The Orion Slurry Pump – 40 years of innovation

Born in Carlisle, designed for customers

The Orion series slurry pump has been around since its creation in 1980. Born in Carlisle,UK, as the Orion slurry pump into a competitive market dominated by coal mining. It had a tough job to find its feet in an arena saturated by its competition. Launched initially as a metal pump, it was a competitive alternative to the market leader and significantly advanced slurry pump technology.

Since its inception, the Orion slurry pump series has offered:

• High sustained efficiency
• Total impeller wear clearance adjustment, Double Adjust Feature
• Even hydraulic wear
• Back or front pull-out
• High-performance dry shaft seal
• Ease of maintenance
• Longer operating life

Over 40 years, the Orion series has undergone many changes, design enhancements, and additions to the range; however, it has never deviated from its original goals. Also, over that time the Denver Orion brand was established and is now part of Metso Outotec.

Configured for purpose

Process engineers can choose the Orion series modules best suited to the most arduous duties. Its base design has an oversized high-strength, alloy steel shaft carried in heavy-duty grease lubricated, self-contained bearings. There is a choice of proven and reliable gland seal options to meet individual requirements utilizing expeller or dynamic seals, flushed glands, and a wide range of mechanical seals.

The original Orion pump design was unique in that it offered ‘double’ adjustment enabling the user to ‘close’ both back and front impeller clearances as the components eventually wear. Later, in response to the need to be more competitive, a single adjust design was developed and offered alongside the double adjust. At this time, mining duty and rubber wet ends were also introduced, offering a complete material package for its growing application base and more exotic metal alloys for corrosive duties.

Impeller types

Using a high aspect ratio, wear in the Orion slurry pump range is countered by having a larger diameter impeller running at a lower speed for maximum wear life. Built into the design is an understanding that one impeller will not fit all duties, so a selection of impeller designs is available to ensure the right impeller design for the right job.

The additional option of mounting the Orion wet end onto a vertical pump frame opens up application solutions.

Easy and safe maintainability

Maintenance and ease of use are something that are at the heart of the Orion pump series legacy. The modular design and complete interchangeability of parts minimize the stock holding requirements on site. The back pull-out feature delivers availability and ease of inspection by allowing the case to be left in position without detaching any pipework. Coupled with the slide maintenance base, this minimizes the downtime on-site, increasing plant efficiency and reducing the risk of an HSE incident.