Power
Perfect use for diaphragm pumps
ABEL pumps have proven themselves especially powerful when used for various tasks in coal fired power stations throughout the world. One example is feeding filter presses with sludge from a flue-gas desulfurization plant. The, ABEL CM and HM piston diaphragm pumps have become the standard for high efficiency and long service life.
ABEL piston diaphragm pumps are also preferred where fly ash, that is mixed with water, has to be pumped over greater distances. In contrast to centrifugal pumps, an ABEL pump can transfer a higher solids content and is more efficient using considerably less electrical power. In order to prevent the sedimentation of particularly heavy particles in the pump and valve housings, the pumps can be equipped with reversing valves, which cause the pump flow to move in accordance with the particles sedimentation velocity.
ABEL in nuclear Power Plants: Our various diaphragm pumps have also proven their worth for conveying non-nuclear contaminated sludge and lime slurry.
Pump Applications in Power Plants
Transfer of liquids e.g. naphtha/diesel – also acid/leach dosing
Transfer of fly and bottom ash
Filter press feeding e.g. with sludge from flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) – also filter cloth cleaning
Advantages of ABEL Pumps
Long Distance Fly Ash Transfer
The company is a leading player in Steel, Power, Mining, Coal to Liquid, Oil & Gas and Infrastructure. With environmental protection as a priority, they had to design a best available technology system to handle disposal of the ash produced by burning tons of coal. Also, the grade of coal used for power generation by this plant is “F” which ranks amongst the poorest grades having an average of 60% ash content. This, added to the fact that they had already used up most of the ash dyke area around the plant (due to using the lean slurry technology earlier) made the task for ABEL and the system supplier all the more challenging.
Fly Ash Transport at 65% Solids Content
The proposed system involved pumping high concentrate fly ash slurry around the perimeter of the ash dyke (evaporation pond) and allowing the slurry to dewater and form a solid outer barrier, increasing capacity to accommodate more slurry to be contained in the middle. This development necessitated the pumping of high concentrate fly ash slurry, of approximately 65% solids content, through a 7km long pipeline to the ash dyke. The challenge was to find a reliable pump & system that could not only handle the flow and high pressure requirement, but also endure high abrasion while limiting costly downtime and maintenance.
The ABEL Solution
ABEL, in association with the ash handling system supplier proposed a solution wherein the ash generated would be mixed with water in a 65:35 ratio and this slurry would be transported to the ash dyke about 7 to 8 kms away.
ABEL selected Hydraulic Diaphragm Pumps (HMQ) that are designed with a hydraulic section which separates the slurry from the drive piston and isolate wear to inexpensive elastomer components. Four of these pumps are operating since 2010. Each of these has an independent 7 to 8 km discharge pipeline to the ash pond. Owing to superior design and impeccable manufacturing standards adopted at ABEL, even under these strenuous conditions, the ABEL pumps have constantly performed at their peak.
