mud pump price list free sample

Explore a wide variety of mud pump price list on Alibaba.com and enjoy exquisite deals. The machines help maintain drilling mud circulation throughout the project. There are many models and brands available, each with outstanding value. These mud pump price list are efficient, durable, and completely waterproof. They are designed to lift water and mud with efficiency without using much energy or taking a lot of space.

The primary advantage of these mud pump price list is that they can raise water from greater depths. With the fast-changing technology, purchase machines that come with the best technology for optimum results. They should be well adapted to the overall configuration of the installation to perform various operations. Hence, quality products are needed for more efficiency and enjoyment of the machines" full life expectancy.

Alibaba.com offers a wide selection of products with innovative features. The products are designed for a wide range of flow rates that differ by brand. They provide cost-effective options catering to different consumer needs. When choosing the right mud pump price list for the drilling project, consider factors such as size, shape, and machine cost. More powerful tools are needed when dealing with large projects such as agriculture or irrigation.

Alibaba.com provides a wide range of mud pump price list to suit different tastes and budgets. The site has a large assortment of products from major suppliers on the market. The products are made of durable materials to avoid corrosion and premature wear during operations. The range of products and brands on the site assures quality and good value for money.

There are three types of mud pumps, depending on the type of client and the size they want. For general, mud pumps, there are three basic types of mud pumps, depending on the type of client and budget. The piston pump is another compressed mud pump, which is a pushed electric compressor mud pumps and by compressed air.@@@@@

Electric mud pumps are largely divided into three categories, among them the electric mud pumps and the semi-trash mud pumps. The piston inflated mud pumps are also classified in terms of the type of mud pumps, among them are electric mud pumps and semi-trash mud pumps. In addition, the piston inflates mud and mud pumps will be inflated by the piston, which is inflated mud pumps.

An innovative product policy and continuous advancement of essential design features make this pump a powerful, yet economical standard unit with a broad range of applications.

Professional China Mud Pump - BNS series Single Stage, End Suction Norm Centrifugal pumps – Beken, The product will supply to all over the world, such as: , , ,

We usually continually offer you the most conscientious consumer services, along with the widest variety of designs and styles with finest materials. These initiatives include the availability of customized designs with speed and dispatch for Cones, Submersible Pump Rubber Parts, Slurry Pump Cover Plate Liner, We always welcome new and old customers presents us with valuable advice and proposals for cooperation, let us grow and develop together, and to contribute to our community and staff!

Slurry pump throat bush is one of wet parts in horizontal slurry pump which directs slurries to impeller, it is suction side liner which is connected with cover plate.

Throat bush is common in bigger pumps, because throat bush and volute liner are normally in one solid piece in small pumps. The design of slurry pump throat bush is based on cost effective in manufacturing and operation.

* YAAO® is a registered trademark and does not represent or is not in any way affiliated with Warman® of Weir Minerals Group. All names, numbers, symbols and descriptions are used for reference purpose only and do not imply that any pumps or parts listed is the product of Warman Pumps.

Our focus on should be to consolidate and enhance the quality and repair of present products, in the meantime constantly establish new products to meet unique customers" requires for China PriceList for Mud Pump Impeller - AH Slurry Pump Rubber THROAT BUSH – YAAO factory and suppliers | YAAO , The product will supply to all over the world, such as: Slovakia, Paris, Leicester, Our professional engineering group will always be ready to serve you for consultation and feedback. We"re able to also offer you with absolutely free samples to meet your requirements. Finest efforts will likely be produced to offer you the ideal service and goods. For anyone who is thinking about our company and merchandise, be sure to contact us by sending us emails or contact us quickly. As a way to know our merchandise and firm. lot more, you can come to our factory to find out it. We"ll always welcome guests from all over the world to our business to build company relations with us. Be sure to feel free to get in touch with us for business and we believe we"ve been intending to share the top trading practical experience with all our merchants.

Global Mud Pump Market, Product Type (Duplex, Triplex, Quintuplex), Driven System (Electric, Fuel Engine), Application (Onshore, Offshore), Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2028.

The mud pump market is expected to witness market growth at a rate of 6.80% in the forecast period of 2021 to 2028. Data Bridge Market Research report on mud pump market provides analysis and insights regarding the various factors expected to be prevalent throughout the forecast period while providing their impacts on the market’s growth. The increase in the use of product in various industries globally is escalating the growth of mud pump market.

A mud pump or drilling mud pump refers to the type of pump that is utilized for circulating drilling mud on a drilling rig at high pressure. The mud is generally circulated down through the drill string, and back through the annulus at high pressures. These are positive displacement pumps and are ideal wherever a lot of fluid needs to be pumped under high pressure.

The increased demand for directional and horizonal drilling across the globe acts as one of the major factors driving the growth of mud pump market. The use of for moving and circulating drilling fluids and other similar fluids in several applications such as mining and onshore and offshore oil and gas, and deployment for transfering fluids at substantially high pressures accelerate the market growth. The rise in the popularity of electric mud pumps as they offer smooth operations in drilling rigs and are environment-friendly, and growth in mineral extraction activities further influence the market. Additionally, expansion of mining industry, rapid urbanization, increase in investments and emergence of industry 4.0 positively affect the mud pump market. Furthermore, surge in number if foreign investors and government initiatives extend profitable opportunities to the market players in the forecast period of 2021 to 2028.

On the other hand, lack of universal directives pertaining to applications of mud pump and stringent regulations are expected to obstruct the market growth. Lack of awareness and less adoption of mud pump is projected to challenge the mud pump market in the forecast period of 2021-2028.

This mud pump market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, impact of domestic and localized market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info mud pump market contact Data Bridge Market Research for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.

The mud pump market is segmented on the basis of product type, driven system and application. The growth among segments helps you analyze niche pockets of growth and strategies to approach the market and determine your core application areas and the difference in your target markets.

The mud pump market is analyzed and market size, volume information is provided by country, product type, driven system and application as referenced above.

The countries covered in the mud pump market report are the U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America, Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe in Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Asia-Pacific dominates the mud pump market due to the increase in number of oil wells and high investment within the region. North America is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period of 2021 to 2028 because of the high production of oil and gas in the region.

The mud pump market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, regional presence, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width and breadth, application dominance. The above data points provided are only related to the companies’ focus related to mud pump market.

The major players covered in the mud pump market report are NOV Inc., Schlumberger Limited., Gardner Denver, Weatherford, Flowserve Corporation., Honghua Group Ltd., China National Petroleum Corporation, Trevi Finanziaria Industriale S.p.A., MHWirth, Bentec, American Block, White Star Pump, Ohara Corporation, Herrenknecht Vertical GmbH, Mud King Products, Grundfos Holding A/S, Halliburton, Sulzer Ltd, KEPL, and EPIC Corporation., among other domestic and global players. Market share data is available for global, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America separately. DBMR analysts understand competitive strengths and provide competitive analysis for each competitor separately.

When choosing a size and type of mud pump for your drilling project, there are several factors to consider. These would include not only cost and size of pump that best fits your drilling rig, but also the diameter, depth and hole conditions you are drilling through. I know that this sounds like a lot to consider, but if you are set up the right way before the job starts, you will thank me later.

Recommended practice is to maintain a minimum of 100 to 150 feet per minute of uphole velocity for drill cuttings. Larger diameter wells for irrigation, agriculture or municipalities may violate this rule, because it may not be economically feasible to pump this much mud for the job. Uphole velocity is determined by the flow rate of the mud system, diameter of the borehole and the diameter of the drill pipe. There are many tools, including handbooks, rule of thumb, slide rule calculators and now apps on your handheld device, to calculate velocity. It is always good to remember the time it takes to get the cuttings off the bottom of the well. If you are drilling at 200 feet, then a 100-foot-per-minute velocity means that it would take two minutes to get the cuttings out of the hole. This is always a good reminder of what you are drilling through and how long ago it was that you drilled it. Ground conditions and rock formations are ever changing as you go deeper. Wouldn’t it be nice if they all remained the same?

Centrifugal-style mud pumps are very popular in our industry due to their size and weight, as well as flow rate capacity for an affordable price. There are many models and brands out there, and most of them are very good value. How does a centrifugal mud pump work? The rotation of the impeller accelerates the fluid into the volute or diffuser chamber. The added energy from the acceleration increases the velocity and pressure of the fluid. These pumps are known to be very inefficient. This means that it takes more energy to increase the flow and pressure of the fluid when compared to a piston-style pump. However, you have a significant advantage in flow rates from a centrifugal pump versus a piston pump. If you are drilling deeper wells with heavier cuttings, you will be forced at some point to use a piston-style mud pump. They have much higher efficiencies in transferring the input energy into flow and pressure, therefore resulting in much higher pressure capabilities.

Piston-style mud pumps utilize a piston or plunger that travels back and forth in a chamber known as a cylinder. These pumps are also called “positive displacement” pumps because they literally push the fluid forward. This fluid builds up pressure and forces a spring-loaded valve to open and allow the fluid to escape into the discharge piping of the pump and then down the borehole. Since the expansion process is much smaller (almost insignificant) compared to a centrifugal pump, there is much lower energy loss. Plunger-style pumps can develop upwards of 15,000 psi for well treatments and hydraulic fracturing. Centrifugal pumps, in comparison, usually operate below 300 psi. If you are comparing most drilling pumps, centrifugal pumps operate from 60 to 125 psi and piston pumps operate around 150 to 300 psi. There are many exceptions and special applications for drilling, but these numbers should cover 80 percent of all equipment operating out there.

The restriction of putting a piston-style mud pump onto drilling rigs has always been the physical size and weight to provide adequate flow and pressure to your drilling fluid. Because of this, the industry needed a new solution to this age-old issue.

As the senior design engineer for Ingersoll-Rand’s Deephole Drilling Business Unit, I had the distinct pleasure of working with him and incorporating his Centerline Mud Pump into our drilling rig platforms.

In the late ’90s — and perhaps even earlier —  Ingersoll-Rand had tried several times to develop a hydraulic-driven mud pump that would last an acceptable life- and duty-cycle for a well drilling contractor. With all of our resources and design wisdom, we were unable to solve this problem. Not only did Miller provide a solution, thus saving the size and weight of a typical gear-driven mud pump, he also provided a new offering — a mono-cylinder mud pump. This double-acting piston pump provided as much mud flow and pressure as a standard 5 X 6 duplex pump with incredible size and weight savings.

The true innovation was providing the well driller a solution for their mud pump requirements that was the right size and weight to integrate into both existing and new drilling rigs. Regardless of drill rig manufacturer and hydraulic system design, Centerline has provided a mud pump integration on hundreds of customer’s drilling rigs. Both mono-cylinder and duplex-cylinder pumps can fit nicely on the deck, across the frame or even be configured for under-deck mounting. This would not be possible with conventional mud pump designs.

The second generation design for the Centerline Mud Pump is expected later this year, and I believe it will be a true game changer for this industry. It also will open up the application to many other industries that require a heavier-duty cycle for a piston pump application.

This rig features a Mission 4-by-5 centrifugal pump. Courtesy of Higgins Rig Co.Returning to the water well industry when I joined Schramm Inc. last year, I knew that expanding my mud pump knowledge was necessary to represent the company"s mud rotary drill line properly. One item new to me was the centrifugal mud pump. What was this pump that a number of drillers were using? I had been trained that a piston pump was the only pump of any ability.

As I traveled and questioned drillers, I found that opinions of the centrifugal pumps varied. "Best pump ever built," "What a piece of junk" and "Can"t drill more than 200 feet with a centrifugal" were typical of varying responses. Because different opinions had confused the issue, I concluded my discussions and restarted my education with a call to a centrifugal pump manufacturer. After that conversation, I went back to the field to continue my investigation.

For the past eight months, I have held many discussions and conducted field visits to understand the centrifugal pump. As a result, my factual investigation has clearly proved that the centrifugal pump has a place in mud rotary drilling. The fact also is clear that many drilling contractors do not understand the correct operational use of the pump. Following are the results of my work in the field.

High up-hole velocity - High pump flow (gpm) moves cuttings fast. This works well with lower viscosity muds - reducing mud expense, mixing time and creating shorter settling times.

Able to run a desander - The centrifugal"s high volume enables a desander to be operated off the pump discharge while drilling without adding a dedicated desander pump.

6. Sticky clays will stall a centrifugal pump"s flow. Be prepared to reduce your bit load in these conditions and increase your rpm if conditions allow. Yes, clays can be drilled with a centrifugal pump.

7. Centrifugal pumps cannot pump muds over 9.5 lbs./gal. Centrifugal pumps work best with a 9.0 lbs./gal. mud weight or less. High flow rate move cuttings, not heavy mud.

The goal of this article has been to increase awareness of the value of the centrifugal pump and its growing use. Although the centrifugal pump is not flawless, once its different operating techniques are understood, drilling programs are being enhanced with the use of this pump.

If you wish to learn more, please talk directly to centrifugal pump users. Feel free to call me at 314-909-8077 for a centrifugal pump user list. These drillers will gladly share their centrifugal pump experiences.

Oil price volatility has always been a challenging element in the oil & gas industry. Oil prices have been declining in the last three to four years. However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to disruptions in the oil demand and had a severe impact on financial markets. The COVID-19 crisis has affected various industries, including energy & power, automotive, and chemicals. However, due to the lockdown, people and goods are not moving around, resulting in a heavy blow to the demand for transport fuels. China is one of the largest importers of oil and has shown a steep fall in demand, which has led to significant implications for the global oil & gas market. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Committee (OPEC) issued guidelines for oil producers to cut oil production by 1.5 million barrels. This guideline had to be followed by other countries as well. However, few countries continued to produce oil at the same level, resulting in a steady production level compared to a fall in oil requirements. This resulted in a huge demand-supply gap in the industry due to global lockdown by most countries because of the outbreak. The COVID-19 crisis resulted in an unprecedented fall in oil prices, reaching negative. The sudden cut in oil production has posed strategic challenges that must be faced by leading oil & gas companies.

Crude Oil Production in the US (2012–2021)The market for mud pumps has also been affected due to reduced upstream activities. A mud pump is a large, high-pressure single acting triplex reciprocating pump used to circulate mud in wells with pressure. However, the operations of oil & gas exploration could be stopped to a certain extent. If the production stops, the oil wells would be sealed, which might risk the loss of the asset permanently. This would lead to huge losses and lower than zero dividends by the oil companies to the pension funds, especially in North America and Europe. On 15th May 2020, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced its forecast on crude oil production fall in the year 2020 and 2021 due to the falling demand for petroleum products because of the pandemic. EIA forecasts that the US crude oil production would average at 11.7 million barrels per day in 2020 and 10.9 million barrels per day in 2021. These levels would be lower than the 2019 average of 12.2 million barrels per day.

PHOTOGRAPHY PRICING CALCULATOR - It Calculates Everything For You Instantly! The pricing calculator is amazing!!! It is so quick and super easy to use and it"s amazing to see how things change just with a little adjustment. Going through the calculator I realized that I"m not charging enough for all my packages (close but not enough)! It"s very eye opening. And if I want to change my prices, EASY!!!! Just input the details in the calculator and in minutes you have the perfect results!

The “pond” is actually a man made dam which covers an area of about 40ha and has rockfill embankments of up to 53m high along the southern side that forms the impoundment.  It initially constructed in 1959 to act as a tailings pond to take the bauxite residue (red mud) from the Ewarton Plant situated about 5km away and 300m lower.  The red mud was pumped as a slurry comprising about 20% solids to the pond over a period of about 32 years up to 1991 when the pond was replaced by the Charlemount Mud Stacking and Drying Facility.  During this period the pond embankments (referred to as dams), were raised up to 7 times providing a final crest elevation of 472m.  The pond was however never filled to its final design capacity and the mud beach level remained at about 469m and the central area about 458m leaving a concave depression which held about 1.4mil m3 of water with elevated pH and some caustic content.

The remediation plan for the pond includes the removal of the ponded water and then the regrading of the mud surface to be free draining so that it can be stabilised and vegetated.  About 500,000 m3 of mud will need to be moved over a distance of up to 1km in order to create the required profile.  Due to the very soft nature of the surface muds (shear strength of less than 3kPa) its bearing capacity is less than 20kPa hence it is not accessible using even modified earthworks equipment.  In addition, the muds are thyrotrophic and under any vibration or shear loading, rapidly liquefy resulting in significant reduction in shear strength and loss of bearing capacity.  Using conventional earthmoving equipment would therefore require extensive “floating” haul roads with a high risk of machinery getting stuck or entire plant loss and risk to personnel.  It was therefore decided to investigate the possibility of pumping the in-situ red mud.

A mud pumping trial was undertaken to assess the feasibility of using this technique to do the bulk mud moving.  Pumping red mud is not unusual and the muds were initially pumped up to Mt Rosser Pond.  However, the muds are usually pumped at a solids content of 30% or less.  Once deposited, they can take years to reconsolidate and firm up sufficiently to allow access for light earthworks and agricultural plant.

In addition to the mud pumping, the trial included infilling three small scale geotubes to assess their performance as these may be needed as part of the regrading works.

The main aim of the pump trial was to determine if the muds could be pumped in their insitu state, and if not, what amount of water is required and how the variations in water content affect pump rates.

The mud pumping trial was undertaken using a 4” EDDY Pump.  This pump was recommended due to its ability to handle variable solids and robust operating mechanism.  The pump unit incorporated a hydraulic drive and cutter head.  The unit was mounted onto the boom of a JCB 220 excavator which also supplied the hydraulic feed to power the pump for the required range of 30-40 GPM at 3,500 to 4,000 psi (2428MPa).  The cutter head was powered by a standalone hydraulic power unit capable of providing the required 30gpm at 200psi (1.9 l/s at 13.8MPa).  If mounted on a 30-ton excavator with a System 14 hydraulic system and dual auxiliary feeds to the boom, all necessary hydraulic power for the pump and cutter head can be supplied by the excavator.  This equipment was however not available at the time in Jamaica.

In addition to the pump mounted on the excavator a Long Reach excavator (CAT 325) was used to move muds towards the cutter head but also to loosen up the muds and mix in additional water to facilitate pumping.  Water was added by pumping it directly from the pond using a 3” diesel water pump.

Prior to pumping the muds, the mud pump would operate in recirculation mode in order to prime the pump.  When in recirculation (re-circ) mode, the material pumped would be diverted to a short discharge pipe mounted on the pump directed back parallel to the cutter head. This action would help agitate and stir the muds.

A geotechnical soils investigation was undertaken on the muds within Mt Rosser pond in 2004.  It showed the material to be predominantly clayey silt with approximately 13% sand, 29% clay and 58% silt using conventional sieve analysis and hydrometer.  Atterberg limits indicate that the material is an intermediate to high plasticity clay.  The muds do however vary across the lake and also vertically. This is mainly as a consequence of the deposition process and discharge location.  Close to the discharge location the courser materials would settle out first and the finer materials would disperse furthest and to the opposite end of the pond.  The results are presented in figure 4.1.

Earlier this year, additional mud samples were tested as it was evident that standard soil mechanics tests did not provide an accurate assessment of this fine material.  This was particularly evident in tests done with dry sieving which shows the material as well-graded sand (see results for samples 5300, 5301, 5302 on figure 4.2).  When dispersed in water, even with an agent, the ‘yield-pseudo-plastic’ rheology of the muds appeared to affect the hydrometer results with large variations between tests (see results of samples PFT4&5 taken during mud pumping trials on figure 4.2).

The additional testing comprised of undertaking gradings using a Laser Particle Analyzer. The results indicated that the muds are predominantly Silt although the silt % varied from 30% to 80% with the material being either more sandy or more clayey (up to 15% clay). See results of samples ending in “L” on figure 4.2 below.

Moisture content tests on the muds taken from within the mud pond but below the ponded water ranged from 100% to 150% (50% to 40% solids).  The muds at the pump test location were 137% (42% solids).

Shear strength was generally very low ranging from 1kPa to 6kPa increasing with depth.  Dynamic probes previously undertaken indicated that the muds are “very soft” to 5m increasing in strength slightly to “soft” at a depth of 9m after which they increase to firm becoming stiff.

The pH of the muds ranged from 10.3 to 11.7, (ave 11.2).  Previous testing indicated that the surface muds have the lower pH although once through the crust, the pH tends to be higher. When doing the trials, the muds up to a depth of about 2.5m was intermixed, hence any stratification in pH could not be determined.

Initially, pumping was problematic mainly due to the excavator being underpowered. This was diagnosed as a hydraulic pump problem and the excavator was replaced.  The cutter head (which also acts to protect the intake) tended to blind with mud (Photo 5.1) and was also not providing enough agitation to liquefy the muds.  This was partly resolved by adding “stirrers” (2 steel loops welded either side) to the rotating cutter head and also a “comb” (Photo 5.2) to keep the gaps within the cutter head open.

Mud pumping rates varied from 21 l/s to 52 l/s (332 – 824gpm) and it was clearly visible that the more liquid the muds were the higher the pump rate was.  Samples were taken at different discharge rates and moisture content and percent solids determined by laboratory testing.  The results are plotted in Figure 5.1 and although scattered, do give an indication of the effects of solids content on flow rates.  The natural moisture content of the muds (insitu) at the test location was 137%, or 42% solids.  This is shown in Figure 5.1 as a vertical line.  Pumping muds close to the percent solids was achieved although flow rates were low.

As mentioned previously, the long reach excavator was used to loosen up the muds.  Water was pumped from the pond using a 3” pump into the excavation and the long reach would then work the muds to mix the water in.  The mud pump would then be used in recirculation mode to further mix the muds into a more consistent state.  Even with this mixing and agitation, the water tended to concentrate on the surface. This aided the initial process of priming the pump and once primed thicker muds at 1m to 2m below the surface could be pumped.  However, it was found that the deeper muds tended to be lumpy and this would significantly reduce or stop the flow requiring the pump to be lifted into thinner muds or having to go back into re-circ mode or having to fully re-prime.  The pump discharge was therefore very inconsistent as the suction intake position constantly needed adjustment in an attempt to get adequate discharge but also pump the thickest muds possible.

Discharge of the pumped muds was through 30m of flexible hose then 60m of 4” HDPE pipe which had an internal diameter of about 87mm (3.5”).    The muds were discharged onto the original mud beach which lies at a gradient of about 9%. On deposition the muds slowly flowed down gradient.  At times the flow would stop and the muds would build up then flow again in a wave motion.  The natural angle of repose would therefore be a few degrees less than this – probably 5% to 6%.

Although the muds have very low shear strength, and on agitation liquefy, the sides of the excavation had sufficient strength to stand about 2m near vertical.  Even overnight, there was limited slumping and the bank could be undermined by about 0.5m with the cutter head/agitator before collapsing.

On termination of pumping, in order to flush the pipeline, thin watery muds were pumped until the line was clear. A “T” valve system was then used to connect the 3” water pump line and this was then used to flush the pipe with water.

Three geotubes (1m x 6m) were filled with red muds pumped using the 4” Eddy pump. Fill rates were about 30 to 40l/s although it was difficult to assess as the flow and mud consistence was not visible.

Tube 1 was filled initially with more runny mud and then thicker muds as the pump operator got a better feel for conditions.  The tube was filled until firm.  The second tube was filled with thicker muds and filling continued until the tube was taut.  These two tubes were positioned on the sloping beach in order to form a small “U” impoundment area that would later be filled with pumped muds.  Although the area was prepared, the sloping ground caused the first tube to rotate through about 20 degrees. The tube was staked and the downslope side backfilled.  A more defined bed was created for the second tube and the same rotational issue was limited.  The two filled tubes with the ponded mud are shown in Photos 5.7 and 5.8.  Other than a small leak at the contact between the two geotubes, the ponding of the muds was successful.

The third tube was positioned on level ground. It was filled with medium runny (but consistent thickness) muds and was filled until the tube was taut.

In all three cases, there was very little mud loss or seepage from the tubes.  When stood on, some red water would squeeze out around the pressure area.  Once filled taut, the entire bag would have small red water droplets form on the outside (visible in Photo 5.11) , but the seepage was in general nominal.

The tubes have been monitored and the most recent photo’s taken on 10 October 2011 (6 weeks after filling) show how the tubes have reduced in volume due to the dewatering of the contained muds.  Volume loss is estimated to be around 30%.  The anticipated moisture content would therefore be about 90% and the solids around 53%.

The muds pumped into the trial pond behind the geotubes were medium thick to thick, probably in the order of 37 – 40% solids.  After 6 weeks the mud has not only firmed-up but had dried out significantly with wide and deep surface cracks as are evident in Photo 5.14 and 5.15.

The muds can be pumped at close to their insitu moisture content and most likely at their in-situ moisture content if they were agitated more and the pipeline system was designed to reduce friction losses.

Be able to access the mud surface and move around efficiently and safely. The suggestion is to have the pump mounted on a pontoon that is positioned using high strength rope (dynema) or steel cable.  The pump system should be remotely controlled as this would limit regular movement of personnel on the muds.

Have sufficient power and volume capacity to pump the muds at close to or at in-situ moisture content and discharge them about 1000m through a flexible pipeline.

It was also evident from the trials that the muds do not slump and flow readily.  It will therefore be necessary to have an amphibious excavator to loosen up the muds in the area around the pump head.  This weakened and more liquid mud would also aid the movement of the pump pontoon.  To also limit the amount of movement the pontoon will need to do, the amphibious excavator could also move muds towards the pump location.

Using the capacity of the 4” mud pump, mud moving would take about 1.5 to 2 years, the pump will however need to be more suited to the task.  A target period of 1 year however seems reasonable.  However, prior to this, equipment will need to be procured and imported into Jamaica. The 6 and 10 inch Excavator Dredge Pump Attachments are also being considered as an option for higher GMP and a more aggressive completion timeline.  A preliminary programme is as follows: