Sand & Gravel
Pump Applications
Fly Ash Environmental Problems
1.05 billion tons of coal is burned in the United States each year leaving harmful waste (fly ash) in dumping sites. These harmful fly ash dump sites contain harmful heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, nickel, and selenium.
Fly ash has a fine powdery consistency that is easily carried by the wind and can affect nearby neighborhoods and people. Breathing in fly ash overtime can irritate the respiratory system and people with existing lung diseases such as emphysema, bronchitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should avoid breathing coal fly ash dust.
Pumping Difficulties
Fly Ash or Coal Ash is a difficult material to pump due to its abrasive nature. Centrifugal pumps quickly get worn down and lose their tolerances and suction capabilities. This results in significant downtime and costly spare parts.
The fly ash accumulates in many stages of the power generation process and proves to be very costly and time-consuming to remove. The most troublesome stages are dealing with the lined and unlined tailings ponds, rivers, sumps, and concrete basins.
Tailings ponds and rivers continuously need to be cleaned out to increase capacity. Finding the right pump and dredging equipment can often be a complicated process. Centrifugal pumps will only pump 10-20% solids by weight. This means that most of the discharge is water and very little fly ash is coming out of the pipeline. In contrast, the EDDY Pump design can pump 50-60% solids by weight. Pump less water, more solids.
Furthermore, the abrasive nature of the fly ash destroys the impeller of the pump and causes pump failures, costly repairs and spare parts. Our pump has a high tolerance ultra-recessed rotor that withstands the destructive nature of fly ash.
Tailings ponds are often lined with plastic to minimizes the seepage of contaminants. This makes it more difficult for conventional equipment to dredge or mechanically remove the fly ash sediment without damaging the liner. We have a liner-safe wheel option for the excavator attachment.
Sumps are often the most difficult areas in a power generation plant to handle. Fly ash, coal chunks, rocks and other debris are washed into sumps and continuously need to be pumped out. Centrifugal pumps get clogged and constantly wear out because of the tolerances between the impeller and the volute.
Sand, Chat, and Aggregate Slurry Pump Applications:
- Dredging the Sand, Chat, and Aggregate Pits*
- Transporting Sand, Chat, and Aggregate*
- Sumps
*Fluid Required – Seems obvious, but our pumps do NOT pump dry sand. No pumps do.
Problems Pumping Sand and Aggregate
Sand and aggregate pits usually are dredged using drag lines or excavators to mechanically dig up the sand and aggregate and then place it into big piles. The sand and aggregate are then loaded into large trucks and driven to the processing plant. This is a very costly and time-consuming process that incorporates large capital equipment and manpower.
EDDY Pump has developed various ways to avoid all these headaches and instead pump the sand and aggregate directly from the pit into the processing plant. This saves the plant millions of dollars a year.
The EDDY Pump’s unique design allows sand and aggregate mines to pump the material at production rates of up to 450 cubic yards or 800 tons of material per hour. Due to the EDDY Pump design allowing it to pump higher solids content, the plants will be dealing with significantly less water. On average the EDDY Pump will handle about 40-70% solids by weight. The EDDY Pump’s open rotor design also allows the pump to pump rocks up to 9-inch in diameter without clogging. For operations where the plants prefer to screen down the aggregate size, classifiers can also be added at the front of the pump eliminating oversized rocks.
The best EDDY Pump dredges for the sand and aggregate mining industry are the Excavator Pump Attachment, Remote-Operate Dredge, and Cable Deployed Dredge Pump.
Sumps in the sand and aggregate industry play a crucial component in collecting all the sand, chat, rocks, and debris that are cast out during the processing. All these rocks, debris and abrasive material cause constant issues for centrifugal sump pumps. This means constant downtime and costly repairs. These abrasive sands quickly wear out the impellers of the pumps, in addition to the and the rocks and debris clogging the low tolerance centrifugal pumps.
The EDDY Pump is the ideal solution for these sumps and can be deployed electrically, hydraulically or self-priming. The EDDY Pump will not wear out like the conventional centrifugal sumps pumps and will also not clog like the other sump pumps. All of these attributes about the EDDY Pump Sump pump mean a lot less down time and costly repairs like centrifugal sump pumps.
Questions? Call Us: 619-258-7020
Tell us about your project. See the custom pump curve page and we can start the first step of a quote to determine if your project is a fit for our equipment. Contact Us Here
Equipment Options for Job:
- Sand and Aggregate Pits: Excavator Pump Attachment, Autonomous Dredge, Cable Deployed Pump
- Sumps: Submersible, Self-Priming Pump
EDDY Pump Dredge Equipment
The EDDY Pump can be deployed in various dredge configurations to optimize cleanup of tailings ponds and rivers. Some of the ideal deployments for fly ash tailings ponds are Excavator Pump Attachments, Liner-Safe Dredges, Cable-Deployed Pumps, Autonomous Dredges, Spud-Dredges, and the Subdredge.
Excavator Dredge Pump Attachment
The EDDY Pump Excavator Dredge Pump Attachment is one of our most popular units. Highly versatile.
The EDDY Pump Excavator or Backhoe mounted dredge pump is the quickest and most cost-effective way for a sand and aggregate plant to begin properly pumping.
The sand and aggregate mine in a matter of hours can connect the EDDY Pump attachment and cutterhead to one of their existing excavators and begin pumping the sand and aggregate at distances of over two miles directly into their processing plants.
The Backhoe Pump Attachment makes it so that an operator with little or no experience with pumps and dredges can easily master hydraulic dredging in less than a day. The Excavator or Backhoe Pump gets pinned to the end of the backhoe boom and can begin dredging right away.
Please click here to see more about proper pump and excavator size for your application: Excavator Dredge Pump Attachment Info
Autonomous Dredge
For very large sand and aggregate pits, the EDDY Pump Autonomous Dredge could be the best solution. This Autonomous Dredge will minimize manpower and run around the clock. The EDDY Pump Autonomous Dredge is an automated floating platform that runs continuously without the need for an operator. The pump is deployed from an A-frame mounted on the floats. The Autonomous Dredge can be powered electrically or hydraulically. Autonomous Dredge Info Here.
Cable-Deployed Pump
For mining operations where a crane is already available on sand and aggregate mine site, the EDDY Pump Cable-Deployed Pump can be ideal. This cable deployed pump system comes with water jetting system to optimize production. The cable-deployed pump can have an electric or hydraulic power system to meet the needs of the mine.
The pump mounts off a cable, hanging off the crane and the water jetting ring is attached to the pump. It can also be pinned to an excavator. Cable Deployed Dredge info Here
Sump Pumping (Sumps & Custom Applications)
The EDDY Pump Sump Pump can be configured and powered in multiple ways to meet the needs of the sand and aggregate pit. It can be powered either electrically, hydraulically or be self-priming. For use in submersible, immersible or dry run applications. The non-clogging high tolerance EDDY Pump sump design makes it ideal for reducing all downtime and costly spare parts.
Custom pumps are our specialty. Sump Pump Info Here.
Sales Quote With Custom Pump Curve
Do you know specifics about your project? Let us know and we can create your own personalized pump curve.
Sand and Aggregate Pumping Scenario
2017 Sand Pumping Project. Equipment, 6-inch excavator pump attachment on a Long Boom.
Applications: Sand Pits, Aggregate Transport, Mine Dewatering
The purpose of this page is to identify your application and learn more about an equipment solution to meet your needs. These are the most common sand and gravel applications that we use our equipment for. We are the OEM for the tools shown.
Application: Sand Slurry Pumping (water required)
Material: Sand and Gravel or Aggregate
Common Sand Pit Scenario:
The EDDY Pump Excavator Attachment is ideal for pumping sand slurry, sand pits, lined ponds or other bodies of water. This unit does NOT pump dry sand, we need at least a foot or two of water on top to create a sand slurry. Only vacuums can move dry sand, EDDY requires water. Call with questions.
By attaching the EDDY Pump to a standard boom or long boom excavator you can get reach of up to 75-ft and handle the most difficult applications. The EDDY Pump allows you to pump the sand slurry at distances over 2-miles at production rates of up to 600 tons of slurry per hour or 5000 GPM.
Optional upgrade, add liner-safe rollers to give you the ability to dredge on concrete lined sumps or poly-lined reservoirs.
Below are common distances we see, along with a pump curve to match the details. Contact us with your exact numbers.
Distance: 5000 ft
Vertical Rise: 30 ft
Production: 3169 GPM
Equipment Used: EDDY Pump 10 Inch Excavator Attachment. Cutter Head OR Roller Wheel setup.
Excavator Type: CAT 320 or larger (or equivalent model excavator)
Optional HPU: Excavator powered attachment OR a separate Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU) will power the pump attachment. The ideal option is based on your project requirements.
See How EDDY Pumps Are Better
Slurry and Fly Ash Video
If you have questions about your application, contact us.
Sand Slurry Pumping Photos
Photos of pumping projects. Power plants and ash slurry ponds are primary clients of EDDY Pump.
Slurry Pumps
Why EDDY Pumps Are Better – Highlights
This video shows how EDDY Pump beats out traditional centrifugal pumps when it comes to tough slurry and abrasive materials. EDDY Pump is the at the heart of all of our featured dredge pump equipment including the Remote Operated Subdredge, Diver OperatedPump and a Excavator Attachment Dredge Pump.
Call For Sales or Support
If you need help with Pump selection, Sales or Engineering Support, Call 619-258-7020.