Food pumps are a particular class of industrial pumps designed for pumping food liquids such as drinking water, milk, juices, sunflower oil, beer, wine, alcohol, etc. Food pumps are a necessary component of many industries. Food pumps represent the confectionery, cosmetic, and dairy industries. Food pumps pump ingredients such as water and milk, juices and wines, ketchup and sour cream, and cleaning solutions.
Food pumps have monoblock pumps that differ from pumps for water in material, open impeller, and design features that allow for quick disassembly – assembly for flushing the flow path. Many types and different technical characteristics of food pumps will enable you to choose the best option for your application.
For example, rotary food pumps can be attractive due to their small size and easily dismantled bodies. There are also special explosion-proof food pumps. Such food pumps are suitable for pumping alcohol.
Food pumps can be divided into types:
- centrifugal pumps
- gear pumps
- piston pumps
- lobe pumps
- membrane pumps
- peristaltic pumps
- screw pumps
- impeller pumps
A сentrifugal pump is a pump in which the movement of the product and the necessary pressure is created due to the centrifugal force that occurs when the impeller blades act on the pumped product. Centrifugal pumps are the most versatile pumps on the market today. Centrifugal pumps can use them in numerous applications due to their simple operating principles, compact size, and robust design. The pump range has many applications, from pumping water to pumping chemicals.
The gear pump principle of operation consists of using two rotating gears that disengage from the suction side of the pump, resulting in voids that cause atmospheric pressure to push liquid into the pump chamber. The fluid is transported in the tooth gaps on either side of the crescent to the outlet where the gears re-engage, pushing the fluid out.
Piston pumps. When the piston moves to the right, a vacuum is created in the working chamber of the pump, the lower valve is open, and the upper valve is closed – fluid is sucked in. When moving in the opposite direction, the piston creates excess pressure in the working chamber, and the upper valve is already open, and the lower one is closed – fluid is injected.
The lobe pump is a positive displacement rotary pump that pumps fluid through the synchronized rotation of two-lobe rotors in a housing. It is similar in design and principle of operation to a gear pump. However, unlike a gear pump, the rotors in a rotary lobe pump do not touch each other. Rotary lobe pumps are often used to transfer food products with solid particles without damaging the product structure.
A diaphragm pump is a volumetric pump, the working body of which is a flexible plate (diaphragm, membrane) fixed at the edges. The plate bends under the action of a lever mechanism (mechanical drive) or as a result of a change in air pressure (pneumatic drive) or liquid, performing a function equivalent to that of a piston in a piston pump. Compressed air penetrating one of the membranes causes it to contract and move the liquid into the hole exit. At this time, the second membrane, on the contrary, creates a vacuum, sucking in liquid. After the pulse passage, the pneumatic coaxial exchanger changes the direction of the compressed air behind the second membrane, and the process is repeated on the other side.
A peristaltic pump is designed for pumping liquids flowing through flexible tubes. The principle of operation is based on the fact that the rollers squeeze the tube with liquid, and moving along the tube, they push the liquid forward. It usually consists of a flexible tube, several rollers, and a surface (track) against which the rollers press the tube. There are designs without a supporting surface, in which the tube is pinched on rollers due to its tension.
A screw pump is a pump in which the movement of the pumped product and the necessary pressure are created by displacing the product with a screw metal rotor rotating inside an elastic stator.
The impeller pump with a flexible impeller is used when pumping liquids with high viscosity or as an exhaust pump with the ability to suction the product at a distance of up to 8 meters. The main advantage of the impeller pump is that this pump is self-priming, creating pressure. The pumped flow is close to the laminar. The flow part is made of high-quality stainless steel, and the impeller can be made of both conventional and oil and petrol-resistant materials.
