Increasing operational efficiency of sectional pumps in kimberlite mines

When an underground mine reaches the design capacity, the level of the mine water pollution can significantly increase as compared to the first years of its operation. For example, concentration of solid particles in water in a kimberlite mine drainage systems may increase more than two-fold. Increase in the content of suspended abrasive substances in the mine water negatively affects the life of water drainage equipment. One of the ways to improve the operational efficiency of sectional pumps in conditions of changing solid particles content in the mine water is to study the issue of adjusting the frequency of their overhaul. As a criterion of the optimum average time between overhauls of a sectional pump it is necessary to use its flow rate at the moment of overhaul, which corresponds to low specific operating costs for pumping mine water regardless of the size of water inflow and its pumping mode. Based on the results of the performed research a universal method of calculating the optimal average operating life time of a sectional pump before the overhaul is required. This methodology was developed for sectional pumps in kimberlite mines regardless of their model and their operating conditions. Calculations helped to establish that when the concentration of solid particles in the mine waters increases, a decrease in the average time between overhauls of sectional pump before overhaul becomes an economically feasible step.