Right Way to Design Medium Consistency Pulp Pump Systems, 1998 Engineering Conference Proceedings

The right way to prevent pulsation and vibration in medium consistency pulp pipe system is to recognize and elimi-nate the sources of the pulsation and vibration during the design phase of the project.

Minimizing the effect of pulsation and vibration in pulp piping systems has to be considered in the design phase of the project. All sources of pulsation and vibration have to be reviewed and the pump system design should include specifications that will minimize the effect of the energy source that can cause pulsation and vibration.

Pulsation and vibration in pipe systems that transfer pulp in the consistency range of 8 to 16% BD, is a common problem in many pulp mills. The forces in the pipe system can rupture piping and can weaken and damage the pip-ing system supports.

The cost of maintenance and repair of the piping system and the piping support structure are usually high and are unbudgeted items. Production losses from unscheduled down time for repair to the pipe system can also be high.

One of the common “fixes” to reduce the pulsation level is to reduce the consistency of the pulp delivered to stor-age. At the lower consistencies the effective storage capacity of the storage vessel is reduced.