A Primer On Positive Displacement Sanitary Pump

By Marci Nielsen


You may be going into the food manufacturing business soon and thus you will need to know some of the needed equipment needed in such a business. And in your proposed venture you may have come across the term positive displacement sanitary pump. Read on in this article to find out what kind of equipment this is and how it works and is essential for your food production needs.

Basically a pump is used to move solutions, food products, and slurries that will be processed according to set standards of cleanliness and hygiene. These standards are either set by the private corporation or even by law. In the continental United States, the Food and Drug Administration with the US Department of Agriculture set these same standards.

Food processing sanitary pumps come in two types. One is a centrifugal type pump, which uses centrifugal force to pump fluids or mush right along, and the other is a positive displacement pump. The latter makes uses suction via rotating lobes in different fixed chambers. Either way, both are designed to prevent bacterial growth in the process.

PD pumps, the acronym for positive displacement types of mechanisms, produce much higher flow pressures than centrifuge mechanisms, although the latter gives much higher flow volume. Thus the PD pump is much sought after for specialist applications which involve thick liquids or liquids with fragile solids.

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.

As such there are two types of PD pumps. One is the rotary type which uses rotating parts only to move liquids. This is most useful for liquids that have some solids in them. The other type of PD pump is the reciprocating pump, which also makes use of vacuum pressure for applications that require the elimination of reverse flow. Reverse flow is of major concern especially when filtration and such are required.

The sole advantage of the PD type of mechanism is that it can provide a constant flow of liquid within the range of medium to high pressure applications. This is particularly important in breweries and dairy production facilities which deal a lot with viscous liquids. Other viscous fluid applications best serviced by PD type mechanisms are found in firms that produces vegetable oils, molasses and such.

Thus this short article has provided a primer for you regarding this kind of pump that is widely used in the food manufacturing and processing sector. This article is in no means exhaustive but it is hoped that it has contained enough information to enlighten the uninitiated in the ways of pumps and pump process as used in food processing.




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