Cold ethanol pumps

Looks great, except the blurb says it works because the impeller is flexible…

So I have doubts about running it much below -20C

There are very few elastomers that play well at -80C

3 Likes

If you’re in the US, note that those Aussie pumps have British Straight Pipe fittings, and want 220V. Both are doable.

They should run faster at 60hz that 50 :slight_smile:

As for how they deal with cold…?!?

1 Like

Alfa Laval makes great equipment, but good luck getting them to spend much time with you if you’re less than a $1M/year annual client. Also be prepared to pull out your wallet, I’ve never seen an instance where I personally felt Alfa equipment was on the right side of the cost/value equation.

8 Likes

yeah, I did see that. Thanks for detailing that knowledge, I’ll keep it in mind when researching.

Any more input on Magnatex pumps? i spoke with them and they seem pretty reasonably priced. 7k with an explosion proof motor. They have an option to put an air motor in it but i have not quoted yet. I noticed the other quote posted had a head pressure of 147ft. This is really high i think. Can anyone tell me what they are estimating for theirs? My estimate is 10ft high(10), 30ft pipe(3) 4 turns (4) loss(3) = 20.

This is what I was considering.

2 Likes

$400 Methanol fuel pump…

No complaints after 2hrs at. -50C

14 Likes

Looking good! Do you have a link?

Up thread!!!

Link to 110V also up thread!

And I apologize for not linking again or at least stating that it was the Western Equipment fuel pump @Soxhlet tried to talk me out of :wink:

7 Likes

Still looking for some more input. Im looking for a 100 gpm pump, rated to atleast -70 and would prefer an air driven motor as it will be easier to put into the c1d1 room.

Or am i over estimating the trouble of using an ATEX rated motor in the c1d1 room.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

That was my quote. I accounted for the maximum length and hieght of pump distance which for me, at -80c it would require around the head pressure they quoted. I also want to be able to maintain a certain level of pressure all the way through filtration.

What kind of height and length do you have? I wont be winterizing and filtering using this pump. That high of a head pressure is making me double think my estimate.

Chemsteel makes gear pumps that are up for the task. They are not cheap. Nor easy to obtain in a hurry.

The western states fuel pump is rated for 11gpm and is the same general design, just smaller.

It was NOT doing anything close to 11gpm at -50C yesterday, but I need to check the intake screen before I call that as a flaw.

Edit: found the problem…my silicone hose did not like being moved when pumping -50C solvent.

Edit: nope!

That was part of the problem.

The intake screen is also clogged!!!

Installing a filter upstream is highly recommended!!!

The plastic came from the cooler my heat exchanger was in. Picked it up when I drained the cooler this morning.

3 Likes

Because it’s a DC pump, one can simply reverse polarity and backflush.

Same trick applies to the chemsteel if paired with a 3-phase motor and vfd.

1 Like

I believe this pair will give me the ability to run the Western States DC gear pump forwards, backwards, slower, and faster…

Which means I can emulate all the tricks possible with the larger Chemsteel pumps on VFDs

https://www.pumpsandpartsonline.com/shop/oberdorfer-pumps/chemsteel/chemsteelpumps

4 Likes

@G710

did you ever get your pump working the way you wanted it to?
which “air operated diaphragm pump” were/are you using?

based on my experience using the oberdorfer/chemsteel pumps and the western tools fuel pump, I’d say gear pumps are a solid, if somewhat expensive solution.

I’m curious about the Foodboxer. @SamboCreeck.com uses them on their filtration units, they will pump air (so can be used for moving via +ve pressure), pull a vac (so -ve pressure too), and pump liquid.

the question is, when (what temp) do the diaphragms start to complain (or worse yet fail)? It looks like they’re not even rated to 0C…

3 Likes

I am using the fooboxer for extraction right now and it is pretty finicky. We run around -40 for extraction and the pump will freeze up if I leave the muffler in. Even with the muffler taken out it still makes an ice plug on the exhaust after running for 3-4 hours. I just ordered a new pump from grainger that I think will work better.

3 Likes

If your air source is causing ice to form in your pump you may want a dryer somewhere between the compressor and pump.

5 Likes

at -40 it’s possible the condensation is coming from the ambient air in the room, but that is a great point, having wet air driving a pump at that temp is certainly going to be problematic.

1 Like

I’m actually using 2 inline dryers from the compressor but the compressor came with the building and I think it has some issues to begin with. You can still see water getting into the second dryer after running for a bit.

is your air tank being drained of water on a daily basis?

we get a lot of water into our compressors here in Eugene.
No point in making your driers do more work than they have to.

1 Like