Centrifugal Pumps in the Chemical Industry - JEE Pumps

04 Aug.,2025

 

Centrifugal Pumps in the Chemical Industry - JEE Pumps

The potential risks associated with chemicals cannot be underestimated, considering their toxic, corrosive, and volatile nature. They can lead to numerous health hazards and legal issues and threaten the environment and food chain. Thus, handling and transporting chemicals require high care and caution. The implementation of adequate safety measures is essential to ensure the protection of both individuals and the environment.

You can find more information on our web, so please take a look.

Strict adherence to the proper protocols and regulations is necessary when dealing with hazardous chemicals to avoid unwanted outcomes. In short, ensuring the safe handling and transportation of chemicals is paramount, and all the required measures must be taken to prevent mishaps.

Pumps, especially centrifugal chemical pump, plays a vital role in the chemical industry, given the high demand for their services. Industries dealing with hazardous and aggressive chemicals, including toxic acids and explosive and flammable liquids, rely on pumps for safe and efficient transfer. At JEE Pumps, our pumps’ exceptional performance provides optimal protection for employees and the surrounding work environment.

Our extensive product range enables us to offer tailor-made solutions for dosing, liquid transfer, and circulation to suit specific requirements. In addition, our reliable and efficient pump solutions ensure that the chemical industry operates safely and efficiently, meeting all the necessary safety standards.

Understanding Centrifugal Chemical Pump

Centrifugal chemical pumps have been widely used in chemical industries to transfer corrosive liquids. These pumps operate based on Bernoulli’s principle, where the fluid leaving the outer diameter of the impeller enters the internal casing wall and collects in an ever-expanding exit chamber. This results in the conversion of velocity into pressure at the discharge nozzle, with the impeller diameter and motor speed remaining constant. As a result, centrifugal pumps can be considered continuous pressure devices, making them an ideal choice for the chemical industry.

There are various advantages of using a Centrifugal Pump in industrial applications. These pumps operate efficiently at medium to low head pressures and can handle large volumes of liquid. Moreover, centrifugal pumps are compact, which makes them space-saving and cost-effective. They require minimal maintenance and pose no danger if the discharge valve is closed during start-up.

Centrifugal pumps can efficiently transfer medium to low viscous fluids with continuous pulsation-free delivery. Additionally, they have less wear and tear even when handling abrasive and corrosive liquids. These features make centrifugal pumps a preferred choice in many industrial applications.

Functions Of Various Parts Of Centrifugal Chemical Pump

  1. Shaft:

The shaft is a central component of a centrifugal chemical pump that transmits power from the motor to the impeller. It is typically made of high-strength steel to withstand the forces generated by the pump’s operation. Bearings support the shaft to reduce friction and maintain alignment, ensuring efficient and reliable operation. The shaft’s design must also consider the pump’s speed, pumped fluid, and operating environment to ensure it can handle the load without failure.

  1. Impellers:

One of the main components of the centrifugal pump is the impeller. It is responsible for converting mechanical energy into kinetic energy required to move the fluid. Impellers are typically made of materials such as stainless steel or bronze and have a specific number of blades or vanes designed to direct the fluid flow. The impeller’s design is critical to the pump’s performance, as factors such as blade shape, number, and angle can affect its efficiency, flow rate, and pressure.

  1. Casing:

The casing is the stationary outer shell of a centrifugal chemical pump that encloses the impeller and other internal components. It is typically made of cast iron or stainless steel and is designed to withstand the pressure the pumped fluid generates. The casing also guides the fluid flow through the pump and out of the discharge nozzle. The casing’s design must consider the pump’s speed, pumped fluid, and operating environment to ensure efficient and reliable operation. In some cases, the container may also be designed with features such as volutes or diffusers to enhance the pump’s performance.

Usage Of Various Casings In Centrifugal Chemical Pumps

Volute casing, also known as Spiral Casing, is commonly used in centrifugal pumps. It encloses the impeller and has a spiral shape that gradually expands to create a larger cross-sectional area. This expansion of the casing causes the velocity of the water to decrease and its pressure to increase. As a result, the spiral case helps improve the centrifugal pump’s overall efficiency by minimizing the amount of energy lost due to friction and turbulence.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Shuanglian.

Vortex casing, on the other hand, is a circular chamber that sits between the impeller and the volute casing. This curved casing creates a swirling motion in the water as it flows through it. This swirling motion helps to convert the velocity energy of the water into pressure energy, which can then be used to drive the flow of water through the pump. By utilizing a vortex casing, the efficiency of the centrifugal pump can be increased, resulting in higher flow rates and more significant energy savings.

Both volute and vortex casings play an essential role in the performance of centrifugal pumps. By using these casings, the energy of the water can be harnessed more effectively, resulting in higher flow rates, greater efficiency, and reduced energy consumption.

How To Operate A Centrifugal Chemical Pump?

Centrifugal pumps operate on the principle of force vortex flow, which involves using an external torque to increase the pressure head of a rotating liquid. This pressure increase is proportional to the liquid’s velocity and is highest at the impeller outlet, where the liquid is discharged at high pressure. The resulting high-pressure head allows the displaced fluid to be lifted to great heights in a centrifugal pump system. Therefore, understanding the operating principles of centrifugal pumps is crucial for effectively troubleshooting and maintaining industrial pumps.

The Significance Of Centrifugal Chemical Pump Priming: Enhancing Operational Efficiency

Priming is fulfilling the casing, delivery valve, and suction pipe, casing of a centrifugal chemical pump with liquid from an external source before starting the operation. The purpose of priming is to raise the liquid in the pump to a level where the impeller can generate sufficient pressure to operate effectively. In a centrifugal pump, the stress in the impeller is directly related to the density of the liquid. Therefore, if the impeller runs with air inside, the generated pressure is negligible, which is unsuitable for operation. Consequently, it is crucial to prime the pump to avoid this scenario and ensure it can cause sufficient pressure to operate efficiently.

Centrifugal Pumps For Maximum Efficiencies

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Centrifugal Pump - AOBL

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Centrifugal Pump

By

Centrifugal pump is a widely used mechanical device, mainly used for transferring liquids or increasing the pressure of liquids. It is widely used in various industries such as water supply systems, agricultural irrigation, chemical processes, fire control, heating and ventilation, etc.

Recognizing centrifugal pumps

What is centrifugal pump?

A centrifugal pump is a common type of fluid transfer device that uses a rotating impeller (a rotating disk with multiple vanes) to convert mechanical energy into kinetic and pressure energy in a liquid. This action causes the fluid to flow and can provide a certain amount of lift or pressure. Centrifugal pumps consist of an impeller, pump casing, inlet and outlet, seals, bearings, couplings, drive unit, and pump pressure head.

Working principle of centrifugal pumps

Force is applied to the liquid by means of a rotating impeller (a spinning disk with multiple vanes mounted around its perimeter). When a motor drives the pump’s impeller to rotate, the rotational speed of the impeller causes the liquid to create a rotational motion, which creates centrifugal force. This centrifugal force pushes the liquid against the pump casing, a process that increases both the velocity and pressure of the liquid. The liquid then flows out through the outlet of the pump. While the liquid is being thrown out by the impeller, the pressure in the center of the impeller decreases, creating a low-pressure zone that allows new liquid from the pump inlet to enter and be thrown out again by the impeller, and so on, creating a continuous liquid transfer process.

Centrifugal pump applications

  • Water supply system
  • Agricultural irrigation
  • Chemical processes
  • Fire control
  • Heating and ventilation
  • Food and beverage industry

Relationship between process pumps and centrifugal pumps

Process pumps and centrifugal pumps are related primarily in that they are both types of pumping equipment, but they differ in their principles of operation and areas of application. Process pumps are pumps that are specifically designed for the transfer of liquids in a process and are suitable for a variety of different process applications, including chemical processing, petroleum, food and beverage production, and more. There may be a number of different types of process pumps, including centrifugal pumps, screw pumps, double diaphragm pumps, and so on, so a centrifugal pump can actually be a process pump.

Different types of centrifugal pumps

  1. End-suction centrifugal pumps: Also known as single-suction centrifugal pumps, are designed so that liquid enters the pump from only one direction. These pumps are usually used in water supply and hot water systems.
  2. Double suction centrifugal pumps: In contrast to end suction centrifugal pumps, double suction centrifugal pumps are designed so that liquid is introduced from two directions. This type of pump is widely used in petroleum, chemical and electric power fields.
  3. Multi-stage centrifugal pumps: These pumps have multiple impeller sets, each with its own level. Each stage increases the pressure of the pump, making the multistage centrifugal pump capable of providing higher pressure. This type of pump is mainly used in high pressure washing system, boiler feed water system.
  4. Self-priming centrifugal pumps: This type of pump is self priming and does not require filling of the pump body before starting. It is widely used in irrigation, utilities, sewage treatment and other fields.
  5. Vertical centrifugal pumps: The motor of this pump is located on top of the pump body, the impeller is located below, and is usually completely submerged by the pumping medium. They are widely used in groundwater lifting, chemical processes and so on.
  6. Submersible centrifugal pumps: These pumps are designed to operate fully submerged in the pumping medium. They are commonly used for deep well water lifting, groundwater harvesting, drainage processes, etc.

Advantages and disadvantages of centrifugal pumps

Difference between centrifugal and diaphragm pumps

What is diaphragm pump?

Diaphragm pump is a special volume pump with a wide range of applications. It uses a soft and flexible diaphragm (made of rubber, plastic or metal) to reciprocate between the two chambers of the pump, accomplishing the transfer of liquids or gases through suction and discharge action. Diaphragm pumps are also widely used in different industries.

How to choose diaphragm Or centrifugal pumps?

  1. Fluid properties: This includes the viscosity of the fluid, whether it contains solid particles, and whether it is corrosive or flammable. For example, fluids that contain a lot of solid particles or have a high viscosity may be more suitable for pneumatic pumps. Clean, low-viscosity fluids are more suitable for centrifugal pumps.
  2. Flow and head requirements: Centrifugal pumps are typically used for high flow and medium head applications, whereas pneumatic pumps can provide higher pressures and are more suited to applications requiring higher heads.
  3. Energy efficiency: Typically, centrifugal pumps are more energy efficient than pneumatic pumps, so if there is a high demand for energy efficiency, a centrifugal pump may be preferred.
  4. Maintenance and longevity: Centrifugal pumps have a more complex structure and require regular maintenance and replacement of parts. While the structure of the air operated double diaphragm pump is simple, less maintenance needs.
  5. Environment: If the working environment may have a risk of explosion, it is safer to use pneumatic pumps as they do not produce sparks. In addition, if the environment of the power supply is unstable or can not provide electricity, pneumatic pumps are also a better choice, because they can be driven by compressed air or gas.

How to use centrifugal pumps?

  1. Installation: Install the centrifugal pump in the correct position, make sure it is stable and has no loose parts, and make sure that the inlet and outlet of the pump are correctly connected to the corresponding pipelines.
  2. Filling with liquid: Before starting the pump, it is necessary to ensure that the pump is filled with liquid, that is, to “fill the pump”. Centrifugal pumps should not be operated without liquid, otherwise the internal structure of the pump will be damaged.
  3. Start-up: Ensure that all connections are securely made and that the power is turned on. The centrifugal pump starts working, transferring liquid from one place to another.
  4. Operation and monitoring: During pump operation, you need to regularly check the pump’s operating conditions, such as whether the liquid flow and pressure are normal, whether the pump has abnormal vibration or noise, and whether the motor is overheated.
  5. Shutdown: When shutting down the pump, the outlet valve of the pump should be closed first, and then the power supply should be shut down.
  6. Maintenance: Perform pump maintenance on a regular basis, including cleaning the inside of the pump and replacing worn parts.

How to maintain centrifugal pumps?

  • Regular Cleaning
  • Regular cleaning
  • Regular replacement of wear parts
  • Keep lubricated
  • Protect against freezing and heat

summary

Centrifugal pump is a widely used equipment for transferring liquids in industry and households. It is simple in construction, easy to manufacture and maintain, smooth in operation, low in noise and vibration, and capable of delivering high head and high efficiency under the right conditions. AOBL as a specialist in fluid pumping, we offer sanitary diaphragm pumps, electric diaphragm pumps as well as pump accessories, please contact the specialized technical team for your solution.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Chemical Centrifugal Pump.