Creating a Cast-Iron Solution in the Plant Room

The customer manufactures chipboard – a process producing waste water containing sizeable amounts of debris. The water is captured in a large sump in the plant room, from where it is pumped by a centrifugal self-priming cast iron pump. When the pump failed, the customer contacted ERIKS to provide a replacement. 

However, 18 months later, the customer was back seeking the same pump but this time with a stainless steel impeller. Experience suggested to ERIKS’ Pumps Product Business Unit that this was worth investigation. 

Clues to digest

Discussions revealed the pump failed because it had been eaten away internally by corrosion, which the customer believed a stainless steel impeller would resist. 

However, as the drains and process pumps pipework, and all system pipework, is stainless steel, repeat failure for the same reason would be inevitable. In addition, the pump was frequently blocked by debris, causing unplanned downtime. 

So instead of simply supplying the short-term solution, ERIKS supplied some know-how.

Testing their metal

The challenge for ERIKS was to find a more cost-effective, longer-term solution with a lower Total Cost of Ownership. 

A cast iron pump with stainless steel impeller would fit the budget but the cast iron would ultimately fail. The same pump in stainless steel would resist corrosion but be vulnerable to blockages.

ERIKS’ partner Gorman Rupp proposed a pump designed for debris-filled water, with a stainless steel impeller and shafts. However the pump itself was cast iron. Their alternative super duplex pump addressed all the issues but was beyond the customer’s budget. 

It was time to think outside the box.

Get your coat

Calling on extensive coatings experience, ERIKS sourced a specialist sacrificial coating to resist both the high PH of the water and abrasion from debris. This was applied to the internal parts of a stripped-down standard Gorman Rupp pump, before reassembly with a stainless steel impeller and shaft. 

The wide open passageways and easily-removable cover plates of the Gorman Rupp pump make blockages less likely and easier to clear if they occur. 

Under ERIKS’ guidance and co-ordination, all suppliers worked closely together to create the new pump solution, which is now installed and operating free from problems. And all achieved within budget. 

It may not have been an easy option for ERIKS, but it was the right one for the customer.