NEMO® PUMPS EFFECTIVE IN DIATOMACEOUS EARTH APPLICATION
November, 2000 - NETZSCH NEMO® Pumps helped a United Kingdom based brewery, Hall and Woodhouse, improve their processing effectiveness by adapting one of their progressing cavity pumps to pump Kieselgur (diatomaceous earth). Kieselgur is a primary filler aid material used in the brewing, food and pharmaceutical industries. This material is supplied in powder form and was mixed on site by Hall and Woodhouse in an open vessel in their production area. However, the company wanted to move the process away from the production area and, at the same time, take the opportunity to improve the effectiveness of the process. An important aspect of the change involved investigating alternative mixing methods. The eventual solution required the powder to be mixed in a separate room and pumped into a closed vessel in the production area. Hall and Woodhouse also wanted to feed the pump with the dry powder and mix it with water within the pump body to reduce dust. A progressing cavity pump was specified for the process and three leading manufacturers were asked to submit proposals to meet the pumping requirements.
"Two of the manufacturers did not believe the process could work using a progressing cavity pump" says a Hall and Woodhouse spokesperson. "Fortunately NETZSCH NEMO® was able to provide a solution using a specially adapted version of their NS40A pump."
The standard NS40A has a capacity of 2,200 kg/hr at 160 rpm. For this application, the pump body is drilled to accept two water inlets immediately before the stator inlet, while Hall and Woodhouse fitted an extended hopper equipped with two air knives. The new process mixes four 40 kg bags of Kieselgur per hour at a ratio of 1:10 with water. The flow rate is 1,760 kg/hr at 1.4 bar.
The
bags are split inside the hopper and the powder dropped into the stationary
pump while it is stationary. The air knives prevent the powder from bridging over the pump
screw. As pumping begins
the solenoid-controlled water lines open simultaneously. Both the pump and the water are stopped automatically when
the correct volume of water has been added.
NETZSCH
Incorporated is the North American subsidiary of the globally operating
group of NETZSCH companies and is one of the world's leading manufacturers
of progressing cavity pumps, wet and dry grinding and dispersion equipment,
filtration systems and thermoanalytical equipment. NETZSCH Incorporated
has been serving North America for more than 30 years.
For more information on NETZSCH NEMO® Pumps, call or write: NETZSCH Incorporated 119 Pickering Way, Exton, PA 19341 Phone: 610.363.8010, Fax: 610.363.0971.
NETZSCH
Incorporated
119 Pickering Way
Exton, PA 19341
Phone: 610.363.8010
Fax: 610.363.0971
E-mail: nemopump@netzschusa.com
