- Fluid Transfer: Pumps are used to circulate fluids within a process, maintain the right pressure, carry liquids to equipment, and control the flow of fluids.
- Handling Corrosive and Abrasive Chemicals: The chemical industry often deals with highly corrosive and abrasive chemicals. Pumps ensure fluid containment and restrict leakage. They are designed to be robust enough to handle such hazardous materials and prevent leakage.
- Effective Management of Fluid Machinery: Using the correct fluid machinery and managing it effectively is critical in any chemical industry to ensure the desired output, superior quality, and a safe environment.
Pumps are at the core of the chemical processing industry. They transfer chemicals between processing stages, storage tanks, and transportation vessels. The choice of pump depends on the properties of the chemical being handled, such as temperature, viscosity, and corrosiveness. Therefore, the role they play is crucial for the safe and efficient handling of chemicals.
How Do Chemical Process Pumps Ensure Safe and Efficient Handling of Chemicals?
Chemical process pumps ensure safe and efficient handling of chemicals in several ways:- Design: Chemical process pumps are designed to handle and transfer chemicals, corrosive fluids, and other hazardous materials. They are engineered to meet the specific demands of the chemical industry, where safety and accuracy are of utmost importance.
- Operation: Chemical pumps work by creating pressure to move the liquid or chemical from one place to another. The pressure can be created in several ways, depending on the type of chemical pump used. Many chemical pumps rely on spinning impellers or rotors to generate the pressure required for moving chemicals.
- Types of Pumps: There are different types of chemical pumps based on their design, construction, and operating principles. For example, centrifugal pumps convert rotational energy from an impeller into kinetic energy, which in turn transfers fluid to the discharge outlet. Diaphragm pumps use a flexible diaphragm to move fluids from one place to another. Peristaltic pumps use a flexible tube and rollers to transfer fluids.
- Maintenance: Proper maintenance and care are essential for ensuring the longevity and efficiency of chemical pumps. To avoid pump problems and keep it working well, it’s important to regularly check and maintain its parts, like the spinning blades, the shaft, and the seals.
- Safety Measures: To prevent catastrophic pump failure, parameters such as energy input, flowrate, power, pressure, and temperature must be closely monitored. Control systems should be designed to prevent prolonged deadhead of pumps (a scenario where the suction and discharge valves of a pump are closed while the pump is still running), and temperature rise restrictions should be incorporated into pump designs.
- Efficiency: Chemical process pumps are designed for high efficiency and reliable performance. These systems are designed to use as little energy as possible while maintaining a consistent flow, which helps save money and make work more efficient.
Valves & control equipment for chemical industry
Valves and control equipment play a crucial role in the chemical industry. They are used for various purposes, including regulating flow, pressure, and temperature. If you’re wondering about what valves are used in the chemical industry, here’s your answer. Listed below are some of the most common types of valves used in the chemical industry:- Butterfly Valve: Butterfly valves are quarter-turn, rotary motion valves that feature a disc-shaped closure element with a rod through its centerline. They are generally used when flow control is required at relatively low pressures and temperatures.
- Ball Valve: Ball valves are quarter-turn, straight-through flow devices with a spherical closure element with a hole through their centerline. They offer superior shutoff capabilities compared to other valves due to their tight sealing mechanism.
- Gate Valve: Gate valves feature a rectangular closure element that moves up and down along its axis to control flow rates through a pipeline. They are perfect for on-off applications such as opening or closing pipelines or tanks.
- Globe Valve: Globe valves have a unique design well-suited for applications where throttling or controlling flow is necessary. The primary components of a globe valve include a body with two separate ports—an inlet and an outlet—and a stem with a disc-type element attached at the end.
IDEX Pumps and valves for Safe and Secure Operations in the Chemical Industry
Richter, under the wings of IDEX India, is a leading manufacturer of industrial pumps and valves in India. Their products are used to transport and manage highly corrosive, environment-critical, high-purity, and other difficult-to-manage fluids in the most challenging applications.Richter pumps are custom-built to work well even in tough and challenging conditions. You can get them with either mechanical seals or sealless magnetic drive options. These chemical process pumps and mag-drive pumps offer maximum mounting flexibility and durability due to their optimum material combination of PTFE lining and PFA disc, superior corrosion resistance, extended lifetime, and minimised operating costs. Innovative self-priming pumps, vortex pumps, and peripheral pumps are also available in their product range.
Richter’s top-quality, corrosion-resistant products with a lining made from special plastic are great for situations where it’s important to keep the liquid separate from the surroundings in a safe way. Their products are cut out for highly corrosive fluids, high-purity and ultra-pure liquids, chlorinated water, chemicals, solvents, and rinsing fluids.
Richter Valves includes premium-quality PFA-lined valves, PTFE-lined valves, ball valves, high-performance butterfly valve manufacturers, shut-off valves, sleeved plug valves, lined plug valves, and control equipment used in demanding applications. In many applications, they have operated virtually maintenance-free for decades. PFA, PTFE, and PFA-L (antistatic) offer high resistance to corrosion for almost all applications. Richter valves and control equipment can be customised with different kinds of devices and parts that control and monitor them. This way, they can meet the specific needs of our customers.
Richter’s offerings provide seamless functionality, ensuring safe and secure operations in the chemical industry. IDEX’s Richter pumps and Richter valves provide seamless functionality, ensuring safe and secure operations in the chemical industry.Conclusion
Pumps play a pivotal role in ensuring the safe and efficient handling of chemicals and fluids. These vital components are designed to withstand the challenges posed by corrosive, abrasive, and hazardous materials, offering the chemical industry a reliable means of fluid transfer, pressure control, and fluid circulation. IDEX, a global leader in industrial product manufacturing, provides cutting-edge solutions in the form of Richter pumps. These pumps stand as a testament to innovation and precision, offering durability, versatility, and superior corrosion resistance for the most demanding applications in the chemical and petrochemical sectors. With IDEX’s Richter Pumps, industries can place their trust in equipment designed to meet the stringent requirements of chemical processing, thereby contributing to safer operations, cost-effectiveness, and enhanced productivity in this critical industry.