#Product Trends
User Success Story: The Solution to Stably Feed Carbon Slurry to an Extruder at High Pressure.
I am unable to find a pump that can stably feed carbon slurry without abrasion at high pressure.
Textile Manufacturer G Company
Development Department
Problem
Company G, a textile manufacturer, develops highly functional materials that are different from traditional fibers and have improved performance. Mr. A, who is person responsible for the development of new materials, has developed high-strength fibers and was considering pumps necessary to transfer the carbon to the molding machines.
Mr. A was planning to transfer a carbon slurry with a concentration of 5 wt% over a range of 5 to 30mL/min, but in order to transfer the carbon slurry to the extruder, a pressure of 10MPa was necessary.
“I thought that a pump that could transfer the slurry at a high pressure of 10MPa, whose flow rate would not decrease due to the pump being worn out by the abrasive carbon slurry, and a pump that would not allow abrasion particles to mix into the liquid would be best for this application. However, I tried to search for such a pump on the internet, but it was quite difficult to find a suitable pump. I spent quite a lot of time looking for a high pressure diaphragm pump manufacturer in many different countries all over the world that could meet our desired specifications.”
However, Mr. A’s plan did not progress as he expected. “The other manufacturers could not respond to my request for an actual liquid test. They simply told me that there is only a sales agent in Japan, and real liquid test and technical support are difficult to do.” (Mr. A)
In order to send the carbon slurry at high pressure, Mr. A was facing a lot of obstacles.
Problem Points:
・High pressure transfer of 10 MPa is required.
・Need a pump whose flow rate does not decrease due to abrasion caused by the carbon slurry.
・The pump manufacture needs to be able to handle actual liquid tests.
Solution
Transfer carbon slurry at high pressure without difficulty.
When Mr. A participated in an exhibition that his company was demonstrating in, he happened to find a diaphragm pump with high pressure specifications at Tacmina’s booth when walking by. After Mr. A consulted with one of Tacmina’s sales staff, he was recommended the high-pressure Smoothflow Pump that was on display, and he decided to conduct an actual liquid test at Tacmina’s laboratory at a later date. Mr. A also informed Tacmina that he when he imagined the actual line, he wanted to operate the pump continuously for about 2000 hours.
“I was a bit unsure about whether or not the pump would be able to transfer our slurry liquid, but even from the first test I could see that Tacmina’s Smoothflow Pump would be able to transfer our carbon slurry steadily at high pressure and without abrasion even up to 2000 hours.”
Mr. A was dealing with a variety of liquids which were considered difficult to transfer, but until then he has not another pump that could clear all of his test requirements on the first try.
“No way! Not even in my dreams did I imagine that it would succeed on the first try, so I wasn’t able to hide my surprise when it passed our expectations on the first test!” Mr. A said.
After that, Mr. A evaluated the test results again internally and decided to adopt a Smoothflow Pump.
Even after delivery of the pump, the Smoothflow Pump maintains the same performance as the test.
In the future, Mr. A, who is working on the further development of high-strength fibers, is continuing to conduct research on materials other than the carbon slurry that was successfully transferred in this test. Mr. A thinks that he will consult with Tacmina again when he is confronted with a new liquid transfer problem.
Solution Points:
・Stably transfer carbon slurry at high pressure without abrasion.
・Complete preparation of actual liquid testing facilities.
