Uses Of The High Pressure Positive Displacement Pump

By Daphne Bowen


The industrial applications of pumps have greatly changed the way machines work. At the helm of this transformation is the high pressure positive displacement pump (abbreviated as the PD pumps). Ever since their discovery, they have constantly been applied in machinery both in the traditional and modern setting.

There are two main types that constitute the positive displacement pumps. These are the rotary and reciprocating pumps. They are both used when the main aim is to obtain a constant flow. Their main difference arises from the type of fluids they transmit. The rotary type is best suited for moving highly viscous fluids. This means that abrasive fluids will not be efficiently transmitted. Reciprocating types are well known for their ability to move both highly viscous and abrasive fluids with ease efficiently.

The efficiency and rate of flow of pumps is hugely dependent on two physical properties, that is, the viscosity of fluids and the pressure. The preference of PD pumps stems from their ability to maintain a constant flow rate given the ever changing physical properties.

The most monumental applications of PD pumps is in the oil industry. Here they mainly serve to pump the crude oil from the extraction site to the processing site. It was initially expensive to separately pump the constituents of the extracted matter which included the oil, gas, water and sand. This was largely due to the fact that it contained significantly large amounts of gas. However the ability of reciprocating pumps to transmit gases came in handy. The mixture was now being transmitted as it was without the need of building separate pumping stations for each element.

The properties above helped curb the cost of transmitting oil from offshore countries since oil and gas mixture could be pumped through one mechanism only.

Its applications can also be extended to the chemical process industry. These include the pharmaceuticals, food and beverage production and biotechnology. A typical chemical process is usually accompanied by major fluctuations in the physical properties of the initial mixture such as viscosity. Since PD pumps maintain a constant flow rate despite these unpredictable changes, it is the most suitable for transmitting the fluid through the reaction chambers.

Paper mills usually dissolve the wood fibers and the resulting solution is used as a fuel for the boilers. This fuel needs to be pumped at a consistent rate. Viscosity of this solution keeps changing as it is burned while pressure also fluctuates wildly due to clogging in some passageways and erosion. A PD drive is therefore vital in ensuring that a constant rate of flow is maintained since irregular amounts of heat can distort the final quality of paper.

In summary, positive displacement pumps are the most efficient when rate of flow is a major requirement. One should properly understand all the physical properties of the fluid intended to be transmitted before settling on a choice of pumping mechanism.




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