In sanitary and industrial production, having the correct equipment throughout the process line is critical to performance and productivity. Particularly for sanitary processing of foods and beverages as well as pharmaceuticals and biomedical products, manufacturers have to make a choice between the use of a positive displacement pump or a sanitary centrifugal pump.
The Positive Displacement Pump
Historically, the positive displacement pump has often been the choice of many manufacturers. These pumps provide a fairly continual flow through the system that operates regardless of the pressure.
Additionally, due to the design, the positive displacement pump is seen as the best match for highly viscous materials. The pump is able to provide higher efficiency in moving these thick, sticky materials through the system. This is a factor of higher pressures and lower operating speeds.
The Centrifugal Pump
The use of a sanitary centrifugal pump provides a change in pump pressure based on variations in the flow. They are generally seen as the most effective option in processes where there is natural high flow rate with less viscous materials.
These pumps are also able to work with higher volume production, so they are ideal for many types of processing operations, particularly in beverage production. These are not considered the ideal choice if the material in the process is a combination of liquids and solids. In these applications, the positive displacement pump will be the better option.
These are really pumps that are designed for different types of processing. The positive displacement pump is better suited to heavier types of processing needs or when there are large pieces of the material moved through the system.
The sanitary centrifugal pump, on the other hand, is a superior choice for pure liquids or for very small sized material that is easy to move through the system. These pumps have the ability to produce a higher volume of throughput, increasing efficiency in beverage and liquid processing.
