Hosted by Weir Minerals: Presented by Mark Webb: The wear of centrifugal slurry pumps in mineral processing can be quite severe and heavily influences maintenance schedules and costs for plant operators. Understanding the influence of slurry particle size on component wear is essential to maximizing the life of centrifugal slurry pumps. Particle size influences not only the wear rate but also the wear pattern in pumps. A further dimension of complexity arises since the relative wear characteristics for different pump parts vary depending on particle size and size distribution. The ‘Slurry Wear Type’ (SWT) classification method, built around particle size and size distribution is initially discussed, describing its benefits for understanding and categorizing slurry pump wear characteristics. This level of understanding helps us to determine the best pump and material selection for specific applications. The presentation reviews real-life case studies to examine the validity of the SWT classification method. Mark Webb is currently the Equipment Trial Manager at Weir Minerals North America. He has held positions in Application Engineering and Product Management for the past 13 years. Mark has a B.Eng. in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.