Pitbull Pneumatic Pump Settles Tough Problem for Biofuels Maker
END USER: Biofuel plants
THE APPLICATION:
Submersible pump to remove biofuel wastewater
THE PROBLEMS:
- Because they must follow the flow curve, the centrifugal pumps formerly in use required long periods of time between discharges to allow the fluid level to rise high enough to trip the float controlling the pumps’ operation.
- The solids that make up a high percentage of biofuel wastewater would settle out during these waiting periods.
- The plants faced constant pump failures as the settled solids blocked the inlets of the centrifugal pumps, forcing them to cavitate, run dry and/or catastrophically fail.
- Basket strainers on the discharge after the pumps were constantly plugging due to the amount of solids being moved (see photo above), causing the pumps to dead head and fail prematurely.
- The costs of repairing or replacing the pumps and of dealing with the incidental damage were unacceptable.
“These are the only pumps that will work in our sumps.”
THE SOLUTION:
We installed a 4” submersible Pitbull pump, eliminating the need for centrifugal pumps.
THE RESULTS:
After experiencing monthly failures with the previous pumps, there have been no recorded failures since an all-pneumatic Pitbull pump was installed in the first plant almost four years ago.
- With the success of the initial project, the biofuels manufacturer has installed our submersible sump pumps in multiple plants across the U.S.
- Because Pitbull’s simple design requires less fill head than a centrifugal pump to operate properly on the curve, the end user has been able to minimize the amount of solids that drop out of suspension and remain in the sump while waiting for the higher level in the sump that centrifugal pumps require.
- Because the plant can’t accept the solids downstream, the basket strainers are still in use, still clogging and still causing frequent dead headed conditions. But the Pitbull pumps aren’t being damaged; they just lose flow until the basket strainers are cleaned.
- The company has achieved significant cost savings by eliminating the need to replace pumps.
THE SPECS:
Click here for the 4×4 submersible pump spec sheet.
THE RESPONSE:
“These are the only pumps that will work in our sumps because of the amount of solids that we deal with.”