Reaching out to new sectors

Linatex is a major player in sand and gravel production industry and wanted to appeal to more sectors with new G4 range and significantly increase its share of the $800m global market for Slurry pumps and spares. Europe and Russia account for 20% of this global market but hard metal pumps account for 75% of that market, so only manufacturing rubber limits potential as a single source supplier; Linatex wanted to get into more markets by having different pumps.

The Mk3 pump was essentially a facelifted Mk2. So in late 2007, Linatex partnered with a small UK manufacturer of hard metal pumps and saw the advantages of developing a new rubber pump to complement it using the same drive frame to improve efficiency. The Linatex design team in Asia and Europe devised a rubber pump that gives a power saving of 20% over the Mark 3 pump and other pumps in the sector.

The type of particle size determines the type of pump. For example, sand would use the G4 rubber while big particles such as smashed hard rock, would use hard metal pumps. With both options, Linatex now has a range that covers everything.

Applications include aggregate sand production and water treatment sand filtration.

While it has a premium price, Linatex rubber also has up to four times the life of normal rubber, which lacks the elasticity of Linatex rubber, which comes from its molecular structure gives Linatex rubber it's elasticity - it's soft and stretchy but also thick, which makes it great for pumps and gives savings over the lifecycle of the unit. Tests in slurry have demonstrated the difference.

G4-200 & G4-150 pumps were installed in late July 2009 on an existing Linatex sand classification and dewatering plant operated by Aggregate Industries, replacing Linatex LPIIIr pumps. The G4-200 handled 130 tph of -6 mm concrete sand while the G4-150 handled 37 tph of -1.2 mm Building Sand. Following a 9 month evaluation of the new G4 Rubber Pump, Duncan McIntosh the quarry operations manager of Aggregate Industries commented: "The new pumps have certainly met our requirements to reduce power consumption. At the same time, these pumps are so much easier and safer to work on. The levels of wear to date have been impressive compared to the old style pump."

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