Powerful pumping

26 September 2008

Yorkshire Water has tackled viscosity of sludge at its Normanton Wastewater Treatment Works with two Mono NOV pumps. The pumps take sludge from the plant’s primary tanks and feed it into a sludge storage tank.

The sludge, which can contain up to 12 per cent dry solids, requires suction lift of four metres.

Mono carried out the design and installation, which included removing the existing pumps, amending the system pipework and installation, and commissioning of the new duty/standby pump units.

Chris Gough, site operations for Normanton Wastewater Treatment Works, commented: ‘The diaphragm pumps that were previously installed at the works really just weren’t up to the job. We knew that Mono’s pumps would be ideal because they are specifically designed for the transfer of sludge and can handle high viscosity materials. The pumps have run perfectly since they were installed and we have had no need for any spares’.

Progressing cavity pumps, such as those in Mono’s industrial range, use a positive displacement action, which provides good suction capabilities at the inlet. Therefore, unlike centrifugal alternatives, submersing the pump for medium or full priming is not required. The characteristic pumping action of progressing cavity pumps, which involves a cavity being gently moved almost completely from inlet to discharge by the rotor, allows transportation of materials of varying viscosities which otherwise could be seen as non-flowing.