Getting to the Cause of Repeat Pump Failure

At Ravensdown’s Hornby Works, a vertical spindle pump kept losing prime and demanding operator attention. Ravensdown asked Prime to assess the issue and find a solution.

Prime looked at the full duty and selected a pump better matched to the application. The result solved the immediate problem and gave Ravensdown confidence in Prime’s recommendation.

The client

Ravensdown Limited

The project

Ravensdown needed to draw down a 6m deep settlement pond containing fluorosilicic acid (FSA) and hydrated silica – then return the recovered material to the production process.

As pond levels fell, the existing vertical spindle pump became unreliable and left sludge behind.
The pond contents were recovered and reused in the process – so Ravensdown needed a pumping setup that could:

• Return the material reliably to the production process
• Reduce the need for regular operator checks and repriming.

The challenge

As the pond level dropped, the existing pump would run dry, cavitate and trip – forcing operators to restart it repeatedly.

Fluorosilicic acid is highly corrosive and hydrated silica is abrasive. The pump also had to move sludge through a long discharge line at pressure.

The solution

The new peristaltic hose pump installed beside Ravensdown’s FSA settlement pond

Prime started with what the pump needed to do – not what was already installed.

Combining application knowledge with access to different pump types, Prime assessed the full duty and selected the right fit.

Working with Crest Pumps, Prime reviewed the pump options against the application requirements. Another vertical spindle was ruled out because the longest available design was 4.5m – about 1.5m short of the pond depth.

Prime instead selected a Crest VPH40 peristaltic hose pump.

The peristaltic design could handle the thick sludge, while the selected hose and insert materials provided a non-metallic fluid path for the corrosive FSA.

The outcome

With the new peristaltic pump in place, the system no longer demanded the same day-to-day attention. The reduced need for intervention freed up operator time and made it easier to return recovered material to the production process.

The successful installation and consistent performance of the new pump built confidence in Prime’s ability to solve difficult pumping problems. That confidence led Ravensdown to bring Prime into a larger FSA project.

Have a difficult industrial pumping application? Talk to Prime today.