Thursday, December 17, 2015

Basics On Positive Displacement Sanitary Pump

By Marci Nielsen


Some of us will be thinking of going into the food manufacturing business and in view of this will need to be familiar with some of the industry terms and equipment used. In all likelihood, you may have come across the term positive displacement sanitary pump. This article will introduce you to what this piece of equipment is all about and why it is essential or used in some food manufacturing processes.

A pump is a machine or an implement that is installed to assist in the movement of slurries, food products and solutions that are in some form of needed processing. This is done in accordance with set criteria and standards of health and cleanliness which is set either by the company itself or an outside regulatory agency. In the United States, these regulatory agencies are the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

There are basically two types of pumps used in the food processing and manufacturing industry, being the centrifugal type and the positive displacement type. The former uses centrifugal force to push liquids and such while the latter makes use of rotating lobes in fixed chambers, which when active creates suction for the liquid to flow through. Both though different, are alike in the way that they are manufactured to eliminate the growth of bacteria in the process.

Positive displacement pumps are sometimes called PD pumps and are fast gaining in popularity when talking about special applications involving thick liquids or liquids with fragile solid materials. Although they cannot produce a high flow rate like centrifugal pumps, they can produce much greater pressure.

PD pumps rely on rotating part to directly push liquids in an enclosed chamber until enough pressure has built up. When this is achieved then it is pushed on to a discharge system. This is much slower in velocity than a centrifuge mechanism and so much more desirable when dealing with liquids with some form of inert solid matter that is fragile in nature.

The industry currently has two general types of PD pumps being the rotary type and the reciprocating type. The former uses only moving parts and rotating parts to push liquid through, and this is good for liquids with solid in it. The latter makes use also of moving parts plus valves to create and check vacuum pressure. This is useful for applications that require the elimination of reverse flow in the production line.

The main advantage of using a PD type over a centrifuge type is that it can provide a constant flow, even if the liquid is thick. Thus this is useful in breweries and dairy production facilities. Firms involved in the manufacturing of oils in the food market also benefit from the use of PD pumps. Other firms which produce molasses have also started to use these equipment in their overall production and processing lines.

Hopefully this short article has been of some use in enlightening the reader as regards PD pumps and their use in the food industry. It is by no means an exhaustive treatise on a somewhat technical subject but hopefully it has put some of the technical jargon into simple terms as much as possible to elicit understanding.




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