The 21st
Century will see more emphasis on Life Cycle Costing (LCC) of plant
equipment. Simply put, LCC is the process of
evaluating the overall cost of equipment ownership, maintenance and
operation over its full life, rather than simply based on purchase
cost alone. As the pie chart below (courtesy Hydraulics Institute) indicates, the LCC of a typical
industrial pump over a 20 year period is primarily made up of
maintenance and energy costs.  Experience has proven that high quality equipment
can save money in overall plant operation due to reduced maintenance downtime
alone. Vaughan E-Series Chopper Pumps provide the ultimate in
LCC by featuring:
Chopping Action:
Vaughan's
patented chopping action significantly reduces downtime by not only
eliminating clogging problems, but also reducing downstream issues with
solids. The built-in chopping design also eliminates the need for
a grinder or comminutor to condition solids prior to pumping. The
elimination of clogging issues means less manpower wasted unclogging
pumps. All Vaughan chopper pumps are available with a written
non-clog guarantee, which is your assurance of clog-free operation.
Hardened
Wear Components:
All
of the wear components in the pump are either cast or plate steel, heat treated to
minimum 60 Rockwell C Hardness. Compared to standard gray iron,
these materials are 4-times harder, which increases exponentially to a
wear factor of up to 16 times. Vaughan has years of experience in
developing castings with the strength to withstand impact, with the
hardness to withstand abrasion. The development of these
hardened materials has actually reduced Vaughan's parts orders, a
direct indicator of parts longivity. Longer wear life means less
replacement parts required over the 20-year life expectancy of the pump.
Oversized
Seal-and-Bearing System:
In
order for seals and bearings to withstand the rigors of chopping and
pumping high solids content slurries, they must also be oversized and
designed for severe use. All Vaughan pumps utilize angular
contact ball bearings for thrust loading. Most bearings are in excess of 100,000
hours B10 bearing life. All bearings are 10 weight turbine oil lubricated for
minimal friction. Shaft sizes are oversized to address overhang
loads, and to minimize shaft deflection during chopping. All of
this simply means longer life and reduced maintenance.
Flushless
Seals:
Vaughan has
developed a stainless steel cartridge mechanical seal with silicon
carbide seal faces that withstands more abuse than any of the previously
used single spring, bellows or other mechanical seal designs
available. The adoption of this new seal design over the past 5
years has already lowered Vaughan's warranty claims
significantly. The robust design has also allowed use of the
seal in flushless applications. This eliminates the purchase, installation and
operation costs of a water flush system.
High
Efficiency:
Vaughan's
latest E-Series chopper pumps sets the standard for efficiency.
The patented semi-open impeller, with it's cupped-and-sharpened
vanes, maximizes the pumping efficiency while chopping solids with minimal energy usage. Modern
automated machining and computer-aided analysis will increase this
efficiency even more in the future. Simply put, increased
efficiency reduces energy usage and lowers electric bills.
One note, published efficiencies on performance curves are only
calculations.
External
Adjustments:
On most configurations,
the
E-Series design also incorporates a unique back pull-out plate with
external adjustments of all critical cutting clearances. This
allows field adjustment without the need to disconnect from piping, thus
reducing maintenance time.
Attention
to Detail:
Along with these key
features, Vaughan includes several other details that make the chopper
pump a truly "Value Engineered" product, such as:
-
Powder coating on all
pump bases and motor stools
-
Stainless steel belt
guards or coupling covers
-
Stainless steel
snap-in packing housing guards
-
Mounting feet are
faced off after welding, to assure a true-flat mounting surface
-
Powder coat primed interior
surface of bearing housings for cleanliness
-
Impellers balanced to
within Hydraulics Institiute standards
-
All pumps are dry-run
tested prior to shipping to obtain a vibration signature
-
Carpeted crate
interiors and rubber grommets on pump mounts
-
Rubber flange covers
for shipment
-
Multi-million dollar inventory of
all wear parts for quick overnight delivery
-
Complete in-house
state-of-the-art testing facility
-
Experienced mechanics
and machinists, averaging 13 years at Vaughan
Experience
Only Vaughan has the
long-term field experience of over 20,000 chopper pumps in service
over a 45 year history. 32 patents
cover a wide range of design features specifically focused on
efficiency and dependability. Only Vaughan offers a written Non-Clog
Performance Guarantee - your assurance of truly dependable
operation. Experience may not provide a quantitative value in
LCC evaluation; however, the assurance of knowing there is a history
behind a product must play an intangible part in the process.
More Information: To
analyze your pumping system as compared to a Vaughan, download the
Vaughan
Life Cycle Costing EXCEL Spreadsheet Calculator. This Excel
spreadsheet allows you to compare the 20-year life of a Vaughan chopper
pump to any other pump with a comminutor. For
more information on LCC, go to Pump
Life Cycle Costs: A Guide to LCC Analysis for Pumping Systems,
developed by the Hydraulic Institute and Europump to assist plant
owners/operators in applying the LCC methodology to pumping systems.
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