Unlike food processors who primarily use centrifugal pumps, chocolate and confectionery processors have two main preferences for handling viscous liquors, chocolates, sugars and other confectionery liquids: Rotary Lobe / Circumferential Piston (CP) pumps and Internal Gear Pumps. These Positive Displacement-type pumps are chosen due to various reasons. But which is best?

A major producer of chocolate confections in the eastern United States had been operating many Viking pumps on a variety of confectionary liquids for decades.

Many of these gear pumps have shaft packing, an extremely reliable means of preventing leaks, but which require some level of “controlled leakage” to cool and lubricate the packing. In a time of stricter FDA standards, food processors are now seeking new solutions to eliminate leakage, as it can create a slip and fall hazard and, furthermore, waste valuable product.