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November 2009
Powder
Mixing Pumps
We have developed a special version of
our C200 centrifugal hygienic pump for powder mixing, incorporating a perforated
shear ring enclosing the impeller. The impeller tips rotate closely under this
shear ring ensuring a rapid mixing action for blending powders into liquids or
dispersing a miscible liquid into another.
Powder is added through a special
venturii mounted in the suction line just prior to the pump. A steep sided cone
built into a debagging table allows steady introduction of the powder. A small
independent flow forming a falling wall of liquid product, is introduced
tangentially into the top of the cone. This prevents powder from sticking to
the cone wall and forms a liquid seal at the bottom stopping air being sucked
into the pump which would otherwise lead to pump surging.
The pump is arranged to draw product
from the bottom of the main tank and reintroduce it tangentially at the top.
This helps to turn over the product in this tank during the mixing process and
eliminates the need for a separate tank stirrer. Static mixing baffles are still
recommended.
With this system, a 25kg bag of soluble
power can be introduced over a time frame of five minutes or so. Depending on
the setting of the supply side isolating valve, the pump will have a capacity of
up to 600L/minute, so the number of tank turnovers can be deduced if the volume
of the supply tank is known. Most powders are fully dissolved after two to
three circuits through the pump.
The system offers considerable time
savings over simply tipping the powder into the mixing tank and relying on
either a vertical or side mounted stirrer to dissolve the powder. In one
application with a difficult to dissolve powder, dissolving time was reduced
from 18 hours to two hours using the Nuphlo system described. Powder
clumping and floating on the surface does not occur with this pump system. The
system has also been used to disperse lanoline oil into water forming an
emulsion.
N E W S !
25 September 2009
Our Managing Director, Tony Messenger, has been invited by
IDC Technologies to present a paper on "Improving Pump Efficiency and Design for
the Dairy, Food and Beverage Industries".
This "Pumps: Maintenance, Design
and Reliability" forum will be held in Auckland, New Zealand, on
25/26 November 2009. If you would like to hear Tony and other experts in
the pump and mechanical seal field speak, please click on the
following link for further details
http://idc-online.com/PumpsNZ/?country=Australia
Pharmaceutical
Pumps – Nuphlo PD15 Flexible Impeller
February 2009
A major New Zealand pharmaceutical manufacturer recently
chose Nuphlo PD15 flexible impeller pumps for transferring creams and pastes in
their manufacturing plant.
Absolute hygiene is a must in this industry and all wetted
parts of the pump and the exterior must be easily accessed and designed without
any difficult-to-clean areas. The Nuphlo PD15 flexible impeller pump meets
this requirement easily without the need for dismantling tools (tools have to be
sterilized each time they are taken into an operating area). The stripping
operation is particularly easy to carry out on this pump with only two
hand-tightened wing nuts to release to gain access to all working parts,
one of the reasons the Nuphlo PD15 pump was chosen. The hygienic
mechanical seal can also be readily dismantled for thorough cleaning. This
seal is a well proven design used in many food grade pumps. The wearing
faces are sintered tungsten carbide shrunk into 316L stainless steel rotating
and stationary components. An external wave spring is used to close the
seal faces. 1½” Tri-clamp inlet and
outlet fittings, rather than the standard RJT fittings were specified, as the
former can again be stripped for cleaning without the use of tools.
The construction, including the trolley and electric motor
is in stainless steel with the handle mounted, waterproof stainless steel
enclosure containing the VSD. Additional polishing, to the stainless steel transition
housing (connector from pump to motor) which is already manufactured in 316L
stainless steel,
brought the complete unit to the mirror finish standard required.
Although these pumps have three phase motors, the VSD is
230V single phase input to suit the power supply available in the individual
manufacturing suites. Speed control via VSD gives the required accuracy when
pumping and metering these high value, pharmaceutical products.
To eliminate the possibility of cross contamination,
product specific silicone rubber impellers are used with the correct impeller
being fitted to the pump for each different product pumped. This is necessary
as most pharmaceutical products and creams have a unique odour which can linger
on the surface of any type of flexible rubber material, like silicone rubber, although the item is
perfectly clean. We can supply documentation showing FDA food and
medical grade approval for the silicone rubber and thermoplastic used to
manufacture the flexible impellers and cores, upon purchase. All product
contact parts in the pump, apart from elastomers (‘O’ rings) and flexible
impellers are 316L stainless steel.
Pump and components are designed to New Zealand MAF
standards (which also rates the pump to the American IIIA standards) for food
use. (In a number of ways, MAF regulations are more stringent than FDA
regulations.)
Nuphlo Pumps has also supplied centrifugal pumps to the
pharmaceutical industry and these also have been finished to the same high
standards described above.
Positive
Displacement - Nuphlo PD250 Waveplate Pump
February 2009
Recent applications for the Nuphlo PD250 4" Waveplate pump,
pumping curd and whey at boutique cheese manufacturing sites, have again
reinforced the advantages of the pump for handling this product. The cheese
makers comment on the excellent control of output using the VSD feature to
control pump speed and the reduction in “fines” (approximately 30%) compared to
lobe pumps previously used. These features have ensured a good
acceptance of this pump in the cheese manufacturing sector and have led to
applications in Ireland and Russia. The gear reduction unit is generally used
to drive the pump in the smaller plants with the 11 kW direct drive motor
powering the pump in the larger production plants.
New Zealand’s largest dairy company operates a number of
these pumps over six sites on a variety of products. Cream unloading from
tankers has previously presented difficulties with thickening from time to
time. The Waveplate pump copes well with the changing conditions and has
eliminated costly holdups. The pump has also found to be more effective in
pumping cream products to homogenizers, delivering a non-pulsating flow with
energy savings.
It has also been used for a number of years now for pumping
casein whey concentrate. A large reduction in pipe-work vibration on the
delivery side of the pump was experienced with less degradation of the casein
crystals.
Of all these applications, the pumping of cheese curd and
whey has really highlighted the advantages of this pump in the dairy industry.
The Waveplate pump is proving very flexible, handling a wide range of
difficult products traditionally pumped with lobe and worm pumps. Size for
size, initial cost is less as are ongoing maintenance costs. The only
consumable part, apart from seals and ‘O’ rings, is the special nylon
shuttle-gate which is relatively inexpensive and easy to replace. The material
selected is proving to have excellent wearing properties and giving good life on
all products pumped to date.
The pump can be easily configured with a heated/cooled
backplate where products are required to be maintained at temperatures other
than ambient.
In general, the Nuphlo PD250 Positive Displacement Waveplate pump is proving a better solution for the
diverse range of products encountered in the dairy industry and food industries
with its gentle handling of fragile and shear sensitive products and smooth,
vibration-free flow.
A New Face at Nuphlo
Pumps
April
2008
Nuphlo’s staff has recently been boosted with the
appointment of Greg Brookes as General Manager.
Greg has a background with pumps and seals going back 20
years and in more recent times with the development of seals for the Nuphlo
Waveplate pump and other specialized pumps.
This experience with seals over a wide variety of pumping
applications is now available to Nuphlo customers and will ensure the best
solution is offered when ordering new pumps.
Greg was already familiar with the Nuphlo pump range so was
able to hit the ground running. He is presently meeting our customers and
suppliers to personalize the relationship when phone calls are made or emails
sent.
Greg enjoys being involved with the wider picture where he
is not only advising on the seal solution but with the complete application and
pump that goes with it. When not actively circulating with customers and
potential customers, Greg is very much hands-on assembling pumps and preparing
components, a very necessary activity in growing SME where staff have to be
multi-talented to process the work and attend to customer requirements.
We are investing in top grade staff to continue the
tradition of producing well designed New Zealand made, quality stainless steel
pumps.
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