Centrifugal Chemical Transfer Pumps — Pros and Cons

Transferring chemicals from one point to another in industrial applications is tasking and requires high expertise due to the potential risks involved. Thus, operators must consider several factors when selecting and installing the ideal chemical transfer pumps. This article identifies a few of these considerations and highlights some pros and cons of these pumps.

Chemical Transfer Pumps: An Overview

Since their existence in the 1600s, centrifugal pumps have been essential for various applications and industries, including agriculture, petroleum, and sewage disposal. While this industrial equipment has been beneficial to the bulk transfer of chemicals from one point to another in several ways, they also exhibit some limitations due to the nature of the chemical products.

Pros

Since manufacturers opt for simple chemical pump fabrication, they leverage various materials to ensure customers find the exact one that can work with their specific substance. In addition to their compact sizes, these pumps can efficiently transfer large volumes of liquids, saving significant amounts of time in industrial processes. Other crucial benefits of chemical pumps include their low susceptibility to leakages and minimal operation and maintenance costs.

Cons

One fundamental downside of chemical pumps includes their inability to handle solid-containing substances. Moreover, these pumps exhibit significant difficulties in transferring high-temperature fluids. Lastly, while these pumps require low maintenance, operators invest large amounts of money in their acquisition, i.e., high upfront costs.

Additional Things to Consider

Operators incorporating chemical transfer pumps into their industrial applications must consider several factors. Some key considerations include safe pump installation, pump operating procedures and training, and process hazard analysis.

Safe Pump Installation

Since most chemical substances are hazardous to humans, equipment, and the environment, installers must identify and select the ideal centrifugal pump for specific fluids and properly install it in line with customer and industry requirements. Moreover, these professionals must consider the category of the chemical substance, its position in light of the pump location, and the pump sizing before selecting and installing the pump.

Knowing whether the chemical substance is an acid, base, dehydrator, or oxidizer allows installers to select the ideal pump that can withstand their properties and identify the compatibility of their corresponding associated equipment, such as piping, ventilators, processing tanks, and storage tanks. Moreover, the supply location of the chemical substance is another consideration: self-priming pumps are ideal with supply locations below the pump, while flooded-suction systems remain suitable for supply locations above the pump. Finally, correctly sizing the pump, accounting for an adequate net positive suction head, and eliminating flammable vapors deal with viscosity, cavitation, and explosion-related issues.

Pump Operating Procedures and Training

Transferring chemical substances with a centrifugal pump is risky and requires the expertise of trained personnel. Consequently, operators must ensure each employee handling this task receives proper training and adequate knowledge for operating the equipment properly.

Process Hazard Analysis

Industrial decision-makers must conduct a hazard analysis on the potential impacts of these dangerous materials. This analysis comprises risk measurements of negative interactions between processed chemicals. Moreover, the decision-makers can ascertain the danger levels of pumping these chemicals to the surrounding structures and the vulnerability of the environment to toxins through facility ventilation and waste disposal from the analysis.

How to Choose the Right Chemical Transfer Pump for Your Application

The initial step for choosing the right chemical transfer pump for a specific industrial application includes defining the characteristics of the fluid. Elements such as pumping temperature, concentration, viscosity, specific gravity, combustibility, and solid concentrations, are crucial for determining the ideal pump construction materials, required motor power, total head, and available net positive head. Moreover, the elements help installers identify the physical placement of the pump within the available space, the need for the seal or sealless pump model, and flooded-suction or self-priming technology requirements.

PumpWorks is a Trusted Supplier of Centrifugal Pumps

At PumpWorks, we manufacture and install high-quality industrial pumps for a wide range of industrial applications. Our cost-effective and dependable centrifugal transfer pumps are designed to move bulk chemical substances from one point to another safely and cost-effectively. 

Contact our team now to get a quote on our centrifugal pumps or enquire about other pump solutions we offer.