Why Use a Pump Lifting Chain?

So what exactly is a pump lifting chain?

Pump lifting chains or pump chains are made with the sole intention of retrieving submersible pumps from their often extremely deep down, wet location.

What is a submersible pump used for?

A submersible pump may be positioned in several locations that are flooded with some form of liquid, for instance water or slurry. They are used to pump out that liquid. They are often used in water treatment and sewage areas, or maybe bore holes, mines and drilling rigs, even in old wells, in reality they can be utilized anywhere water removal is needed, from habitually unreachable places.

Submersible pumps not only need lowering into place but additionally lifting out, this can frequently be very difficult particularly if down a deep borehole. A pump chain offers the usually only answer and is intended specially for this reason.

Why are pump chains required?

The speciality of a pump chain is the fact that it incorporates a master link every  metre, to allow it to be hooked onto the lifting apparatus in small increments so that a big gantry system or crane will not be required seeing that these are usually not possible to use.

As under water pumps are used in secluded locations and generally deep underground, for long durations the pump lifting chain is also left in situ, because seeing as the pump is under water, very deep down, it will need to be retrieved at some point for repair or extraction.  The upper end of the chain will be firmly located just below the surface, somewhere where it is easy to access, to enable it to be attached to a lifting appliance. Some type of lifting system will be required to raise the pump, to begin with some kind of hoist will be required, this might be a straightforward chain block, lever hoist or else electric hoist if power is obtainable; the hoisting device will clearly need to hang from some kind of structure in order for it to run properly, for this kind of application a tripod style frame will be positioned over the pump hole, to which the hoist is going to be fixed. Tripods are utilised since they are able to be moved and erected quite easily in remote and tricky locations. The lifting of the pump will be a gradual and laborious task, but a necessary one. Because of the deepness of the pump plus the rather low height of the tripod the pump can't be lifted in one movement, it needs to be raised in 1 metre increments that  correspond to the master links within the pump lifting chain; this really is the only real way to safely raising a pump. A sturdy bar will also be required, this is to place across the bore hole so that it may be pushed through a link to support the pump whilst the master link on the hoist is removed to permit the hoist to be lowered down to the next available link, this will be elevated up as far as it will go and the process will start again, and repeated until the pump is out.

Pump lifting chains tend to be available in grade 316 and 80 stainless-steel as well as grade 40 high tensile steel, however the stainless steel range are often the most popular,  this is due to the nature of the surroundings where they are going to be used; nearly always wet, and sometimes dirty too. Stainless steel possesses exceptional resistance to those environments. To attach the chain on to the pump mostly used is a stainless steel shackle for the same reasons. The chains are available in an assortment of dimensions, including length as well as size of chain, often found with, from 4mm to 26mm chain links, so there is going to be something to match the majority of jobs.

In conclusion we are able to confirm that pump lifting chains are crucial in the process to lift a submersible pump from its deep, wet location, and should only be acquired through a reputable lifting gear business as they are a specialised piece of lifting equipment and quality is paramount. An substandard product may well lead to the chain breaking or degrading in its severe conditions, this will result in not having the ability to retrieve the pump at all due to the inability to find the chain.