New hygienic internal gear pumps, which provide the all of the main features and benefits for pumping in food, brewing, pharmaceutical, fine chemicals and other ‘sensitive’ hygienic applications, have been introduced by gear pump specialist Viking Pump.
Available in the UK through Michael Smith Engineers in Woking, Surrey, the positive displacement Viking Hygienic Series combines the reliability and ease of maintenance of an internal gear pump, with the 'cleanability' of a hygienic pump.
The pump’s status as a genuine hygienic pump and suitability for clean-in-place (CIP) is confirmed by certification to Type EL Class 1 from the European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group (EHEDG). It is also third-party certified to display the 3A Sanitary Standards Symbol for positive rotary pumps (3-A Sanitary Standard 02-11).
Features include only one shaft seal, unlike the two usually found in other hygienic positive displacement pumps, which reduces the possibility of unplanned downtime and associated costs, internal wetted surfaces polished to a minimum of Ra 0.8µm and internal angles machined to a minimum radius of 0.8mm.
The Hygienic Series has sealed bearings with food grade grease, which means there is no need for an oil reservoir or oil changes.
The pumps also incorporate a front removable rotor, shaft seal and casing to enable fast disassembly and reassembly for cleaning and inspection and have double seal flush/quench ports as standard to enable in situ change from single to double seals.
A rotatable bearing housing enables end clearance adjustment in minutes, compared with the time typically taken (2–4hrs) on other hygienic rotary positive displacement pumps. The pumps also offer opposite (in-line) porting in either horizontal or vertical (for self-draining) configurations, as well as 90º ports for mounting directly under tanks with side discharge.
Viking Hygienic Series Pumps are available for flow rates up to 60m3/hr, pressures up to 10 bar, and are suitable for handling liquids with a viscosity of 1 to 220,000cSt and for operation on applications with a temperature range of –20ºC to +107ºC.
