Corrosion- and Wear-Resistant Special Pumps: Development Progress of Pumps for Seawater Irrigation and Sediment-Containing Water

Corrosion- and Wear-Resistant Special Pumps: Development Progress of Pumps for Seawater Irrigation and Sediment-Containing Water

When dealing with special water qualities such as seawater irrigation, sediment-containing water, or industrial wastewater, ordinary water pumps often suffer from short lifespans and rapid efficiency decline due to severe corrosion and wear. Therefore, the development of corrosion- and wear-resistant special pumps has made continuous progress, focusing on the application of special materials, innovative structural design, and advanced manufacturing processes.

Special materials are the fundamental guarantee for improving pump performance. For the high salinity and corrosiveness of seawater, flow components (such as impellers and pump casings) are increasingly using high-end metal materials such as super duplex stainless steel, high-nickel alloys, or titanium alloys. For highly abrasive sediment-containing water, high-polymer ultra-wear-resistant materials (such as polyurethane), special ceramic coatings, or silicon carbide composite materials are used in key areas. These materials not only resist chemical corrosion, but their extremely high surface hardness also effectively resists the high-speed erosion of sediment particles.

Innovative structural design aims to proactively adapt to harsh working conditions. By optimizing the shape of the impeller and flow channels, the water flow is guided to be smoother, reducing the impact points on materials caused by localized high-speed flow. An effective method is to adopt a wide-channel design with large passages and low rotational speeds, allowing small particles of sediment to pass smoothly and avoiding blockages and concentrated wear. The sealing system has also been strengthened, employing multiple seals and high-quality sealing materials to effectively prevent sand-laden water or seawater from entering critical components such as bearings.

Advanced manufacturing and surface treatment technologies are reliability multipliers. Precision casting technology ensures the molding quality of complex flow channel components. Simultaneously, special surface engineering technologies such as thermal spraying and laser cladding are widely used, forming an extremely dense, hard, and corrosion-resistant protective layer on ordinary substrates, significantly extending the service life of critical components at a relatively low cost.

These advancements enable special pumps to operate stably for longer periods in harsh environments such as seawater desalination irrigation, Yellow River water diversion irrigation, and mine drainage, greatly reducing maintenance costs and downtime risks, and providing reliable equipment support for developing unconventional water resources and coping with complex operating conditions.