FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Below is a list of frequently asked questions regarding our range of pumps.
 

Hose Pumps

Q 1. Are you looking for a hose pump which is cost effective and easy to maintain?

A. The Watson-Marlow Bredel range of direct-coupled SPX pumps with the new SPX25 and SPX32 combine the advantages of bare-shaft construction with those of a close-coupled pump.

A rugged hub with two bearing rotor is at the core of every SPX pump. The pump bearings absorb the forces occurring in the pump centrally, placing no axial or radial loads on the reducer or gearbox bearings, which means no coupling, no alignment and no heavy-duty baseplate - resulting in less installation time, less maintenance and lower costs.

Q 2. What type of pump is suitable for extreme industrial conditions and aggressive fluids?

A. The Watson-Marlow Bredel 520RC is highly resistant to chemical attack and rugged enough for the harshest environment. It delivers cost-effective, precise pumping and a long service life. Five drive options provide fixed or variable speed, explosion proof and pneumatic.

Q 3. What type of pump is suitable for food, pharmaceutical and chemical use?

A. The new 620 pumps provide 50% more flow than their predecessors in a housing which is half the previous size. Choose the 620S for standard manual control, the 620U for auto analog control or the top-of-the-range 620Du for remote analog/digital control with key-in flow rates. Customers requiring precision dispensing with batch records should use the 620Di.
Value for life - With 60% fewer roller passes than our competitors, 620 pumps deliver 150% longer tube life. Superior engineering means there's less downtime and fewer failures, and you benefit from Watson-Marlow's unique "one-minute" maintenance. Hit a problem, and next-day replacement keeps your production rolling. All backed by our industry-leading three-year warranty.

Q 4. What type of pump is suitable for process, sanitary, environmental and scientific pumping needs?
A. The new 323 range is designed exclusively for process, sanitary, environmental and scientific pumping needs, and brings a stunning new level of performance and quality. The brushless DC motor is powerful and never requires servicing, microprocessor-control insures precise control, and the range of manual, analog-auto or RS232 control meets every need.
Four brand new drives with five pumphead options meet every need. The high-flow, single channel 501RL, or up to six 313 and 314 pumpheads (they can be mixed), or one or two 304MC or 308MC five-channel pumpheads (which can also be mixed) can be fitted to a single drive to provide up to ten channels of flow.

Q 5. What type of pump is suitable for process and science where high accuracy is important?

The all-new Watson-Marlow 520 pumps were designed for the specific needs of process and science. They are fitted as standard with the new 520R pumphead which accepts up to 9.6mm bore tubing for flow rates up to 3.5 liters/min. The 520R continues Watson-Marlow's low-shear, high-reliability pumphead design for high accuracy and long tube life. Sprung stainless-steel rollers, low rotational speeds and a large swept volume make the 520R our gentlest, most powerful pumphead yet.

The 520S with manual control and the 520U with remote auto and analog control both provide outstanding performance, long life, reliability and great value. Watson-Marlow's modular design allows a range of pumpheads to be fitted by the user to provide low pulse and multi-channel pumping options.

Q 6. What type of pump is suitable for industrial process?

A. The 700 series pump is the world's leading industrial peristaltic pump. Reliability and performance have been further improved with the NEW 700 LoadSure® tube element. 700 LoadSure® is an industrial tube element and pumphead clamping system. Tube loading is operator-error-free and the optimum tube tension and position within the pumphead are maintained. The resulting improvements in tube loading and life enhance performance and customer confidence.

Q 7. What material are the Cam and Groove connectors?

A. Cam and Groove material specification;
Interface: ¾" male, designed in accordance with DIN 2828, MIL
A-A59326
Body material: Polypropylene
Seal material: EPDM - other materials available upon request.

Q 8. Does Watson-Marlow Bredel supply mating Cam and Groove connectors to fit customers' own interface tubing?

A. Yes, the following options are available -
Individual - LoadSure industrial element mating connectors
Product code and description:
069.0120.PFC - Cam and Groove female PP ¾" connector with ½" barbed end
069.0170.PFC - Cam and Groove female PP ¾" connector with ¾" barbed end
069.0120.PTC - Cam and Groove female PP ¾" connector with ½" BSP/NPT threaded  end.
069.0170.PTC - Cam and Groove female PP ¾" connector with ¾" BSP/NPT threaded end.

Q 9. What is the most suitable range of pumps for waste water treatment?

A. Around the world, water and waste treatment plants utilise Watson-Marlow Bredel peristaltic technology to handle a broad range of chemical and sludge applications that destroy PC, lobe and diaphragm pumps.

Watson-Marlow Bredel tube pumps provide accurate and reliable chemical metering. Our pumps will not vapor lock or clog and handle abrasive or corrosive chemicals with ease, giving you superior potable water quality and greater plant control.

Our hose pumps offer a reliable, cost effective solution for even the most abrasive and corrosive sludge applications. Pumping scum, DAF, septage, primary, secondary or thickened sludges - with only one wearing part, no other pump has the ease of maintenance, low spares inventory and the lowest life cycle cost.
Features of our chemical and sludge pumps include:

• high pressure capabilities for chemical injection
• million:1 flow range and ±0.5% accuracy
• grit and abrasion have no effect on hose life
• self-priming, dry running, no vapor locking
• no ancillary equipment required
• lowest life cycle cost

Progressive Cavity Pumps

Q 1. What are the advantages of the NEMO® NM Series compared to NE Series?

A. The NM Series offers solutions to your pumping requirements with improved flexibility and design. Superior features of the NM Series that result in efficient and trouble-free operating include:

• Dependable solid shaft designs requiring less maintenance, downtime and service costs
  Widest range of universal joint options providing greater operating dependability
• Extremely low angularity of the connecting rod reducing the strain and stress on universal joints, ensuring long service life
• Largest selection of customized materials and models allowing for precise pump selections, guarantees the correct pump is installed for the application
• Thru bolt construction allowing for easier stator removal and positive sealing

Q 2. What is the most suitable pump for environmental use?
A. NEMO® Pumps ensure reliable delivery combined with accurate dosing of the most varied of media to serve a wide range of environmental applications including;

• Municipal waste water treatment plants
• Industrial waste water treatment plants
• Disposal and recycling plants
• Drinking water treatment
• Agriculture
• Ship building
• Construction

Q 3. What is the most suitable pump for use in the Chemical Industry?
A. NEMO® Pumps are especially designed for safe, controlled and economic pumping and dosing in the Chemical Industry. Whether for base chemicals, cosmetic or pharmaceutical products, or for the petrochemical, plastics, paint or varnish industries - Safety is vital for all areas throughout the Chemical Industry.

Substances harmful to health and dangerous substances, highly viscous, fibrous and sensitive materials require pumps which can also pump difficult media in their hermetically closed systems and make no compromises when it comes to safety.

NETZSCH offers pumps which are easy to handle and maintain, which are powerful yet can also pump gently and dose in a controlled manner, and which are hardwearing against solids and reliable against inconsistent media.

To conform optimally to every special job in the Chemical Industry NEMO® Pumps can be individually assembled using a modular system from different material qualities and with different stators, joints, special housings and seals.

Q 4. What is the most suitable pump for use in the food industry?
A. NEMO® Pumps are designed to serve a great variety of food processing applications and offer the most reliable sanitary handling of all difficult and sensitive pumping matter required in food production.

• Food and Dairy products
• Breweries and malt factories
• Wineries and wine production
• Beverage Industry
• Distilleries, and alcohol industry

With constantly increasing production requirements in the Food Industry products must both be preserved for a long time and maintain a fresh taste as well. This means that every single production phase must be kept sterile as carefully as possible. In almost all production processes pumps are the driving force. The sanitary requirements for the pumps have increased accordingly.

The new NEMO® Hygienic and Aseptic Pumps now offer the highest performance for the most sanitary applications. Thanks to their ideal conveying characteristics, these progressing cavity pumps have obtained an important share in the production process especially for sensitive and highly viscous media including solids and gas.

Meeting the highest demands and uncompromising sanitary requirements, NEMO® Hygienic and Aseptic Pumps, with their innovative design, fulfill a most important task in helping to perform clean production processes which finally ensure a high quality of the product.

NEMO® Hygienic and Aseptic Pumps enable;

• Gentle product flow
• Precise metered flow
• Flow that is proportional to pump speed
• Product acceptance under vacuum conditions up to 0.2 bar absolute
• Volume practically unaffected by viscosity changes
• Viscosities up to 1 million mPas

Q 5. What is the most suitable pump for use in the Offshore/Oil Production Industries?

A. For more than 10 years NETZSCH has produced pumps for offshore platforms. This usually requires dedicated purpose pumps made of special material. A vertical installation is possible if needed due to space limitations, as well as an installation depth of more than 10m (dedicated purpose pumps). Even in hardest conditions the most difficult media can still be pumped.

NEMO® Pumps have been utilised for many years in the production of oil and gas, in the treatment, cleaning, and further processing of hydrocarbons, also in tank storage units and refineries.

NEMO® Pumps are fit for the following applications:

• All kinds of drilling muds
• Bentonite
• Oil muds
• Oil-water mixtures with bulky particles
• Crue oil production
• Tank storage
• Oil and gas production stations

Metering Pumps

Q 1. What is a metering pump?

A. A pump that is capable of accurately feeding a constant amount of liquid for a fixed amount of time Metering pumps have an anti-siphonal valve that allow liquid to pass only in one direction according to volumetric changes the pump chamber to maintain the discharge volume per single pump operation at a fixed value. Metering pump comes in volumetric type, reciprocal operation type, and diaphragm type (or plunger type) depending on the pump category.

Generally, widely used pumps send out liquid using centrifugal force in a spiral manner to pump liquid. The liquid feed amount changes by the pressure (affected also by height (head)) of the liquid at the discharge destination. These types of pumps are best suited to feeding large amounts of liquids, and are not suitable for feeding constant amounts.

Q 2. Can metering pumps feed special liquids?

A. Generally, metering pumps can handle highly corrosive chemicals. However, it is said that metering pumps have difficulty in handling slurry (liquid containing solids), high-viscosity liquid and high-temperature liquid.

Certain diaphragm models and plunger (piston) models have various options for applied products which are available for its process pumps to ensure optimum feeding of constant amounts of liquids using the outstanding performance of metering pumps, pumps that are generally regarded as unsuitable for feeding difficult-to-handle liquids.

Q 3. What is a diaphragm pump?

A. A diaphragm pump is a type of volumetric pump. Part of the pump chamber comprises an elastic rubber membrane (diaphragm) which is made to expand and contract by motor, solenoid, air and hydraulic oil pressure action to adjust the volume of the pump chamber. Two check valves are provided on diaphragm pumps to ensure that liquid is fed out in a fixed direction. The check valve on the suction side allows liquid to pass only into the pump chamber, and the check valve on the discharge side allows liquid to pass only to the discharge destination.

Q 4. What are the advantages of diaphragm pumps?

A. Liquid does not leak from diaphragm pumps as they do not have mechanical sliding sections at liquid-contacting parts. This makes diaphragm pumps ideal for volatile liquids, liquids that cause hazards when leakage occurs, and liquids that solidify through contact with air. Diaphragm pumps ensure feeding of liquids at constant amounts in such applications even if the pressure changes at the discharge side.

Q 5. What is the accuracy of the FMI Pump?

A. Accuracy of ± 1%. Can be expected for low to medium viscosity (1 - 500 cps) fluids providing, consistent precise output from microliters to full flow range.

Q 6. Is the FMI Pumps self-priming ?

A. Yes, FMI Pumps will self prime to 15 feet vertical dry,26 feet wet.

Q 7. When should I select a low flow pump head and fittings?

A. In general, when the flow rate is 50 ml/min or below, a low flow pump head, designated by the suffix "LF" should be used. These pump heads have very low dead volume and accept 1/4-28 fittings used with small bore tubing for zero dead volume connections. FMI offers Small Bore Tubing kit Q661 combinations for 1/8" and 1/16" small bore tubing which include tubing and fittings. These fittings connect directly to PVDF and Tefzel® "LF" pump heads. For use with 316SS pump heads (except SAN), the R479 adaptor is also required.

Q 8. How does viscosity affect the accuracy of the FMI pump?

A. The FMI pump is positive displacement and, in general, viscosity independent. However, viscous fluids should use lower RPM drives (400 RPM or less) with pump heads adjusted to longer piston strokes. There is no absolute value for the maximum viscosity an FMI pump can handle. For extremely viscous fluids, pressure feeding on the inlet side of the pump and/or heating of fluid are commonly used to aid in feeding fluid to the pump. FMI also manufactures temperature controlled pump heads "WT" to help maintain fluid temperatures up to 360 F as it flows through the pump.