Which Pump is Suitable for Your Container? | Flux Pumps Guide
Customers often ask us for help to select the right pump for their application. In order to assist, the Flux Pumps technical team will ask questions to ensure details are not overlooked and to help us recommend the most cost-effective solution. One of the first questions we ask is to clarify the container type and dimensions. This article explores pump selection and installation in relation to container type, in more detail. We have listed the typical information we require below:
What is the height of the container to be emptied?
This will determine the pump immersion length required:
Tanks 300-3000 mm
1000 litre IBC 1200 mm
200-225 litre drums 1000 mm
50-70 litre drums 700 mm
25-50 litre drums 500 mm
Does your drum have a removable lid (open-top), or is it fixed-top (tight-head)?
Tight-head drums are the most common design. These drums are produced by various manufacturers, in many different sizes and materials. Furthermore, tight-head drums have openings (or bungholes) of different diameters, utilising different thread sizes and types.
Food & cosmetics manufacturers widely use open-top drums for transporting powders, granular materials and high viscosity liquids. Again, these drums are available in different dimensions and volumes.
One of the first things to understand is the preferred connection point (or insertion point) for your pump.
What is the container material?
Drums and barrels are commonly available in the following materials:
Painted or epoxy-coated steel, stainless steel, re-inforced fibreboard, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and wood.
Firstly, steel drums are ubiquitous world-wide, most commonly in the 205 litre (55 gallon size), and in open-topped or tight-head styles. They can contain a huge range of products, but typically oils, fuels, solvents, chemicals and food products.
Consequently, fibreboard drums are lightweight and environmentally friendly. They are primarily used for transporting food products or powders and require a liner for use with liquids.
Polyethylene drums are very common, again in open-topped or tighthead styles, and typically blue or black in colour. Blue drums contain chemicals, oils, food products and cosmetic ingredients. On the other hand, less common black conductive drums contain flammable liquids.
The beverage industry widely uses wooden open-topped barrels to store and mature products such as whisky, cognac and port.
Finally, IBC containers are typically constructed from HDPE with a re-inforced polypropylene base and surrounding steel cage for protection from handling damage. Conductive black HDPE, stainless steel, fibreboard and collapsible plastic IBC’s with in-liners are also available.
In recent years, manufacturers have introduced environmentally friendly, re-useable single and double-walled IBCs. These containers use roto-moulded polyethylene and deliver 10 times longer life than traditional IBCs.
The container material gives an indication as to which pump material might be most suitable for the liquid.
Does the container have a liner (or in-liner)?
Drums used in pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food & beverage applications sometimes have a polyethylene liner installed. This consequently guarantees product integrity and eliminates contamination risk. When selecting the most appropriate pump, it is important to consider whether the pump might cause damage to the liner. Therefore, optional inlet protection devices are available to prevent the in-liner from being drawn into the pump.
What is the diameter of container opening?
Tight-head drums and barrels typically have two openings (or bungholes) in the top. The operator inserts the drum pump vertically through one of the bungholes.
Firstly, all steel tight-head drums have 1 x 2” BSP female bung-hole and 1 x 0.75” BSP female bung-hole. Easy! However, polyethylene drums can have a range of different diameter bung-holes, with different thread types and pitches. This makes selection of larger diameter pumps potentially more challenging.
Additionally, traditional polyethylene IBC’s and single-walled re-usable IBC’s have a 150 mm diameter opening at the top and a low-level outlet valve with coarse S60 x 6 male thread. Some steel IBC containers have larger 225 mm diameter top opening. Insert standard 1200 mm long IBC pumps vertically into these containers. Alternatively, connect our Miniflux or F430 TR series pumps to the low-level outlet valve. This works well when IBCs are stacked, or when limited space exists overhead.
Full containment re-usable IBC’s, for example Varibox, have a top mounted automatic vent and CDS quick-release couplings with an internal dip tube. There is no low-level outlet. These IBC’s require a self-priming pump, such as an air-operated diaphragm pump or the Flux Safetec pump system, to draw liquid up the dip tube and empty the IBC.
Is a barrel clamp, compression gland, or fume gland required?
We recommend using a clamp to secure the pump in an open-head drum. A compression gland secures a vertical pump in a drum bunghole or IBC cap. This stops the pump moving during operation and reduces the risk of a dirt or foreign material entering the container. However, size the gland correctly to match the drum / IBC cap thread type and the outer diameter of the pump. Compression glands are available in different materials to suit the application.
Fume glands serve a similar purpose; however, they completely seal the pump in the container. This eliminates vapour emissions – useful when pumping hazardous chemicals or flammable solvents. Our standard fume gland design includes an automatic air inlet valve that opens to stop a vacuum forming in the drum. Fume glands are available in brass, stainless steel and polypropylene materials.
Fume glands are also available with a gas compensation connection, for use with an inert dry gas feed, eg. nitrogen. This is known as a nitrogen blanket. This is useful when the liquid is susceptible to degradation when exposed to air or moisture, or to reduce the risk of an explosion when pumping very highly flammable liquids. As the pump removes the liquid, the inert gas fills the space in the drum above it.
What about expensive or dangerous residual liquids left in the container?
The Flux Pumps 99.9% emptying pump is ideal for these applications. The pump incorporates a manually adjustable foot-valve, operated by two operating levers at the top of the pump tube. The container can be tipped to remove as much liquid as possible, before the operator closes the valve and switches off the pump motor. This prevents any liquid from draining back into the container or spilling during container changes, thereby reducing waste and container decontamination costs.
Will the pump be mobile or integrated into a fixed pipework system?
Most Flux Pumps are portable units, allowing operators to move them easily between containers. The user typically connects the pump to a flexible discharge hose, which they can easily manoeuvre to fill smaller containers or mixing vessels. Sometimes the flexible hose is connected to a fixed pipework system, thereby allowing fluids to be pumped to adjacent rooms or different areas of a factory. The flexible hose lets the operator move the pump between empty and full containers without disconnecting it.
Our compact TR series pumps are designed for direct installation into fixed pipework. They can also be mounted on a baseplate or trolley, for connection to low-level tank or IBC outlets, again using a short length of flexible hose.
To discuss your application and pumping requirements, get in touch with the Flux Pumps sales team today @ sales@flux-pumps.co.uk or visit our website www.flux-pumps.co.uk
