As part of Weir’s mission to support its customers’ sustainability efforts, Wear Reduction Technology (WRT®) upgrades have made both WARMAN® and ENVIROTECH® pumps more energy efficient and longer lasting.
With Weir’s large installed base of WARMAN® and ENVIROTECH® pumps around the world, the most impactful sustainability strategy was to improve the efficiency of equipment already in the field, according to Marnus Koorts, General Manager Original Equipment at Weir. The best place to start was with its renowned WARMAN® AH® pumps which are used by almost every mine on the planet.
“Our aim was to enhance our current models to deliver superior wear life and energy efficiency,” he says. “The WRT component combination does this by allowing upgrades that integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure without extra capital investment.”
Introduced to the African market in 2010, WRT® components deliver an energy saving of 3 to 5% to WARMAN® AH® pump owners and have extended the lifespan of these pumps by from 30% to 50%. This has meant direct on-site cost savings and significantly reduced energy consumption from the large number of these pumps in operation worldwide.
At the heart of the WRT® component breakthrough is improved hydraulic efficiency, achieved through advances such as the optimised design of the impeller and throatbush. For instance, the WRT® impeller features specially developed vanes that guide fluid more efficiently, reducing turbulence and minimising energy loss.
“The design of the WRT impeller improves flow characteristics, compared to older designs with steeper vane angles,” he explains.
In another innovation, the new design of the impeller guides fluid more efficiently to mitigate against the creation of eddies. These eddies are swirling circular currents of fluid which form within the pump volute due to turbulent flow, and lead to fluid moving against the main flow, wasting energy and increasing wear on internal components.
“We have also improved efficiency by minimising the surface area of the WRT impeller, by reducing the number of vanes from five to four,” he says. “This creates more space for the material to flow while still delivering the same duty.”
Critical to the impact that the WRT® component upgrade has had on energy efficiency in pumping operations is its enthusiastic uptake by the market. Koorts highlights that Weir’s strategy was to make the transition for customers as easy and economical as possible. Being interchangeable with WARMAN® pumps’ older technology, the WRT® components allow customers to switch over without extra capital expenditure – by changing to WRT® options when existing parts need to be replaced.
“This has already allowed most of our customer base to adopt the latest energy-efficient options,” he says. “In Africa, for instance, all new WARMAN AH pumps sold contain WRT technology and a majority of our existing WARMAN AH pumps have already been converted.”
With Africa being home to a large installed base of ENVIROTECH® pumps, the WRT® component technology has been extended to this popular range. Koorts notes that the company is committed to Africa and to the technologies currently in use.
“For the past two years, therefore, we have been supplying our ENVIROTECH pumps with WRT as standard,” he says. “Today, more than half of all our ENVIROTECH pump spares sales are WRT designs.”
Underpinning these technical advancements is Weir’s local investment in production capacity, which allows the company to cast and machine its pumps and components in South Africa.
