Germiston-based pumps company Ecochem Pumps has secured the dosing pumps contract for Sasol Synfuels’ water recovery growth project, in Secunda.

The order, announced by Ecochem Pumps in August, comprises Milton Roy dosing pumps worth about R2-million to be supplied to the water recovery plant project contract manager Uhde, a division of ThyssenKrupp Engineering, in September.

The water recovery project at Sasol Synfuels entails the treatment of water effluent from the refinery reactors using a process in which alcohols, ketones and other usable chemicals are removed, while the remaining acid-containing wastewater is treated in a biological plant.

The Sasol Synfuels growth project is said to have started in late 2010.

Ecochem sales engineer Darren Cox says the Milton Roy dosing pump is in the process of becoming the product of choice for oil refineries throughout Southern Africa.

“The dosing pump is a reliable, long-lasting, API 675-compliant product with a low overall cost of ownership.

“Ecochem has installations at refineries that are still functioning after 20 years because of its double-diaphragm technology and the relatively small number of moving parts in the design,” he adds.

The pumps company will supply Sasol Synfuels with 12 stainless steel dosing pump models from Milton Roy’s MaxRoy, mRoy and PrimeRoy ranges.

Cox says the largest pumps in the order will deliver dosing capacities of up to 2 500 ℓ/h.

The dosing pumps will feature hydraulic actuation, which eliminates the traditional mechanical linkage between reciprocating mechanism components and the liquid-end diaphragm.

A mechanical control spool piece set by the pump’s stroke adjustment knob, regulates the exact amount of hydraulic fluid transferred from the pump reservoir chamber in the liquid end, which, in turn, determines the amount of deflection of the diaphragm and the pump’s swept volume, explains Cox.

This results in a dosing flow rate which is accurate to about 1% across the entire operating spectrum, as well as pump adjustment that can be effected, while the pump is either running or at rest, without damage to internal gearbox components.

The pumps for Sasol feature a double diaphragm with a rupture detection mechanism that provides increased safety and operational redundancy, while also enabling sufficient time to plan for rupture repairs on the ruptured diaphragm without pump downtime.

If the process diaphragm is perforated, the rupture is immediately indicated by means of a pressure gauge installed on the liquid end to detect such a fault.

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