The adoption of retrofit-focused innovations, such as the WRT impeller and throatbush combination from pumps manufacturer Weir, is emerging as a practical, cost-effective way for African mining operations to realise efficiency gains without disrupting existing plant infrastructure.

WRT pump parts are a simple solution that can help mining operations alleviate growing pressure to enhance their energy efficiency and sustainability while limiting capital expenditure, says Weir original equipment GM Marnus Koorts.

“Changing a complete pump is not cost effective and the best solution is, really, to upgrade components that need to be changed out anyway. Upgrading one pump with WRT parts saves 3% in electricity consumption and improves wear life by 30% to 50%. While it might not seem like much, it all adds up when you multiply those efficiency gains by the 100 or 200 pumps installed on a mining site.”

Lower electricity consumption and the need for fewer parts also translate into a smaller carbon footprint.

“Not only is the pump more energy efficient, the need to buy new replacement parts is also greatly reduced, decreasing the carbon emissions associated with electricity generation, manufacturing and transport,” highlights Koorts.

While other solutions available to the market may require large complex installations to improve efficiency, Koorts says that Weir has simplified pump upgrades. Pumps operating in the field can achieve better efficiency and reduced operating costs by purely having their main wear components – impellers and throatbushes – upgraded with WRT technology.

Consequently, downtime and financial losses are reduced when upgrading existing pump installations with WRT components, states Koorts.

Reaping Rewards

Koorts explains that introducing the WRT impeller and throatbush as standard spare parts in many of its pump sizes has yielded successful results.

“We’ve had major successes. We have some clients that have converted about 90% of their pump fleet to WRT components and spend less on spare parts now than they did ten years ago.”

Weir has also dedicated a lot of time to analysing pump hydraulics to design more efficient components.

“The better the flow and the efficiency of the impeller, the less it wears and the less energy it wastes,” notes Koorts.

The WRT pump parts range will soon include a grooved throatbush upgrade that offers even further wear reduction and an increased operating life.

“We continue to innovate and improve our WRT products. The new throatbush design is being industrialised and will probably be rolled out in the coming months in select sizes before being extended to all pump sizes.”

Weir’s WRT pump components are marketed as having up to 30% longer wear life but, Koorts says, the reality is that, in most cases, these components exceed this claim.

“The wear life is closer to double that percentage and what that means is that fewer working hours need to be dedicated to maintenance as intervals are longer. This translates into less downtime for maintenance purposes, freeing up those resources to potentially focus on other more critical areas.”

Safety is also a big driver of WRT component development. Every time a pump is opened, safety is a major concern, stresses Koorts.

“Therefore, if we can half the time previously spent on maintenance, we can half the risk of injury associated with that maintenance,” he elaborates.