Common problems and its solutions while running a slurry pump

Here are a list of common problems and its solutions while you run a slurry pump at your site. Follow the below mentioned steps to avoid some these problems.

1. Why am I facing trouble to start the slurry pump? / Why can’t I start the slurry pump?

When using slurry pumps you may face various problems like you’re unable to start the pump. The reason could be:

  • Air can enter in the suction pipe
  • Air can enter in the shaft seal
  • Exclusion of air before the pump start
  • The suction line or impeller can get clogged.
Solution for these common problems are:
  • Increase the pump pressure
  • Remove the suction pipe
  • Adjust the packing sealing performance to ensure optimal pressure of water on the seal.
  • Remove blockage from slurry pump
2. What are some common problems you can face while using the pumps?

Here are some common slurry pump problems and solutions:

Pump shaft consuming too much power
Causes:
  • Severe fiction within the pump
  • Heavy flow in the pump
  • Tight packing leads to overheating
  • Damaged bearing
  • Extremely tight drive belt
  • High rotational speed and high specific gravity while pumping slurries
  • Motor shaft and pump shaft misalignment
Solution:
  • Eliminate friction
  • Adjustment of the pump operating conditions
  • Loosen the gland nut
  • Replace bearing
  • Adjust rotational speed
  • Loosen the belt
  • Motor shaft and pump shaft realignment
No liquid delivered by the pump
Causes:
  • Air leak in the stuffing box or suction pipeline
  • Clogged suction pipeline
  • Damaged impeller
  • The impeller rotates in a reverse motion
test:
  • Repair the air leak
  • Clear the suction pipeline
  • Replace the impeller
  • Check the rotational direction
Bearing overheats
Causes:
  • Little grease lubrication or too much lubrication
  • Impurities in the lubricating grease
  • Damaged bearings
Solutions:
  • Apply a reasonable amount of lubrication
  • Replace the bearings
  • Use new bearing
Loud, noisy, or vibrating pump
Causes:
  • Damaged bearing
  • Air leak in the suction pipeline
  • Clogged suction side
  • Unbalanced impeller
  • Uneven flow
Solutions:
  • Replace the old bearing with a new one
  • Repair air leak
  • Clear the clogged part
  • Replace impeller
  • Ensure a constant feed rate
Severe gland packing leaks
Causes:
  • Extremely worn gland packing
  • Impurities in the shaft sealing water
  • Severely worn shaft sleeve
Solutions:
  • Replace packing material
  • Use clean shaft sealing water
  • Use new shaft sleeve
3. What are some common malfunctions of the slurry pump ?

Some common problems you can face while using the slurry pump are:

Motor overcurrent
Causes:
  • The pump head is higher than the pipe head
  • Friction between impeller and backplate
  • Damaged bearing
  • Low-efficient motor
  • Non-concentricity of shaft and motor
Solutions:
  • Lower the pump head, turn down the valve of outlet
  • Adjust the impeller direction
  • Replace the bearing
  • Replace the motor
  • Adjust the concentricity of the two shafts
Low head of pump
Causes:
  • The pump head is lower than the pipe head
  • the inlet valve of pump is not opening or broken
  • High-density slurry
  • Blocked impeller or blocked suction pipe
  • Low NPSH of pipe than the pump NPSH
Solutions:
  • Improve the pump head
  • Replace the valve
  • Replace the pump with a large bore or big pump.
  • Lower the density
  • Remove the block
  • Adjust the pipe and make the pipe NPSH bigger than the pumps
No-work after the pump start
Causes:
  • Unable to remove the air in the pump
  • Airflow in the suction pipeline
  • Blocked impeller or suction piping
Solutions:
  • Increase the breathing measurement
  • Adjust the packing seal to ensure the water seal pressure
  • Remove the block
Loud noise and Oscillation
Causes:
  • Fault in the pump or pipe installation
  • Non-concentricity of motor and pump
  • Unbalanced impeller and coupler
  • Broken coupler elastic cushion
  • Damaged bearing
  • Short slurry supply
  • Non Alignment between pump and pipe
  • Blocked impeller and suction pipe
Solutions:
  • Install the pipe and pump correctly
  • Adjust the concentricity
  • Balance the impeller and coupler
  • Replace the cushion
  • Replace the bearing
  • Increase the slurry supply
  • Align the pump and pipe
  • Eliminate the block
Leakage of slurry from the shaft seal
Causes:
  • Small pressure or no seal water
  • Wrongly installed packing
  • Unqualified machinery seal
  • Broken packing
  • Heavily worn down shaft sea
Solutions:
  • Increase the pressure of seal water
  • Install the packing properly
  • Reinstall the seal
  • Replace the packing
  • Replace the shaft seal
Bearing Overheating
Causes:
  • Mismatching of the pump and pipe
  • Broken coupler elastic cushion
  • No concentricity of motor and shaft
  • Damaged bearing assembly
  • Dirty chamber intake or slurry
Solutions:
  • Adjust the pump and pipe
  • Replace with a new coupler elastic cushion
  • Adjust the concentricity
  • Replace the bearing
  • Replace the grease
Grease leak of bearing assembly
Causes:
  • The bear glans seal is uninstalled
  • Oil leak
Solutions:
  • Install it properly
  • Install the oil pointer properly