The Sihi Boost UltraPlus vacuum pump is the next evolution of Flowserve Sihi Boost pump systems, which were introduced in 2013. This new and improved pump design retains all the advantages of the original Sihi Boost pumps — including oil-free operation and full electronic synchronization — and cuts re-acceleration time up to 50%. These performance enhancements were made possible by cooling improvements, upgrading materials to withstand the highest load scenarios and a new gap distribution strategy.

The unit can provide a compression ratio (K0) of up to 100,000:1, which is exponentially higher than the rate of the highest-performing Roots-type blower (maximum 75:1).

“Sihi Boost UltraPLUS vacuum pumps raise the industry standard by delivering the fastest pump-down and cycle times available for load lock applications,” said Stefan Lähn, global product portfolio leader — vacuum pumps, compressors and systems for Flowserve. “By just changing the vacuum system, you can potentially double the output of your existing process equipment.”

The Quantm pump features a new electric motor design that Graco says is up to eight times more efficient than a standard pneumatic pump. The pump is suitable for nearly any fluid transfer application and offers a wide range of construction materials to support multiple industrial and hygienic applications, including chemical processing, water treatment, paint manufacturing, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical.

The electric Quantm pump is designed to be a highly reliable drop-in replacement for current pneumatic pumps or greenfield construction. This pump is built for harsh industrial or hygienic environments, yet its innovative and efficient design is lightweight and easy to maintain. With built-in controls and no gearbox, the pump also fits seamlessly into most fluid transfer applications.

“The Quantm pump isn’t a new twist on old technology. It’s an entirely innovative design that changes how pumps perform in factories and other installations around the world,” said Dan Purkat, senior product marketing manager at Graco. “We’re excited to have created an advanced, extremely efficient design that is lightweight and provides significantly lower lifetime costs than other pump technologies. The pump modernizes operations by greatly reducing energy cost. This empowers industrial manufacturers to protect and grow margins and measurably contribute to energy savings, compliance and environmental stewardship efforts.”

“Our new Quantm pump is the perfect solution for upgrading your less-efficient air operated pumps,” said Jeffrey Shaffer, senior product marketing manager at Graco. “The same great self-priming, stalling, seal-less design with smooth, steady flow is a must-have for in-process applications, filling systems and hygienic applications. The powerful new FluxCore motors and drives deliver up to eight times more continuous torque at low speeds than conventional motors, and the plug-and-play installation allows you to easily replace existing pumps without additional investment or infrastructure rework.”

Pumpegruppen is a full-service pump specialist representing brands including Grundfos, Wilden, FTI and Speck. The company is headquartered in Lyngby, 10 km north of Copenhagen, and has another base in Rønde in Jutland.

“The acquisition of Pumpegruppen is well-aligned with our group strategy to expand the product and service offering in Denmark. Pumpegruppen has a strong customer base and a sound growth potential,” said Søren Weihrauch, CEO of AxFlow A/S.

Under the leadership of CEO and former owner Erling Olsen, Pumpegruppen will continue to operate under its current name while being part of the AxFlow Group.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for us at Pumpegruppen, and I look forward to developing the business further with AxFlow,” said Olsen.

“I see many similarities in the way Pumpegruppen and AxFlow operate in the market and I’m certain that our customers will benefit from a very wide product portfolio, a wealth of application know-how and near-by customer service,” added Weihrauch.

The Lewa M900 is a pump head with a hydraulically actuated diaphragm made of pure PTFE and a diaphragm holder made of stainless steel. Now the company has further developed the pump head, doubling its volumetric efficiency and adapting it for use with the smaller Lewa Ecoflow models.

The M900 pump head is characterised by its hermetic tightness, high metering accuracy, and robust hydraulics. Until now, however, pump heads of this type could only be used in the two smallest sizes of the Lewa Ecoflow series, the LDB and LDC, up to 100 and 150 bar respectively. The reason for this is that at high discharge pressures with plunger diameters of 5 and 6 mm, they have a comparatively low volumetric efficiency, which is not optimal for the pump’s cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency.

Adapted & improved In order to use the M900 for flow rates of less than 1 l/h and discharge pressures of 150-400 bar, the pump head has now been specially adapted for the use with these smaller Ecoflow pump models. By designing an optimised diaphragm body and diaphragm drive, it was possible to reduce the clearance volume in the pump head by 37%, increasing the volumetric efficiency at 400 bar by 20.3 (5 mm plunger) and 17.3 percentage points (6 mm plunger) respectively.

Since reworking the calotte proved to be the biggest challenge, Lewa made a special pump head that provides a view of the otherwise hidden diaphragm and used it to study the diaphragm’s movement using laser measurement technology.

The Lewa M900 is a pump head with a hydraulically actuated diaphragm made of pure PTFE and a diaphragm holder made of stainless steel. It is designed for universal use and is used on all Lewa Ecoflow pumps as well as on Lewa process pumps for medium flow rates. The pump head has a whole range of advantages. It is not only hermetically tight so that leakages of pumped fluid or hydraulic oil are impossible, but is also characterised by high metering accuracy, optimum suction capacity due to the diaphragm spring, and a very long diaphragm service life.

Volumetric efficiency The previous M900 diaphragm pump head for plunger sizes of 5–12 mm had a comparatively low volumetric efficiency on the LDB and LDC drive units with the smallest Lewa sandwich diaphragm at high discharge pressures with plunger diameters of 5 and 6 mm. “The reason for this is the clearance volume in the pump head,” said Moritz Mildner, RD engineer at Lewa.

The assumption that fluids are incompressible only applies to low pressures. In this case, it must be taken into account that although the reduction in volume for water and hydraulic oil is only about 1% at 100 bar, it increases to about 10 times this amount at 400 bar due to the pressure dependence of the compressibilities.

“As the pressure builds up in the pump, the fluids are compressed until the discharge pressure is reached,” Mildner explained. “The result is a reduction in displaced volume equal to the volume reduction that occurs when the fluids are compressed.” The ratio of displaced volume to the ideal, theoretical displacement volume is referred to as the volumetric efficiency. If the volumetric efficiency of a pump decreases, its energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness also decrease.

“For this reason, Lewa limited the use of the previous M900 pump heads to 100 or 150 bar. Instead, M200 pump heads with metal diaphragms were used for applications with low flow rate (< 1 l/h) and a discharge pressure between 150 and 400 bar. However, those models do not have some key advantages of the M900, such as lower minimum suction flange pressure or more robust hydraulics due to the diaphragm spring,” Mildner explained.

“By designing a diaphragm body and diaphragm drive specifically optimised for the small plunger sizes, we were able to reduce the flow paths in the hydraulics, the installation space of the diaphragm spring, the diaphragm calotte, and the fluid bores on the pressure and suction sides,” Mildner said. The geometric optimisation reduced the clearance volume in the pump head by about 51% on the fluid side and by about 22% on the hydraulic side. This equals a total clearance volume saving of 37%.

The greatest challenge Within the scope of the revision, the calotte posed by far the greatest challenge. For its optimisation, the actual diaphragm movement was first studied using laser measurement technology. For this purpose, Lewa produced a special pump head that allows a view of the normally invisible diaphragm in its installed state. “The position of the diaphragm and the diaphragm holder in the front-end position were relevant for the depth of the calotte,” explained Mildner. “That is why the diaphragm contour was scanned with the help of two lasers.”

One laser was used to determine the current height of the movable measuring device and the second for the deflection of the sandwich diaphragm. In this way, the centre plane was completely measured for plunger sizes 5 mm and 6 mm, and different stroke frequencies. Based on the envelope curves generated from the point clouds resulting from the scans,it was possible to geometrically adjust the fluid working space in the diaphragm body to the actual diaphragm motion.

Volumetric efficiency Next, the research and development team conducted a series of tests to validate the new pump head. The essential functions of the hydraulics, which include gas discharge, sniffing function and pressure limitation, were checked and the volumetric efficiency was determined via the characteristic diagram of the diaphragm pump head.

At the maximum pressure of 400 bar, process water was used to achieve a volumetric efficiency of 40.2% for the 5 mm diameter plunger and 56.3% for the 6 mm diameter plunger. These values were 19.9 and 39% respectively for the previous diaphragm pump head. This shows that the new M900 is suitable for use with the Ecoflow pumps LDB and LDC at low flow rates and up to 400 bar discharge pressure.