement, fast. Vulcan Pumps offers aftermarket hot oil and hot water pumps well-suited to replace many different manufactured thermal pumps. 

About Our Hot Oil and Hot Water Pumps

Vulcan Pumps’ hot oil and hot water pumps are available in two main types: CombiTherm and CombiTherm+. Specific application requirements will inform which type is right for your site. For instance, the foot-mounted, 150-pound CombiTherm pump is used often for hot oil – asphalt applications as it excels at pumping therminol to heat up asphalt. 

Our CombiTherm pump is a 150-pound, foot-mounted flange pump at 232 PSI. The pump ensures process temperatures are uniform and damaging heat stays clear of seal bearings and faces, which avoids the need for external cooling when used properly. Core features include the throttle bush, journal bearing, and seal placement—all of which work to decrease circulation and temperature along the pump. 

The pump works well in a number of industry settings and applications, including food preparation, asphalt, roofing and roads, rubber and plastics, paper and wood, and high-temperature hot water heating systems. 

Our CombiTherm+ pump is a center-mounted, 300+ pound flange pump at 360 PSI. While both CombiTherm and CombiTherm+ can handle the same kind of hot oil, water, and/or glycol applications, CombiTherm+ has the capacity to handle the most stringent requirements. It’s built to handle hot water glycol mixtures, and is specifically made to eliminate expensive mechanical seal and seal support systems. CombiTherm+ boasts key service-life features, including a high efficiency impeller, single mechanical seal balanced with EPDM O-rings, optimized cooling fans, and life-saving magnetic drain plug for seals and bearings. 

Why Vulcan Pumps

Vulcan Pumps is the North American (excluding Mexico) master distributor for the SPX Flow CombiTherm and CombiTherm+ lines of hot oil and hot water pumps. Our pumps can replace common DEAN and SIHI varieties. 

However, our major claim to fame shines through in our competitive price, quick delivery, and quality customer service. Not many do what we do and serve who we serve, which makes our bedrock mission all the more important: Helping get your application back on track. Whether you’re in bread manufacturing, wood processing, or somewhere in between, we can supply an aftermarket, replacement pump that meets your needs—fast. 

What Makes or Breaks a Slurry Pump

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

With how crucial slurry pumps are for certain industries, the stakes for a good one are great. Applications that aren’t well-served by a quality slurry pump experience disruption, breakdown, and increased maintenance and/or replacement costs. This being said, there are a handful of key aspects that inform a slurry pump’s performance—in layman’s terms what “makes or breaks it.” Here’s a helpful primer on these aspects, as well as what makes them so important to the success of a slurry pump. 

#1: Design

Intuitively, design is among the most critical aspects of a slurry pump. It has to be in order for the slurry not to wear down or downright destroy the impeller and other key components. 

Slurry is often highly abrasive and/or corrosive and, for this reason, slurry pump design has to be top-notch. Slurry also has a high possibility for the presence of unexpected solids, which has a chance to clog up or bottleneck pumps—potentially affecting the volume and causing loss of suction. The right slurry pump design is critical to keeping volute integrity (over time) in the most abrasive settings. 

#2: Construction

Design’s close counterpart, construction, is also top of list for slurry pumps. Abrasive-resistant metallurgies must be utilized if applications are heavily harsh and/or caustic. 

Typically, a high chrome is the preferred construction material for highly abrasive settings. In these cases, Vulcan Pumps builds our submersible slurry pumps with metallurgy 28% chrome iron, ASTMA532. 

Additionally, we manufacture duplex stainless steel construction pumps for slurry that exhibits both an abrasive nature and low pH. Good examples of where this construction is necessary are places with a high presence of chemical or chloride concerns. 

#3: Seal

Pump seal loss of function can have a devastating effect; oftentimes, motor manufacturers offer a generic seal, which can prove ill-suited for specific applications. Per application needs, the ideal seal is absolutely necessary. Often seals need to incorporate hard set, tungsten or silicon carbide faces in order to avoid cracking. 

At Vulcan Pumps, we partner with U.S.-based John Crane Co. for the most robust, application-made seals and seal designs. This ensures top quality from the get-go. 

#4: Size & Power

Slurry pump power and size is also a critical element that can inform the success of the pump for the application. With the abrasiveness of slurries, a pump must be of adequate size to operate slow enough to extend pump life. Ideally, a pump will be set to run between 900 and 1200 RPM; more than this can wear out the pump at its wear points through abrasive blasting. 

#5: Method of Use

The deployment or use method for the pump is the final key aspect to ensuring slurry pump success. Submersible pumps, the kind Vulcan Pumps specializes in, are pumps completely submerged in a liquid. This avoids the requirement for priming, as the pump is immersed in the liquid being pumped. Other pumping setups may involve priming (or be self-primed) or have additional needs prior to pumping. Knowing which pumping method the intended application calls for helps the pump be most effective and last longer. 

Find Your Ideal Submersible Slurry Pump

Vulcan Pumps offers top-of-the-line, U.S.-made submersible slurry pumps—with parts inventoried locally in the Southeast. Contact us to see how our pumps can best meet your application needs. 

How Do I Know My Slurry Pump Is Up to the Task?

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

A slurry pump is a non-negotiable when having to pump slurry, which often comprises a mix of difficult-to-move solids and fluids. This is because of the abrasive nature of slurry—and the operational toll it often takes. For this reason, standard water pumps can’t stand up to the harsh wear and tear. Plus, in the grand scheme, slurry pumping costs carve out a significant portion of industrial operational pumping costs (even at a smaller overall pump distribution): some estimates being up to 80%. With everything that depends on quality slurry pumps, how do you know that a pump can handle the pressure?

How the Slurry Pump Is Made Matters

It stands to reason that pump make matters—and that holds true, if not more so, for slurry pumps. 

The materials slurry pumps move, coupled by the space they occupy (sump, discharge point, pipeline, etc.), increases the chance for higher wear rates. Typically, this results in larger, thicker, and heavier pumps (when compared to water pumps) in order to handle the materials present. Some may also incorporate heavy-duty internal liners and/or weightier components for the same (or similar) reason. 

But slurry pumping is anything but a one-size-fits-all model. The diverse application and pump-performance requirements among industries and sites necessitate an equally diverse arsenal of pump size, types, and mounts. This is all the more reason why custom submersible and slurry pumps are a must—not a maybe. 

Similarly, overall quality is of the utmost importance. If quality is sacrificed for cost-efficiency or another consideration, the over-time effects can be more than felt: They can be paralyzing. Maintenance may need to be called in year-round (increasing costs) or there may even be an all-out pump breakdown (decreasing production). 

Other Considerations

Slurry pumps don’t exist in a vacuum. What this means is this: Things external to (and involved with) the slurry pump need to also be regularly assessed. For instance, pump systems rely heavily on adequate motor power availability. With so many mills functioning on variable speed drives, taking an involved and real-time look at pump pressure and flow in regards to time has to happen. This information helps work out considerations like adequate and optimal pump size for the mill, plant, or site. 

Additionally, pipe sizing, floor sump space, gland seal pressure, and gearbox cooling are other considerations to have in order to inform your decision-making—and ensure pump systems are operating optimally. The correct pipe sizing reduces friction and wear. Well-sized floor sumps are able to deal with site-specific volume. A proper gland seal size ensures a constant flow of gland water throughout operational conditions. The gearbox needs to be properly calibrated to avoid overheating, especially at increased altitudes and temperatures. 

Have Your Pump Perform

Again, as for the pump itself, durability is a stand-out feature. For pumping slurry, you want a well-rounded pump—one that continually performs, offers resistance to wear, provides needed power, is easy-to-maintain, and is applicable to the pumped material. Specific pumping conditions and requirements will often inform what pump will work where. For instance, pumps may differ depending on pump rate (steadfast vs. intermittent), as well as the amount of heavy mechanical wear present in conditions. 
Vulcan Pumps offers a completely U.S.-made pump and pump components that differ in metallurgies based on conditions at hand (including 28% chrome iron, ASTMA532 for abrasive). Reach out to learn more about what we can do for pump systems—from high-quality product to ongoing support.

Pumping Slurry: The Basics

Posted on by Vulcan Pumps

Slurry is not known for its easy-moving properties. That makes pumping slurry a difficult task, especially if the pump is not suited for it. Here’s a helpful primer on what you need to know to more successfully pump slurry—and avoid headaches in the process. 

Why Selecting the Right Slurry Pump Matters So Much

The makeup and properties of slurry are typically highly abrasive—and make wear and tear on ill-suited pumps incredibly likely. 

Generally speaking, slurry is any mixture of fluid, water included, and a broken up or granulated solid or solids. Slurry typically has a high viscosity (thickness), which can at times be corrosive or toxic. For these reasons and more, slurry can be hard on pumps. 

Slurries are often categorized into two main types: settling and non-settling. Settling slurries consist of coarse particles that generally develop into unstable mixtures. Conversely, non-settling slurries are made up of much finer particles that pass for being thicker in appearance. Non-settling slurries are tougher than liquid, but not as rough on pumps as setting slurries. However, most slurry applications contain coarser particles and behave harsher. 

Additionally, slurries are often weighty, making them more difficult to pump. But weight isn’t the only pumping difficulty they pose. They can clog up suction and discharge lines if not fast-moving enough, wear on pumps and their components, and even shorten pump life. This makes the right pump all the more necessary—so removal and replacement isn’t a constant occurrence. 

The Proof Is in the Pump

It might seem more intuitive now: Pumping slurry is as much about the pump as it is about slurry. A highly abrasive slurry will spell trouble for a pump or components not up to the task. Construction material, impeller size and design, bearings and shafts, and discharge structures all have to be properly made and calibrated to ensure a pump lasts under the pressure of slurry. 

Slurry pumps differ from other pumps, like water or low-thickness pumps, in size and ruggedness. Slurry pumps are generally larger and built with more rugged and rigid components for increased durability. This makes them stand up better to slurry’s abrasive properties, which is what you want in a slurry pump. 

Beyond following standard piping guidelines, finding optimal pump speed, and rigging discharge pressure to the lowest point possible, what you need to ensure a pump that lasts is just that: a pump that lasts. Vulcan Pumps provides exactly what you need to pump slurry effectively. Our U.S.-made pumps are quality control tested before assembly and during manufacture, custom-made for application requirements, and consist of materials (including 28% chrome iron, ASTMA532) that hold up against abrasive slurry. Contact us for more information today!