A Pump That“ Paste” The Sundried Tomato Test
EDITOR’ S CHOICE PUMP SUCCESS STORY
CASTLE PUMPS
A Pump That“ Paste” The Sundried Tomato Test
With a huge variety of products needing to be handled, when it comes to the manufacturing and process industries, no two pump requirements are the same. Getting the right pump, rather than just one that“ does the job” is the key to saving yourself from excessive wear, unnecessary maintenance, product waste, process failures and energy costs. This case study is an example of the importance of just that.
A manufacturer and supplier of bulk food pastes and marinades to the catering industry contacted Castle Pumps with a container emptying pump enquiry to improve the productivity of their current manual process. They were looking to pump sundried tomato paste from their processing machine, where the sundried tomatoes get chopped into the blend, into 15kg buckets that are then supplied as the final product.
The challenge of this particular food transfer pump requirement is the product itself that is being
handled. As well as being very viscous, it contains various degrees of solids including abrasive tomato seeds and stringy tomato skin, which for many pumps result in clogging or component wear. Constant unblocking of a pump and consequential maintenance is not something the client could accept due to the considerable impact on process productivity.
A Tried & Tested Clog-Free Solution The viscosity of the fluid being pumped is always an initial consideration for pump specification, which can sometimes be difficult when the customer doesn’ t know exactly what viscosity it is. Castle Pumps knew however from looking at a picture of the fluid that it was thick and therefore a pump capable of handling the viscous nature at a reasonable flow rate without clogging was required.
One of the services Castle Pumps offer when it comes to container emptying pumps, is pump testing, where they will trial the pump handling the fluid in question to confirm that it can move it as expected. Due to the viscous, dry and abrasive nature of the sundried tomato paste and its solid content, a sample keg was requested to be sent to the factory to perform the test with one of their Viscopower progressive cavity drum pump models. These models can handle high viscosity fluids up to 100,000cP and solids up to 8mm in diameter thanks to the flexibility in the stator.
To meet its requirement as a food grade barrel pump, the FDA Viscopower is designed with minimal dead space, a closed mechanical seal and electropolished surfaces for hidden voids or inaccessible parts. It can also be disassembled in just 30 seconds for quick cleaning with minimum effort.
After seeing how well the Viscopower high viscosity drum pump worked with the tomato paste, the customer was confident that the solution would handle the viscosity, seeds and skin without clogging, and placed the order for the pump complete with food grade PVC hose and hygienic Triclamp fittings.
If you’ re looking for the right pump to deliver your process or perhaps have a challenging fluid you need to transfer, contact the pump exerts at Castle Pumps.
For further information, please visit www. castlepumps. com
20 PECM Issue 74