Shoutout to the crew on the Mississippi near St. Louis last fall

We were pulling a lot of sand and our pump kept clogging every couple of hours. Their lead operator saw our setup and asked about our slurry density. We were running at about 70% solids. He said on that river silt, dropping to 50% with more water flow actually moves more total material in a day because you never stop. We tried it, and our daily yardage went up by about 15% without a single clog. Has anyone else found a sweet spot for slurry density that's lower than the manual says?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley_jones21d ago

Check the total solids weight moved per hour, not just the slurry percentage. That operator's trick proves a lower density can win if it keeps you running. What's your pump's flow rate when you drop to 50 percent?

miles_burns21d ago

My pump's flow rate? Let's just say it moves more dirt than your last argument.

henryp4021d ago

You're focused on total solids weight, but that's only half the story. Miles_burns has a point about flow rate moving the dirt. My experience is that dropping to 50 percent slurry often kills your pressure more than it helps, even if the weight seems good. You need enough water to actually carry the solids the full distance.