Four Ways to Source Hygienic Pumps

 There are really four main types of suppliers of hygienic, or sanitary pumps for food and pharmaceutical applications:

 

1. Food and Pharma Equipment Manufacturers, whose primary business is making heat exchangers, separators, mixers, filling machines and other large process equipment and turnkey systems, but who also make pumps as accessories
2. System Integrators, who package any pump brand you specify with other food or pharma equipment on pre-fabricated skids
3. Pump Distributors, whose represent multiple hygienic pump manufacturers
4. Used Equipment Suppliers, who purchase or consign excess inventory from process plants for resale online

 

There is no best source for everyone – each has advantages and disadvantages depending on your situation and budget. Here are some points to consider when choosing where to source your pumps.

 

 

Food & Pharma Equipment Manufacturers

 

 

When a new facility is built, Food and Pharma Equipment Manufacturers commonly provide their own brand of pumps along with their large process equipment. Potential issues here relate to 1) end users are stuck with that brand of pumps and have no ability to choose their preferred brand, and 2) price transparency on the pumps is lacking, since there is often only one lump sum bid provided for the project.

 

 

System Integrators

 

 

System Integrators are a good choice for facilities that are expanding but have limited internal engineering or fabrication capability. Integrators will provide whatever brand of pump the end user specifies, a big plus in plants that may already have a population of pumps they prefer. However price transparency issues arise similar to those of Food or Pharma Equipment Manufacturers due to what is usually a lump sum bid for the skid package, so users don’t really know if what they’re paying for the pumps is competitive or not. Integrators commonly don’t stock the spares that may be required in the future, so the end user ultimately ends up going to the local Pump Distributor that carries that brand.

 

 

Pump Distributors

 

 

Pump Distributors represent a limited number of top hygienic pump brands, and they are trained to know those products and their applications inside and out. In addition to locally stocking pumps and parts to ensure uninterrupted service, they are experts in all aspects of liquid transfer, from calculating Net Positive Suction Head Available (NPSHa) and ensuring cavitation is avoided, to modifying pumps as needed for a specific application, like trimming centrifugal pump impellers or adjusting clearances on positive displacement pumps. They provide pump troubleshooting and repair services if your maintenance department is backed up. They will recommend the best solution for an application from their stable of hygienic pump brands and types. As they will quote either pump units (with hygienic baseplate and drive) or bare-shaft pumps and parts (as replacements), there is no question of price transparency. A large share of their business is replacing the pumps originally installed by Food and Pharma Equipment Manufacturers with other brands that solve specific problems those pumps have created or developed over time.

 

 

Used Equipment Suppliers

 

 

Used Equipment Suppliers often have a wide selection of hygienic pumps from the scrap yards of food and pharma plants. While prices may seem attractive, the pumps often require new motors and baseplates or major maintenance that is not apparent from looking at the photos online. Used positive displacement pumps in particular should be avoided because they may have internal wear that creates excessive slip from the high pressure discharge side to the low pressure suction side, reducing performance. A final concern here is that they may have been used to pump hazardous chemicals or biologicals instead of inert products, since hygienic pumps are often used in fine chemical production and biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

 

 

The Viking Pump Solution

Viking hygienic pumps, including rotary lobe and circumferential piston pumping principles, are sold exclusively through independent Pump Distributors worldwide, although you can also ask your system integrator to provide Viking. Some of these Viking distributors focus exclusively on hygienic markets and sell only hygienic brands, others are more general industrial pump distributors that may carry only a few hygienic brands. Both types are true pump experts, having undergone extensive factory training on the pumps’ capabilities and limitations, their applications and maintenance. They are trusted partners who will recommend the best product for your application, whether it is Viking or another brand. You can find your local Viking Hygienic pump distributor on our website at https://www.vikingpump.com/contact/sales-support.