Slurry Transport Using Centrifugal Pumps

Based on the industry leading short course “Transportation of Solids using Centrifugal Pumps,” founded by Dr. Kenneth Wilson and Graeme Addie, and hosted by the GIW Industries Hydraulic Laboratory, this expanded fourth edition has been extensively updated by the international team of engineers and authors who inherited this legacy and continue its development to the present day.  Focusing on the hydraulic design of slurry pipelines, the pumps that power them, and the interactions between pumps and systems, it retains the classroom tested balance of theoretical development and practical engineering which have made it a slurry transport classic. The topics covered are important to slurry system engineers for the optimization of new designs, as well as the operators of existing systems, who may need to calculate and plan for changing conditions from day to day. 

Updates to the fourth edition include:

·         Careful formulation of the theoretical concepts, providing greater clarity of slurry flow dynamics, including a new chapter on the principles and characterization of slurry flows. 

·         Expansion of the 4-Component Models for settling slurry pipeline flow and pump solids effect, based on an extensive series of full-sized tests.

·         An expanded treatment of complex slurries, including a broader discussion of non-Newtonian fluids and their interaction with coarse particles. 

·         A new chapter on test methods, presenting an overview of slurry system instrumentation, modern techniques for characterizing slurry rheology, and practical advice for planning and executing a slurry test.

·         An overview of advances in the computational modeling of slurries, including an in-depth parametric study of slurry pump wear and operating cost. 

The authors highlight methods for achieving energy efficiency, which are crucial to the effective use of scarce resources, given the foundational role of slurry transport systems in the energy intensive industries of mining and dredging. Key concepts are supported with case studies and worked examples.

Slurry Transport Using Centrifugal Pumps, fourth edition, is both methodical and in-depth. It is ideal as a teaching tool for classroom or self-directed learning domains, and valuable as a design guide for engineer practitioners at all experience levels.

Robert Visintainer, P.E. has worked in the design, testing, and manufacture of centrifugal slurry pumps since 1981. As Chief Engineer and presently VP of Engineering for GIW Industries, he has been responsible for the development of slurry pumps and wear resisting materials, and he has contributed to many innovations in pump design and wear prediction technology over the past 30 years. He is also responsible for pump testing, selection software, slurry testing, and technical training in GIW’s unique Hydraulic Test Lab. An honors graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, he holds degrees in mechanical engineering and physics; contributes to scientific conferences, journal papers, and short courses on a regular basis; and is the 2021 recipient of the ASME Worthington Medal for eminent achievement in the pumping industry. Visintainer joined the teaching staff of the annual GIW Slurry Course in 2006 and has hosted the course since 2010. His contributions to the 4th edition textbook, “Slurry Transport in Centrifugal Pumps,” have focused on slurry pump design, wear materials, and slurry system operation.

Prof. Václav Matoušek is full professor of water engineering and water management at Czech Technical University in Prague, with over 30 years of international research experience in slurry transport. He holds an MSc (1986) in civil engineering from the Czech Technical University and a Ph.D. (with honors, 1997) in dredging engineering from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. His research focuses primarily on two-phase flows, with special attention to pipeline transport of slurries, slurry pumping, rheology of mixtures, sediment transport in open channels, and river morphology. He has published more than 130 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings. Additionally, he teaches university courses on hydraulics and river engineering and industrial courses on two-phase flows. Matoušek joined the teaching staff of the annual GIW Slurry Course in 2007 and has co-authored the 4th edition textbook, with focus on the classification and modeling of settling slurry flows.

Dr. Lionel Pullum trained as an instrument and production engineer in London, England, where he obtained an honors degree in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in pneumatic conveying and laser diagnostics. In 1979, he joined the Division of Mineral Engineering at the Commonwealth Science Industry and Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia’s foremost research body, and became an international authority on the hydraulic conveying of coarse minerals in non-Newtonian slurries. Since 1988, as a private consulting engineer, he has participated in design projects across the mining industry and has continued his active collaboration with the R&D community through the CSIRO, Australian Mineral Research Association (AMIRA), and the National Energy Research, Development & Demonstration Council (NERDDC). He has produced over 270 publications, received various awards, and, in 2015, was made Honorary Fellow at the CSIRO. Pullum joined the teaching staff of the annual GIW Slurry Course in 2005 and has co-authored the 4th edition textbook, with focus on particle mechanics, non-Newtonian slurries, and instrumentation.

Prof. Emeritus Anders Sellgren was formerly head of the Division of Water Resources Engineering at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. He holds a BS in mathematics from the University of Gothenburg and a MS in civil engineering from Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, where he also holds a Ph.D. in hydraulics. In the early 1980s, he worked as a research associate at the Mining and Minerals Resources Research Institute at the University of Arizona, U.S.A. He has since accumulated over 40 years of international experience in the research, development, and design of various slurry pumping systems, has published numerous academic papers in the field, and has contributed to the first edition of the ANSI/HI Centrifugal Slurry Pump Standard. He joined the teaching staff of the annual GIW Slurry Course in 1989, contributed to the 1st edition of the textbook, and was a co-author in the 2nd and 3rd editions. He has been an important co-author of the 4th edition on many topics, but especially in the areas of centrifugal pump solids effects and pump-system interactions.