DougSmith
Chemical
- Oct 23, 2002
- 3
I am working on a project where sludge with an estimated viscosity of 300,000 cP (higher than peanut butter!) is being loaded into a cone-bottom tank. I say "estimated" viscosity because the sludge is slightly radioactive and nobody really knows its physical properties.
The sludge tank has a 6-inch diameter flanged discharge. About 2 to 3 feet below the discharge is a progressing cavity pump to remove the sludge. I know that progressing cavity pumps come with open-hopper auger feeds for just this kind of sludge.
My concern is the 6-in discharge constriction. To properly use an open-hopper progressing cavity pump, one would cut off the bottom of the cone and attach a vertical chute the same size as the hopper. However, the cone-bottom tank is an ASME vacuum-rated vessel and chopping it up is not an option. Therefore the problem of the 6-in discharge constriction remains.
Yes, it is feasible to build a chute which flares out from the 6-in discharge and mates with the open hopper. But assuming the sludge can make it through the 6-in discharge into the wider chute, doesn't that remove the need for the open hopper in the first place? In other words, if the sludge can get through the 6-in discharge, the client could probably just buy a non-hopper pump and run a 6-in feed pipe directly from the tank bottom into the 6-in pump feed.
Does anyone know of an auger-type feed device that can be mounted in the vertical pipe between the tank discharge and the pump below to assist in propelling the sludge into the pump? It would help if this gadget would extend upwards into the cone-bottom sludge tank as well.
Any other suggestions or comments on this "sticky" situation are appreciated!
Thank you all,
Doug Smith
The sludge tank has a 6-inch diameter flanged discharge. About 2 to 3 feet below the discharge is a progressing cavity pump to remove the sludge. I know that progressing cavity pumps come with open-hopper auger feeds for just this kind of sludge.
My concern is the 6-in discharge constriction. To properly use an open-hopper progressing cavity pump, one would cut off the bottom of the cone and attach a vertical chute the same size as the hopper. However, the cone-bottom tank is an ASME vacuum-rated vessel and chopping it up is not an option. Therefore the problem of the 6-in discharge constriction remains.
Yes, it is feasible to build a chute which flares out from the 6-in discharge and mates with the open hopper. But assuming the sludge can make it through the 6-in discharge into the wider chute, doesn't that remove the need for the open hopper in the first place? In other words, if the sludge can get through the 6-in discharge, the client could probably just buy a non-hopper pump and run a 6-in feed pipe directly from the tank bottom into the 6-in pump feed.
Does anyone know of an auger-type feed device that can be mounted in the vertical pipe between the tank discharge and the pump below to assist in propelling the sludge into the pump? It would help if this gadget would extend upwards into the cone-bottom sludge tank as well.
Any other suggestions or comments on this "sticky" situation are appreciated!
Thank you all,
Doug Smith
