Can liquid sulfur be pumped using a self-priming pump?
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This post was last edited by Tiger Overlord on 2016-11-21 at 10:35. Can a self-priming pump be used for liquid sulfur? The sulfur tank is located 4.5 meters below ground level; the liquid sulfur has a density of 1780 Kg/m3 at 150°C. Can it be pumped up given such high density?
It depends on the self-priming height!
I have seen sulfur handling facilities in use, where submersible pumps, screw pumps, and self-priming pumps are employed to transfer liquid sulfur. In my opinion, if the liquid sulfur is clean enough, using a submersible pump is a good option; however, maintaining such pumps is very difficult, and it requires dismantling pipelines and lifting equipment on site. Screw pumps work well for pumping liquid sulfur as well, but the issue of seal leakage needs to be addressed. Self-priming pumps seem to work fine according to what others have experienced, but they appear to be quite bulky.
We’re using submersible pumps, and they’re super expensive :'(
I feel that the self-priming pump isn’t very effective. I talked to the manufacturer about the viscosity, worried that water separation and layering might cause blockages and so on
If it is 4.5 m deep and the liquid density is 1780 kg/m3, the head equivalent to water is 8.01 m. This should be the self-priming limit for this type of self-priming pump. Especially when the operating temperature is 150 degrees C. The calculated NPSHa should be quite low, so a self-priming pump is likely not suitable.
We are using a self-priming pump now, and it works quite well.
Self-priming pump – that liquid sulfur at 150°C has a considerable viscosity! Screw pumps also have a self-priming function! We mainly promote submersible pumps; that’s what we use here!