Recently, in2Dredging developed the Pumps and Pipeline (PnP) estimating tool that can accurately estimate the suction and discharge production of any dredging or mining equipment that hydraulically transports soil like materials. In this post, the results of PnP are chronologically introduced to explain on a high level how PnP works. It starts with a single pump, introduces the pipeline and then more complex graphs are shown to provide the estimator with the necessary insight in the interaction between pump, pipeline and soil mixture. PnP calculates a realistic production level taking all relevant production limitations into account.
How to Use Pumps and Pipeline (PnP)
- Design pump-drive systems;
- Select feasibility of dredging or mining equipment for a project;
- Estimate suction and discharge productions for a project; and
- Evaluate performance of pump-drive systems.
Pump Behaviour
The pump behaviour is best described with second order polynomials. Five operating water-pumping points are ideal for constructing the polynomials that describe the pump head and pump efficiency flowrate. Figure 1 shows the regression analysis and the coefficients found for the operating points.
Figure 1: Dredging Pump and Pipeline (PnP) graph - pump regression curves