What is a Discflo disc pump?
The Discflo disc pump system is a genuine breakthrough in pumping, the first real innovation in the pump industry in over 50 years. It has already changed the way that some difficult fluids are handled, and will continue to do so in all areas of industry. It uses a different operating mechanism from centrifugal, rotary, positive displacement pumps or any other type of pump on the market. Although from the outside it looks like a centrifugal unit, it does not use a conventional impeller. Instead the disc pump uses the Discpac, a series of parallel discs, either smooth or ribbed, which use the forces generated by boundary layer/viscous drag to move product. It is the only pump on the market that operates solely using this principle, and the benefits have now been proven in numerous industrial applications. (Click here to find out more about the disc pump principle).
BENEFITS OF THE DISC PUMP |
||
| Operating characteristics | Applications | User benefits |
| Pulsation-free, laminar flow | Pumps slurries with up to 80%+ solids | Very low wear rates |
| No close tolerances | Pumps severely abrasive fluids | No downtime |
| Low NPSH requirement | Pumps fluids with high volumes of entrained air/gas | No damage to product |
| Highly versatile design | Pumps exceptionally high viscosities | No clogging |
| Few radial loads on shaft, seal or bearings | Pumps delicate/shear sensitive products and emulsions | Very low Life Cycle Costs |
| Flow rates of 1-10,000 GPM, and heads of up to 1000 ft | Pumps large and stringy solids | Best features of a PC and centrifugal pump in one design |
The enormous advantages of the Discflo disc pump center around the Discpac. (Click here to find out more about the Discpac.) Unlike a conventional
impeller (ie, a vane, paddle, screw etc), this device does not "impinge" on the
product, or "push" it through the pump. By minimizing contact between the pump
and the product being pumped, the Discflo system suffers little to no wear in abrasive
service, no clogging or breakdown when handling highly viscous fluids and fluids with a
high solids content and high amounts of entrained air, and almost no shear or destruction
of delicate and shear sensitive products. Also, because the Discflo pump uses friction
(generated by boundary layer/viscous drag) to move product, the more viscous the fluid,
the more efficient is the pump's operation, overtaking the efficiency of a centrifugal
pump at around 250 cP.
Discflo manufactures a diverse line of pump configurations that can be built to any specification. The pumps can be made from a wide range of metallic and non-metallic materials, depending on the pump application and the needs of individual customers. Flow rates from 2–10,000 GPM and heads of up to 1200-ft can be achieved, the same conditions handled by any conventional process pump.
Disc pumps are being successfully used in an extremely wide range of applications. On our applications page, you will find a breakdown of applications by industry, with sections on: chemical, oil and petroleum industries; pulp and paper industry; food processing and sugar manufacture; wastewater treatment and disposal; and other industrial applications, from mining to metal processing, pharmaceutical manufacture to agriculture.
Our excellence is in hard-to-pump applications. The pumping system is one of the most critical parts of any industrial process, but this is especially so in problem applications, where users can spend $10,000's in spare parts, maintenance, and production loss from downtime, all due to the pump. Over the life of a pump, the initial purchase price becomes an insignificant part of the total Life Cycle Cost. And in pumping delicate and shear sensitive products and emulsions, the problem of product destruction due to the pump can be tremendous - running into millions of dollars annually. Click here to find out how the Discflo disc pump can save you a fortune in pump Life Cycle Costs.