By John Petersen and Rodger Jacoby, Viking Pump Inc.

The need to reduce production costs and optimize energy consumption makes proper pump selection more important than ever. Understanding basic pumping principles and the fluid characteristics for a given application is the starting point for selection.  It has been said that pumps are the second most common piece of industrial equipment next to electric motors. There are literally millions of pumps in use around the world handling thousands of different liquids. With the many types of pumps available, selecting the proper pump for any given application can be complex. The pump selection process is, in large part, matching a particular pump’s capability with system requirements and properties of the liquid to be pumped. This article begins with a discussion of liquid and system properties and then moves on to examining specific pump capabilities. The first consideration in any application is understanding the expectations for the pump. Inlet conditions, required flowrate, differential pressure, temperature, and liquid characteristics — such as viscosity, abrasiveness, shear sensitivity and corrosiveness — must all be determined before a pump can be selected. »

By Glenn Hiroyasu and Sueli Roel Backes, Almatec

Biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturing may come in a wide variety of forms, but every iteration of unit operation must adhere to an unbending set of operational parameters and structures if the desired outcome — a viable, contaminant-free drug suitable for human or animal administration — is to be realized. It is all about “controlled fluid transfer.” Three of the more common unit operations within the biopharmaceutical-manufacturing universe are chromatography, virus filtration and tangential flow filtration (TFF). In order for these unique operations to be implemented successfully, though, the operator must be aware of their specific operating characteristics. For example, chromatography requires constant fluid flowrates during their operations, but may have varying pumping pressures. Virus filtration, on the other hand, will feature constant pumping pressures, but flowrates will change as the filters become clogged or fouled. And in TFF, the main challenge is attempting to keep the flowrate and pressure unchanging throughout the process. »