FROTH HANDLING PUMP
A froth handling pump is provided which includes a pump casing, an impeller mounted within the casing, and a de-aeration chamber mounted to the rear side of the pump casing. The impeller comprises multiple pumping vanes, each of the vanes having an inlet angle and an outlet angle, wherein the outlet angle is greater than the inlet angle, the outlet angles terminating at a rear shroud. The rear shroud includes multiple vent holes for the passage of gasses therethrough. The de-aeration chamber, which comprises an inner volume, includes an inlet formed on the inner side for receiving gasses passing through the plurality of vent holes. At least one vent outlet is provided for the discharge of gasses from the de-aeration chamber.
The present invention relates to the field of centrifugal slurry pumps, and particularly, to froth pumps for handling bitumen froth.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCentrifugal pumps, as the name implies, employ centrifugal force to lift liquids from a lower to a higher level or to produce a pressure. This type of pump, in its simplest form, comprises an impeller consisting of a connecting hub with a number of vanes and shrouds, rotating in a volute collector or casing. Liquid drawn into the center, or eye, of the impeller is picked up by the vanes and accelerated to a high velocity by rotation of the impeller. It is then discharged by centrifugal force into the casing and out the discharge branch of the casing. When liquid is forced away from the center of the impeller, a vacuum is created and more liquid flows into the center of the impeller. Consequently there is a flow through the pump. There are many forms of centrifugal pumps, including the type used to pass solid and liquid mixtures. These are known as slurry pumps.
Froth pumps are a special application of centrifugal slurry pumps. The need to pump froth occurs in many mining applications where flotation methods are utilized. These take advantage of the surface tension effects between pulverized ore and fine bubbles to separate ore from the waste rock by floating one away from the other. Froth pumping also occurs in the oil sand industry the components of froth include bitumen, water, and air. In this process, a mixture of approximately 10% bitumen and 90% sand is mined directly from the ground and the bitumen is separated from the sand for conversion to synthetic crude oil. As the separation takes place, gas develops, creating a bitumen froth with approximately a 15 percent to 30 percent gas/air content.
While bitumen froth is widely pumped and much is known about the process, a number of problems exist with froth pumps themselves and the pumping process. First, bitumen froth pumps often “air lock.” This occurs when gasses accumulate in the suction of the pump under the action of the centrifugal forces operating on the fluid in the passages of a rotating impeller to form a bubble which partially blocks the suction and significantly degrades pump performance (as much as 40% to 70% loss in both flow and head). With viscous flows like bitumen, this air lock can be particularly difficult to remedy due to the laminar, or near laminar, nature of the high viscosity flow. Even if the pump is stopped, the bubble can remain within the pump casing or connecting piping and be drawn back into the pump suction upon restart. Second, bitumen froth pumps cannot typically produce more than about 30 to 40 m of head, which is limited by the high viscosity of the bitumen and by the maximum speed at which the pump can be run before net positive suction head available (NPSHA) available to the pump suction falls below the minimum required to prevent cavitation in the pump impeller. This often necessitates that a number of pumps be placed in service to provide the necessary capacity for the bitumen mining process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to a froth handling pump, which significantly minimizes or eliminates the problems described herein during bitumen froth pumping. As used herein, “bitumen” refers to any of various flammable mixtures of hydrocarbons and other substances, occurring naturally or obtained by distillation from coal or petroleum.
Broadly, one aspect of the present invention is directed to a froth handling pump, which comprises either a conventional, or modified, pump casing having an inlet side and a rear (hub) side. A novel impeller has been invented, which can produce a head equal to or greater than existing froth slurry pumps, but without the application of some of the conventional methods for reducing the NPSH required, such as an enlarged suction diameter, an inducer or auxiliary impeller, etc., or by increasing the NPSH available beyond what is normally present. This, in effect, keeps the size of the froth handling pump smaller and more economical.
The pump achieves heads of 50 m at viscosities up to 3,000 cP and with NPSHA less than 10 m by application of a very high vane outlet angle. While typical centrifugal pump outlet angles range from between about 15 degrees and 40 degrees, with 20 degrees to 25 degrees considered optimal, the impeller of the present invention has a vane outlet angle of between 80 degrees and 100 degrees, with 90 degrees being optimal. Unexpectedly, the resulting efficiency is at least about 76 percent peak efficiency (with water).
The rear shroud of the impeller includes an inner face and an outer face, with a plurality of vent holes formed through the shroud for the passage of gasses to an attached de-aeration chamber. A plurality of generally radially oriented clearing vanes are formed on the outer face of the rear shroud. The clearing vanes are configured to create a pressure at the back side of the vent holes that is less than the fluid side so that vented gases are drawn into the de-aeration chamber. An outlet vent is provided proximate the top of the de-aeration chamber for venting the gases to the atmosphere or to a connecting vent line.
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a reading of the following description of exemplary embodiments when considered in conjunction with the drawings. It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.
Referring to the Figures in general, and
As shown in
Referring to
For bitumen froth handling applications, it has been found that a minimum passage size of about two inches is necessary. As used herein, “passage size” refers to the minimum mid-channel clearance between two adjacent pumping vanes 146. As best shown in
While the exemplary embodiments shown herein comprise an arrangement of 12 alternating full size and splitter pumping vanes 146, other pumping vane configurations may also provide suitable head and pumping efficiencies. For the pumping vane 146 configuration having outlet angles of about 90 degrees, the inventors have found unexpectedly that a relative efficiency of at least about 76 percent may be achieved when pumping water.
As further shown in
Turning now to
By providing vent holes 148 at the appropriate circumferential locations through the rear shroud 144 of the impeller 140, the gases have outlets to escape from the impeller main passage. The size, shape, and relative positions of these vent holes 148 are influenced by the quantity and relative position of the gas accumulation. In the illustrated embodiment shown in the Figures, the positions of the vent holes 148 correspond approximately to the suction diameter of the impeller.
Although the vent holes 148 provide outlets for the gaseous phase to escape, the passage of the gases must be facilitated by creating a differential pressure between the main impeller passage and the outer face 144a of the rear shroud 144. Accordingly, and turning now to
In one embodiment, as shown in
Turning lastly to
As shown in
Although the present invention has been described with an exemplary embodiment, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A froth handling pump, comprising
- (a) a pump casing having an inlet side and a rear side;
- (b) an impeller mounted within the casing, the impeller comprising: (i) a front shroud and a rear shroud; (ii) a plurality of pumping vanes, each of the vanes having an inlet angle and an outlet angle, wherein the outlet angle is greater than the inlet angle, the outlet angles terminating at a rear shroud; (iii) the rear shroud comprising: (A) an outerface; (B) a plurality of vent holes formed through the rear shroud for the passage of gasses therethrough;
- (c) a de-aeration chamber mounted to the rear side of the pump casing and comprising: (i) an inner volume; (ii) an inner side mounted to the rear side of the pump casing; (iii) an inlet formed on the inner side for receiving gasses passing through the plurality of vent holes; and (iv) at least one vent outlet for the discharge of gasses therethrough.
2. The pump of claim 1 wherein the outlet angles of the pumping vanes are between about 80 degrees and about 100 degrees.
3. The pump of claim 2 wherein the outlet angles of the pumping vanes are about 90 degrees.
4. The pump of claim 1 wherein the pumping vanes comprise main pumping vanes and splitter vanes.
5. The pump of claim 4 wherein the impeller comprises 12 pumping vanes comprising: wherein the pumping vanes and splitter vanes are arranged in an alternating configuration, having passages therebetween.
- (a) 6 main pumping vanes;
- (b) 6 splitter vanes; and
6. The pump of claim 1 wherein the passage size between adjacent pumping vanes is at least about 2 inches.
7. The pump of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of clearing vanes formed on the outer face of the rear shroud.
8. The pump of claim 7 wherein the plurality of clearing vanes are configured to create a pressure on the outer face of the rear shroud less than the pressure created by the pumping vanes.
9. The pump of claim 8 wherein the clearing vanes project outwardly from the outer face of the rear shroud at about a 90 degree angle.
10. The pump of claim 9 wherein the rear shroud has a central hub and wherein the clearing vanes have differing lengths extending radially outwardly relative to the central hub.
11. The pump of claim 7 wherein the clearing vanes are at least about 5 percent larger in diameter than the pumping vanes.
12. The pump of claim 1 wherein the vent holes in the rear shroud each have a minimum area of at least about 3.14 square inches.
13. The pump of claim 1 wherein the at least one vent outlet on the de-aeration chamber is positioned at an angle of less than about 45 degrees with respect to the vertical.
14. The pump of claim 13 wherein the at least one vent outlet is positioned at an angle of about 22.5 degrees with respect to the vertical.
15. The pump of claim 1 wherein the at least one vent outlet has an outlet diameter of at least about 3 inches.
16. The pump of claim 1 where the de-aeration chamber further comprises a drain outlet.
17. The pump of claim 1 further comprising an auxiliary impeller mounted to the outer face of the rear shroud.
18. The pump of claim 17 wherein the auxiliary impeller has an outer radius that is greater than the maximum radial position of the plurality of vent holes.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 11, 2008
Publication Date: Mar 11, 2010
Inventors: Robert J. Visintainer (Augusta, GA), Peter Hergt (Ludwigshafen), Thillainatarajan Ravisundar (Frankenthal), Christoph Jaeger (Gerolsheim)
Application Number: 12/208,747
International Classification: F04D 29/00 (20060101); F04D 17/16 (20060101); F04D 29/30 (20060101); F04D 29/42 (20060101);