Andritz supplies pumps to Chinese water infrastructure project

Technology company Andritz will supply four two-stage vertical water pumps to the Shanxi Xiaolangdi Yellow River Diversion project in China.

The project, which comprises two reservoirs, several tunnels, underground canals, pumping stations, pipelines and aqueducts, is able to transport 247 million cubic metres of water per year.

Of this total, 116 million cubic metres are for irrigation, 116 million cubic metres are for industrial and urban water supply, with a further 15 million cubic metres for ecological use.

The project will extend existing water supply systems in northern China, where there is currently a water shortage.

Water from the Yellow River will be transported through a 6km-long tunnel to an underground pumping station, from where it will be pumped over a distance of 60km by the four two-stage vertical pumps supplied by Andritz into an artificial lake, located in the northwestern part of Shanxi Province.

Each of the four pumps will achieve a flow rate of 5 cubic metres per second over a head of 236m, operating with an efficiency of over 91%, according to the company.

The pumps are coated with a special abrasion-resistant material, which will help protect them against erosion from sand in the Yellow River.