How to determine the material and structure of pumps in food machinery?

How to choose the fluid treatment system for pumps in modern food processing equipment? Hongfeng Pump Valve represents that designers, operators, and managers of these devices face various health-related responsibilities that go beyond the scope of typical industrial product manufacturing. Due to the fact that the consumers of the final product are the public, avoiding product contamination and corrosion is not allowed. Cracks and dead spots in pumps and pipeline systems that can cause fluid retention and bacterial growth are unacceptable. In addition to material selection and selection of food contact surfaces during processing, the food industry also chooses pipeline and storage tank equipment used for transporting acidic and alkaline cleaning fluids during system maintenance, as well as equipment that uses corrosive chemicals for wastewater treatment that meets various environmental standards.

The pump required in food applications must be made of materials that do not react chemically with the product or affect the taste, color, and other characteristics of the product in any way. The design factors of non food contact fluid equipment include reducing maintenance and parking time, increasing production and reducing costs, as well as many difficult to determine factors related to supplier knowledge and services.

One use leads to another use

People's interest in plastic pumps began more than 50 years ago, when a Vanton flexible linear screw rotary pump was manufactured to meet the strict requirements for pumps in heart/lung surgery. This primitive pump has a unique but simple structure that limits fluid contact to only two basic components: a solid plastic pump body and a rough synthetic rubber molded lining. It solves two main problems related to handling human blood or affecting blood. Firstly, it avoids all the dangers of metal contamination, as the contact material does not contaminate the blood or undergo chemical reactions with it. Secondly, its gentle movement does not damage blood cells during the process of blood delivery. Another reason why this type of pump is accepted is its simple structure. It does not include valves, seals, packing, or gaskets. Its disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly are simple and fast.

Subsequently, with the help of chemical material manufacturers such as DuPont, Doyle, Atofina, and other chemical companies, new fields were opened up. They are at the forefront of developing large-scale thermoplastic materials for treating corrosive chemicals such as acids, bases, salts, solvents, etc.

Technology in Progress

The designer of the pump combines these new materials into the design of cost efficiency pumps to meet the needs of the expanding processing industry. Today, there are approximately 150000 flexible linear pumps with a total capacity of 40GPM in use in the United States, and approximately twice the number of pumps in use in Europe. In addition to the need to use these thermoplastic rotary screw pumps to handle a wide range of sensitive and corrosive fluids under low to medium flow conditions, the requirement for non-metallic pumps is to adopt a new structure in order to handle higher conveying flow rates required by chemicals, food, pharmaceuticals, and related processes and industrial enterprises. Pump manufacturers have responded to this request.

The current available forms of design for thermoplastic centrifugal pumps include horizontal and vertical structures, which can be used for flow rates up to 1500GPM, lift up to 400ft, and can be used continuously or intermittently at temperatures of 275F or slightly higher. They can be arranged in models that comply with ANSI process pump standards, and can be installed in electromagnetic driven unsealed mechanisms and automatic starting devices. Vertical pumps have the ability to operate dry and have a special segmented shaft structure that allows for a length of 50 feet. All of these types can be used in the food industry because their design and structure do not involve metal components in contact with fluids.