Unlike most of my colleagues I didn’t start out with a mechanical background.  While they were studying kinetics and machine design, I was studying digital electronics and industrial power.  When I started my career in the world of pumps, I had to learn a whole new set of concepts.  What was surprising was that while the terminology may be a bit different, the concepts are very similar.  Think of the following as a “Rosetta Stone” for translating the common terms and concepts of fluid systems to your more familiar terms and concepts of electrical systems.

Copper is fast becoming a critical resource as the world shifts to an increasingly lower carbon footprint, and with the growing demand comes a need for more efficient processing (i.e., refining) of the mineral ore.

The owner of a copper mine in Antofagasta City, Chile wanted to replace its legacy centrifugal pumps used for injecting sulfuric acid into agglomeration tanks – where crushed copper is heaped into uniform particles and sprayed with sulfuric acid + water. The acid component helps to optimize ultimate metal recovery by improving permeability of the raw material at this stage in reparation for the next step: lixiviation, or leaching, to extract the metal.