A British-made Verderflex peristaltic hose pump has certainly proved excellent value for money for a Swedish energy and environmental technology company. It was chosen to dose carbon slurry, a task to which the company’s previous pumps were proving inadequate. The first Verderflex model was installed in 2007, running trouble free ever since and still with its original hose.
Process flue gases, exhaust gases and process waste liquids frequently have two components in common, heat and pollutants. The environmental technology company are highly proficient at integrating the recovery of both, effectively offsetting the cost of gas cleaning against recovered energy, often generating an income.
Dealing with smoke and gas pollution
Initially the company chose low cost air operated diaphragm (AOD) and plastic centrifugal pumps to handle the condensate from smoke gas cleaning. This condensate is abrasive stuff. Basically it is a slurry made from soot generated in the cleaning process that combines with water from the condensing gas. The problem was that even with a low concentration of soot, the slurry was reducing the life expectancy of the pumps.
Also, both types of pump struggled with the velocity of the slurry resulting in high maintenance, high frequency part replacement and increased downtime, a problem that could compromise the tight economies of the recovery process.
In an attempt to find a solution, they contacted Svenska Pump, the distributor of Verderflex pumps in Sweden. The Verderflex peristaltic pump was a clear front runner for the job as it has an exceptional track record for the efficient pumping of slurries in brewing, chemical processing, mining, water and wastewater industries.
Balancing design benefits and costs
The key design benefit of the Verderflex pump is that no moving parts come into contact with the slurry. Indeed the hose is the only wearing part and it can be easily changed in a short time. Although Svenska Pump had complete confidence that this product would do the job well, the customer was concerned about its cost in relation to that of plastic centrifugal and AOD pumps.
A brief trial of the Verderflex VF40 however soon convinced that this hose pump was the solution. Successive orders have followed, primarily for smoke cleaning installations but also for dosing applications too. The pump’s resistance to abrasion and repeatable flow rates make it ideal for dosing substances such as ammonium sulphate and lime.
You can read more about Verderflex peristaltic pumps on the news pages of their website.