Marine Copper Ballast Water Pump

I. Product Overview

Marine copper ballast water pump is the core power equipment of the ship's ballast system, specially designed for the rapid transfer of ballast media such as seawater and freshwater, and used to adjust the ship's draft, stability, and trim balance. It adopts naval brass (HAl60-1-1) or tin bronze (ZCuSn5Pb5Zn5) as the main material, and realizes efficient delivery of media through the centrifugal pump principle - the power source (motor or main engine shaft belt) drives the impeller to rotate to generate centrifugal force, sucks in and pressurizes the medium in the ballast tank, and delivers it to the target tank or discharges it overboard through the pipeline to complete the ship's ballasting/unloading operation. The pump body undergoes precision casting and surface chrome plating, with a corrosion-resistant service life of ≥10 years in low-salinity seawater and freshwater environments. It meets the requirements of IMO "International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments" and the ballast system equipment certification of classification societies such as LR and ABS, and is widely used in inland ships, coastal cargo ships, yachts and other ships that are sensitive to weight and have moderate corrosive environments.

II. Core Technologies and Material Characteristics

1.Copper Material Selection and Performance

2.Key Technical Parameters

Flow range: 20-300m³/h, suitable for ship tonnage of 500-10000 gross tons (for example, a 5000 gross ton ship requires a single pump flow ≥100m³/h)

Head coverage: 15-50m, meeting the pressure requirements for transportation from the ballast tank to the outside of the ship (including pipeline elbow and valve resistance loss)

Medium compatibility: Can transport seawater (sediment content ≤3%), freshwater, brackish water (salinity 5-15‰) and circulating water with temperature ≤50℃

Self-priming performance: The self-priming model can achieve a self-priming height ≥3m, and the priming time ≤80 seconds, suitable for the low-level water absorption scenario of the ballast tank

Operation stability: Operates normally under the conditions of ship heel ±15° and trim ±5°, with a vibration value ≤4.5mm/s (measured at 1 meter)

3.System Adaptation Design

The inlet and outlet adopt DN80-DN200 standard flanges, which can be quickly connected to the ballast pipeline, supporting series/parallel operation (the flow can be superimposed to 600m³/h)

Equipped with a frequency conversion speed control device, the flow can be steplessly adjusted within the 30%-100% rated range to meet the flow requirements of different stages of ballasting/unloading

Lightweight structure: 40% lighter than cast iron pumps of the same specification, with a single unit weight ≤600kg, suitable for installation on the deck or engine room top of small and medium-sized ships

III. Technical Advantages and Innovative Design

1. Efficient Ballasting Operation Capacity

Wide-range high-efficiency impeller: Adopts a spatially twisted blade design, with an efficiency ≥78% in the 50%-110% rated flow range, 12% more energy-efficient than traditional copper pumps, and the single-tank ballasting time is shortened to 40 minutes (based on 1000m³ tank capacity).

Anti-vortex suction structure: A guide cover and filter screen (aperture ≤10mm) are added at the suction end to reduce the inhalation of bubbles in the medium, the net positive suction head (NPSH) is reduced by 25%, and it can still operate stably during low-level ballasting (remaining at the bottom of the tank ≤300mm).

2. Balance between Wear Resistance and Corrosion Resistance

Bimetallic impeller: The hub is forged with tin bronze, and the blades are surfacing with nickel-based alloy (thickness 1.5mm). The sand wear resistance is 50% higher than that of pure copper impellers, suitable for inland waterways with high sediment content.

All-copper flow channel sealing: The pump body, pump cover, and shaft sleeve are all made of homogeneous copper materials to avoid galvanic corrosion caused by contact between dissimilar metals, and there is no obvious pitting after soaking in 10% salt water for 5000 hours.

3. Adaptability Characteristics for Small and Medium-sized Ships

Compact layout: The length of the pump unit is ≤1.2m (100m³/h model), and the floor area is 30% smaller than that of stainless steel pumps with the same flow, suitable for the limited space of yachts and small cargo ships.

Low-noise operation: The impeller and volute adopt dynamic and static balance design, with an operating noise ≤80dB (at 1 meter), meeting the noise limit requirements of inland passenger ships (≤85dB).

IV. Typical Application Scenarios

1. Routine Ballasting Operations

Unloaded ballasting: Before a coastal cargo ship departs, the naval brass ballast water pump (flow 150-200m³/h) sucks seawater from overboard, and completes ballasting for 3 ballast tanks (total volume 5000m³) within 4 hours, increasing the ship's draft from 2m to 5m to meet the navigation stability requirements.

Unloading after cargo discharge: After unloading, the inland barge uses a tin bronze self-priming ballast water pump (flow 50-80m³/h) to discharge the ballast freshwater overboard. The head of 25m can overcome the tidal level difference, and it cooperates with the liquid level sensor to realize automatic pump shutdown.

2. Special Working Condition Adjustment

Wharf berthing balance: When a ro-ro ship berths at the port, 2 parallel naval brass pumps (total flow 200m³/h) are used to quickly transfer ballast water between the left and right sides, adjusting the heel from 3° to 0° within 30 minutes to ensure the safety of loading and unloading.

Shallow water navigation lightening: In inland waterways with insufficient water depth, the ballast water pump discharges 1000m³ of ballast water, reducing the ship's draft by 0.5m. The tin bronze material is resistant to sand wear in shallow water areas, and the flow is stable at 80-120m³/h.

3. Multi-functional Auxiliary Applications

Ballast water exchange: Coastal passenger ships perform "overflow method" exchange through copper ballast water pumps (flow 100-150m³/h) on the high seas, with an hourly exchange volume ≥3 times the tank capacity. Cooperating with the filtration system, it meets the biological inactivation requirements of IMO D-2 standard.

Emergency drainage: When the cabin is accidentally flooded, the tin bronze ballast water pump can be temporarily used as an emergency drainage pump with a flow of 80-100m³/h and a head of 15m to quickly reduce the water level in the cabin to a safe range.

V. Selection and Maintenance Specifications

1. Key Selection Parameters

Navigation area: Naval brass pumps are selected for coastal and low-salinity waters, and tin bronze pumps are selected for inland rivers and sandy waters

Ballast capacity: Configure the flow according to 1/4 of the total volume of the ship's ballast tanks per hour. For example, a total volume of 2000m³ requires a flow ≥500m³/h

Installation conditions: Compact naval brass pumps are selected for space-constrained scenarios (such as yachts), and wear-resistant tin bronze pumps are selected for waters with high sediment content

2. Maintenance Points

Daily monitoring: Check the outlet pressure (fluctuation ≤±0.2MPa), bearing temperature (≤75℃), and shaft seal leakage (≤2mL/h) every 800 hours

Regular maintenance: Clean the suction filter screen (to prevent blockage by shells and aquatic plants) every month, replace the mechanical seal (using nitrile rubber + bronze combination) every 2000 hours

Anti-corrosion maintenance: Passivate copper components with zinc phosphate solution every six months to remove the surface oxide layer and restore corrosion resistance

3. Seasonal Maintenance

Dry season: During the shutdown period of inland ships, drain the water in the pump and apply anti-rust oil to tin bronze components to avoid oxidative rust in humid environments

Flood season: Before the typhoon season for coastal ships, check the impeller wear (allowable radial clearance ≤0.3mm) and reinforce the pump unit base bolts (to prevent vibration loosening)

VI. Compliance and Certification

International standards: Complies with IMO "Ballast Water Management Convention" and ISO 9906 requirements for centrifugal pumps

Classification society certification: Passed the type approval of ballast water pumps by LR, ABS, and CCS (including 300-hour seawater circulation test)

Environmental requirements: The flow-through components can be 100% recycled, and the water outlet meets the MEPC.207(62) ballast water discharge standards