Fluid handling pump manufacturers, Viking Pump, has recently added to its Universal Seal Range, available through Michael Smith Engineers.
Positive displacement internal gear pumps are used in industry applications such as chemicals, oil & gas, food & beverage, refining, plastics and resins. The Universal Seal Range features a modified ribbed, stepped idler gear design, which has been specifically developed for sugar processing but is also ideal for other applications where there are crystals in the pumped fluid.
Removing 0.9mm (or 900 microns) of material from 80% of the flank of each idler gear tooth on both sides results in reduced gear-to-gear contact and so avoids damage to tiny sugar crystals or other solids in the pumped fluid.
The ribbed idler alternates position on each tooth to minimise wear on the rotor teeth. The most significant impact of this is the creation of additional ‘slip paths’ that allow liquids to slip back from the high pressure (discharge) side of the pump to the low pressure (inlet side), with the amount dependent on the viscosity of the pumped liquid.
