How do you ensure an adequate and reliable water supply to residential units on the upper floors of high rises or provide fresh water to offshore oil rigs? If you speak with water pump suppliers in the UAE, they may suggest installing a pressure system in the case of the former and using a custom reverse osmosis system with aquatic filtration and disinfection in the case of the latter.
There are many pump variants and pumping solutions. The following are just some of the water pumps and pumping systems available for commercial and industrial applications:
Positive Displacement Pumps
Positive displacement pumps work by moving a fixed volume of fluids in cycles. They draw fluid into a sealed chamber, and the next phase draws it out. Once the first batch of fluid is out of the chamber, another batch is drawn and again held until it gets sucked out in the succeeding phase.
Positive displacement pumps use different components to move fluids. They include gears (gear pump), vanes (vane pump), lobes (rotary lobe pump), screws (screw pump), and diaphragms (diaphragm pump). Some use a roller-clamped hose (peristaltic pump).
Positive displacement pumps are primarily used for high-viscosity fluids. They are also preferred in applications that require precise and accurate metering and dosing. Generally speaking, positive displacement pumps are best with low-flow-rate applications.
Centrifugal Water Pumps
Centrifugal water pumps take water in through the eye of the impeller and then trap it between impeller vanes. The impeller rotates at high speeds, propelling the water through an initially narrow volute casing that becomes progressively wider as it approaches the outlet valve.
Alternatively, it can expel the water between stationary diffuser vanes. In either mechanism, the centrifugal pump increases the water pressure before discharge.
Centrifugal water pumps need the impeller vanes to rotate at a constant, high speed for efficiency. However, they become inefficient the more dense the fluid becomes, so they are best for low-viscosity fluids(i.e., viscosity between 0.1 and 200 centipoises.
Centrifugal pumps can be converted into a pressure system when combined with a pressure tank. This will let you use it to supply water to the upper stories of high-rise apartments and commercial buildings. Centrifugal pumps may also be used in automatic irrigation mechanisms (e.g., water sprinklers and flow irrigation systems) for gardens, parks, and farms.
Peripheral Water Pumps
Peripheral pumps are a cross between a displacement and a centrifugal pump. Water sucked into the system flows into an annular channel, where a peripheral impeller rotates and imparts kinetic energy to the water before discharge.
Peripheral water pumps can maintain maximum heads at low flows. Their steep capacity/head curves make them great at magnifying pressure in water pipes.
Horizontal Pumps
The motor and the pump head are horizontally aligned and adjacent in horizontal pumps. They can handle air, be made self-priming through casing design or installing a foot valve in the inlet, and be adapted to varying suction requirements.
Horizontal pumps are a good option in applications where a high flow rate, accessibility, flexibility, and ease of maintenance are priorities. They are also the default option when using heavy motors, such as those found in some multistage and large centrifugal pumps. Substantial motors on horizontally configured pumps can be installed on a concrete base for support.
Vertical Pumps
Vertical inline pumps are stacked, with motors above the pumps. They are suitable for applications requiring a lower flow rate. They have a smaller footprint than horizontal pumps because of their configuration. In some vertical pumps, the pump may be immersed in the fluid it is pumping; these are known as vertical immersion pumps.
Vertical pumps are appropriate for cramped areas; the smaller footprint on vertical pumps means they take less floor space than horizontally configured pumps. A separate ejector or electric vacuum pump may be installed for priming, and special supports may be installed to take on the weight of heavy motors and gearboxes.
Submersible Pumps
Submersible pumps are pumps designed to operate fully submerged in fluid. They’re a standard tool in basements, cellars, ships, and other places prone to flooding. Some variants can also pump slurries (abrasive and viscous fluids) and process water (with solid particles and other residues).
Submersible pumps can be displacement, peripheral or centrifugal. They may be installed with a float to automatically turn on and off, depending on fluid levels. These highly versatile pumps can be used in many applications, such as residential, commercial, agricultural, and municipal.
Watermakers
Watermakers are reverse osmosis systems that extract potable water from seawater. It’s quite useful in offshore platforms where fresh water is scarce, and the distance from the source makes transporting it more expensive than the cost of the resource.
Essentially, they take water from the seawater ring main, filter it for sand and other particles, dechlorinate it (if the seawater was previously chlorinated for disinfection), and feed it into the reverse osmosis units. High-pressure pumps drive the water through a series of reverse osmosis membranes that reject hydrocarbons, ions and other contaminants. The permeate water (the freshwater produced by the reverse osmosis units) may be remineralised to improve its flavour and stabilise the pH level.
Lifting Stations
Lifting stations are pump systems designed to lift fluids, particularly wastewater, for evacuation when there’s insufficient gradient for gravity to move it naturally to a collection shaft or pipe. They make for an excellent solution when installing additional toilets, bathrooms or kitchens and building a conventional gravity drainage system is either too disruptive or expensive.
Macerating Pump Systems
Macerators, typically used with floor-standing wastewater lifting stations, have a grinding blade that cuts and breaks waste (including toilet water and other solids flushed into toilets) into smaller pieces. The resulting slurry – a combination of macerated waste and flush water – is discharged under pressure and expelled into the sewage system.
Landscape Pumping Systems
Landscape pumping systems are an excellent landscape maintenance solution for golf courses, parks, schools, offices, and commercial buildings. They can be configured for automatic irrigation (e.g., water sprinklers and flow irrigation systems), ensuring the plants get optimal amounts of water at regular intervals. Submersible dewatering pumps may be installed in ponds and lakes to refresh them or to create fountains by discharging water at great heights.
A Variety of Pumps and Pumping Systems
Pumps move water and fluids through pipelines. They are essential to automatic irrigation, flood control, water treatment, system cooling, and sewage evacuation. There is a wide variety of pumps for commercial and industrial applications, so talk to a professional before deciding on your pump or pumping system.
