Cold ethanol pumps



Heres my prototype cold recovery loop with overflow tank. Shooting for 1#/minute like the big dogs

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We are having success without any leaks with this similar pump. It is less than HALF THE PRICE of that other pump. It too is stainless steel and handles 32 GPM. A little less than Grainger pump (36).
Sells for $1140.

Beware of Kynar pumps at these temps. They contract and then leak. Stainless is the way to go.

Cold Ethanol Transfer Pump (AODD)

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You offer the EPDM version of that pump over the PTFE one. Any reason why? Any concerns about terpene compatibility with the rubber?

To cut down on the pulsations from AODD pumps we sell a “pulsation smoother” on our website, tcwequipment dot com. Sorry, can’t post links.

It works very, very well at smoothing out the flow for air diaphragm pumps.

We also sell a ton of pumps for ethanol extraction applications from 5-180 GPM, both electric and air-driven. Let me know if you want to chat about pumps.

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Most reading this thread would love to hear of anything you’ve got that is actually rated at -40C or better yet -70C.

Many will take something that works, even if you can’t point to an engineers stamp saying it will.

Others require the sign off.

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will this work for -45c ethanol?

Yep, as you note "rated at -40 °C and below and works at -40 °C and below are different animals. Particularly if we’re talking about intermittent usage, or usage where the ambient temperature and the pumped material temperature are very different.

Currently, the best solution that’s rated at -40 °C period-end-of-story is an external circumferential piston (ECP) pump. We sell Ampco and Waukesha pumps that are rated to a minimum of -40 °C. Of course, they start at around $7k–$8k.

Air diaphragm pumps can work great for cold temps as long as you keep in mind their limitations. The main bottleneck in terms of temperature is the elastomers. On the wet end of things air diaphragm pumps are pretty much all elastomer. The diaphragms need to be flexible in order to push liquid out and pull liquid in. Problem is, at cold temperatures many elastomers lose their flexibility. They become brittle and more prone to breaking.

So far PTFE is shaping up to be the most reliable diaphragm choice on the pumps we sell, but still I advise people to keep backup diaphragms on-hand and—if your budget allows for it—a backup pump so that you can swap in a fresh pump while you’re replacing diaphragms on the broken-down one.

We’re working on testing alternate pumping solutions, including peristaltic pumps and different seals on existing pumps to try and get below -40. Once we have more real-world experience I’ll keep you guys posted.

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We are still leak free with the AODD from Yamada COLD AAOD Ethanol Pump from Yamada

Great point about the elastomer stress at those temps and having a backup to swap out during repair or changeout.

Graco FD series pumps. I’m using FD2122 with santoprene internals. Works great at low temps and can run dry. It’s 4.8k though

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There are lots of air diaphragm pumps from different manufacturers that will likely work. Graco, ARO, Yamada, Versa-Matic, Sandpiper, Wilden, etc.

In spite of the fact that they come from different manufacturers, the basic functionality of these pumps isn’t so different, so it will come down to the materials of construction used in the pump and any other relevant specs required for safety, compliance, and efficient running. As mentioned, right now the dual-layer PTFE diaphragms on the pumps we offer is getting great longevity at low temps.

The SimpleSolvent 12 and SimpleSpirits Pumps we offer are also ATEX-rated for use in potentially explosive atmospheres as they are fully groundable to prevent static buildup due to the pump’s internal reciprocating motion. Pumps made of non-conductive plastics—and even metallic pumps that weren’t constructed with dissipating static discharge in mind—can allow static electricity to build up during normal use, which may be a concern when pumping a potentially flammable solvent like ethanol.

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That’s a lot of money :money_with_wings::money_mouth_face::money_with_wings:

We have had a lot success with this beauty from Yamada. Stainless Steel / 32 GPM / Soild internals and it doesn’t leak! Oh, and the best part of all is it is only $1140 (in stock now)
https://xtraxpros.com/yamada-ndp-20bse-double-diaphragm-pump/

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Saw this on the 'tube… We’re thinking about buying a LN2 generator, and was wondering what pump to move that cold of a liquid. Just saw this, still making decisions…

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Although it’s an added expense, has anyone considered running a pair of pumps in parallel and valving them so you van easily switch from one to the other? Maybe swapping them every cycle will prolong the diaphram life.

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That thing is cool, do you know the operating principal? Looks to be connected to wires so it is electric.

Still looking into the company… It’s out of Germany if I’m not mistaken. The pump consists of a cylinder housing made out of polycarbonate carrying the Invar (nickel-iron alloy FeNi36) bushing of the cylinder. The pump piston consists of an Invar carrier with a Vespel SP-22TM (DuPont) liner.

Pretty interesting…

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I also highly recommend the Graco PTFE AODD pump with Santoprene internals, their pumps have always worked well for us at low temp not cheap but worth it in my experience. I’ve used them with a few different types of compressor and muffler and they hold up great.

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I did a consult job for Viking pump, they are conquering this exact issue. Contact them. They make awesome pumps. I believe Mile High Labs used them as well. And Mile High is probably the best CBD lab around.

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Any reason for PTFE over stainless for the pump body? Cost, electrical charge buildup, weight? Just curious because we have seen some of these similar materials contract and leak with cold fluids.

Sooo… the CPE is definitely not a win. It doesn’t like cold solvent AT ALL!

The AC version of the westech is bigger than the DC version. And is thermally protected. So even though it’s rated at 50% duty (30min on, 30 min off) it should take care of itself and shut down if you try running it with rm temp solvent for extended periods. The DC version has no such protection.

I’ll probably try a PWM speed control on it at some point.

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Revisiting this. Does anybody know what pumps will work at -80C, continuous duty? Price is no object. Just Magnetex or do we know of any other ones?

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