At a pigment plant, a new AODD slurry transfer line was installed. The pump was correct as per catalog, and the spare kit was correct. Yet the pump kept stalling.

Different teams blamed different things — pump size, spares, or maintenance. The real problem was the system design around the pump.

The Real Killers

Suction lift, suction losses, slurry behavior, abrasiveness, long piping runs, multiple bends, and partially restrictive filters all combined to create high back pressure.

No one calculated the total discharge pressure requirement. The assumption was that “AODD will push.”

A Simple Diagnostic Test

A bucket-and-stopwatch test was done with open discharge and then through the actual line. The sharp drop in flow confirmed that the issue was line losses, not pump size or faulty parts.