Mining the benefits: Upgrading solids-handling slurry pumps at silica proppant mining facility. A proppant manufacturer in the Midwest operates a mining operation that produces silica proppants used in hydraulic fracking for oil and gas extraction. The facility manages its environmental footprint through sump pumps by operating with a closed-loop water system to reduce the facility’s water consumption. This allows the wash plant to operate without discharging process water into dry runs, local wetlands, and nearby creeks. Instead, the plant collects water and sand in sumps and recirculates it through filters that press out moisture from the sand. However, after only two years of operations, the facility needed to upgrade its submersible sump pumps. Read how the KZN series pumps, resistant to abrasion, could operate reliably in thick slurry without clogging, and withstand 24/7 continuous production.
