4.2.5 Final concept
In collaboration with Dutch national and international
companies, suitable machines are selected for each of
the basic functions, whilst considering costs, dimensions,
weights and power consumption.
Collect ion of small part icles : slurry pump
The slurry pump to collect small parts of plastic has been
selected in consultancy with the Dutch company Deltapompen
B.V. It was chosen together with the slurry pump
that will perform the transshipment function, explained
in Sub-chapter 4.4. The material flow to be pumped by
this second slurry pump was the basis of the pump capacity.
Deltapompen have specified that plastic material
flow of 1.20 tons or 4.01 m³ per hour must be accompanied
by a water flow of 300 m³/h. The first slurry pump
needs to supply this body of water, so the capacity of this
pump was also set to 300 m³/h. Deltapompen has selected
a centrifugal slurry pump that can handle particles
with a maximum size of 50 mm and that uses 22 kW of
electrical power. The costs of this pump, the motor and
the mounting are €10,500. Since the pump will be operating
in a salt-water environment, it will be made from a
material called super duplex, which is a type of steel with
high corrosion resistance.
For a pump to be able to transport slurry, it needs to be
below the water surface, since it requires an incoming
pressure. Self-priming pumps exist, but due to the multiple
suction chambers, solid particles would get stuck in
the pump. To be below the water requires the pump to be
placed in one of the submerged parts of the platform, or
for the entire pump to be submerged.
It is assumed that this slurry pump can be applied in both
platform types.