Flow-Optimized Geometries and Materials as Solutions against Wear
Ceramic blades on a metallic hub: that is the solution, how even large impeller diameters can be realized. This has been proven their worth especially in ore processing.
In many industries, such as ore and metal processing, building materials or pigment chemistry, and salt and fertilizer manufacturing, abrasive wear leads to frequent plant downtime and the cost of repairing and replacing worn components. In applications with high product purity requirements – examples being the production of high purity silicon or toothpaste – traces of metals from the eroded steels can already lead to unacceptable contaminants and rejection of a product.
Stainless Steel Dissolver after 20 hours
CeramicDissolver after 480 hours
Wear Protection Pays Off
Every effective measure to extend the service life while stirring abrasive media pays off, in many cases after just a few weeks. Avoiding downtime is often much more serious than the mere cost of repair and replacement. EKATO has the know-how to determine the causes of wear in tests or through flow simulations and to derive appropriate measures: service life extensions from up to even more than 20 times are possible.
Flow Optimization
An elegant approach are flow-optimized impellers, since vortex shedding on the impeller blades especially increases the aggressive impact wear. If the flow separations can be reduced, the service life becomes longer without further measures: more than twice this is easily possible.
Two pronounced vorticeson the low pressure side cause distinc wear patterns
EKATO EPOX-R:media flows parallel to the impeller blade, suppressing wear
Coatings
Coatings must be very carefully matched to the operating conditions and the materials involved. The disadvantage of coatings: if the thin protective layer is penetrated by a comparatively small abrasion at one point, the wear in the base material underneath can proceed unhindered.
EKATO VISCOPROPrubber lined
EKATO WINGJETwith SICcast coating
Ceramic Materials
Modern engineering ceramics open up completely new perspectives. Advances in ceramic processing allow the construction of impellers with diameters of 2 m and more. Even complex geometries can be realized. Depending on the size and shape of the impeller, it can be designed as one solid ceramic part, or alternatively ceramic impeller blades are connected to a metallic hub. This composite construction is permissible since wear always occurs in the area of the highest speeds, which is on the outer edge of the impeller.
Why Technical Ceramics?
Technical ceramics offer many benefits compared to metal or rubber coating materials:
Significantly higher hardness and strength
Very high chemical resistance
Very good resistance to thermal shock
Lighter than corresponding metal components
Your Advantages
All these material properties lead to significant advantages, especially in highly abrasive applications.
Drastically longer product service life
Significantly less service intervals
Massive savings potential in operational costs
Success Story 1 Application: Gold extraction in a Pressure Oxidation Autoclave EKATO Solution: Ceramic Blades on an EKATO EPOX Impeller
Example: Success Story 2 Application: Open Tank Application from a Mine in Sweden EKATO Solution: Ceramic Blades on an EKATO VISCOPROP Impeller
Know-How as a Prerequisite for Success
Ceramic materials have a number of excellent properties. They combine high chemical resistance with extreme hardness, both of which guarantee long service life.
Their strength characteristics remain constant even at high temperatures. However, the design principles must be adapted to the material ceramic.
Manufacturing tolerances are narrower than in the classical apparatus and plant engineering, and the different thermal expansions of steel and ceramic must be taken into account.
A team of EKATO specialists constantly adapts the know-how for calculating and manufacturing the components to new requirements. For this purpose, the tools of finite element analysis are available as well as the possibility to put prototypes realistically to a long-term test. In the EKATO Test Center, a wide variety of vessels up to 100 m³ and 500 kW agitator power are available for specific applications.
EKATO EPOX-C impeller in a test autoclave at the EKATO R&D Center
Process Solution Contact Form
Related Topics
You may also be interested in these topics
VISCOPROP
The all-rounder with high mixing performance. Versatile due to the different blade angles and number of blades.
Top-entry and side-entry agitators (e.g., EM 2000, ES 2000, MD/SD)
Solutions for storage tanks, open and closed vessels
Simple mechanical seals
Short delivery times, high cost-efficiency
On-site commissioning and service
What does “Number of sealing faces” mean?
Single-acting mechanical seals These seals have one sealing surface and only seal in one direction. They are generally simpler in design and are commonly used in applications where pressure is applied from only one side.
Double-acting mechanical seals These seals have two sealing surfaces and can seal in both directions. They are ideal for applications where pressure may come from both sides or where a higher sealing performance is required.
Triple-acting mechanical seals These are less common and used in specialized applications that require a more complex sealing setup. They offer additional sealing surfaces or mechanisms to ensure reliable sealing even in highly demanding environments.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Google Maps. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from OpenStreetMap. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Facebook. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from hCaptcha. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Turnstile. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
