The pumps are used all over the world for different applications. The pumps are used for industrial, commercial, and household applications. Pumps have multiple types, and the peristaltic pump is one of them. A peristaltic pump is a famous kind of positive displacement pump used to pump various fluids. This article mainly describes the peristaltic pump working, types, and applications.
What is Peristaltic Pump?
A peristaltic pump is a positive displacement pump containing a flexible tube to move liquid through various shoes or rollers that compress and release the tube, producing a peristaltic or squeezing action that transfers the liquid at a consistent rate.
It contains a control system, a motor, and a pump head. The pump head has a flexible tube and the shoes or rollers. The rollers are used to compress and release the tube. An electric motor is used to drive the rollers or shoes.
When rollers or shoes rotate, they produce a peristaltic action. The control system uses to regulate the flow rate and direction of the liquid by altering the direction and speed of the motor.
The liquid forces to flow in the tube as the compressed tube section closes. When the tube opens naturally after passing the roller, more liquid draws into the tube. This phenomenon is known as peristalsis, which uses in many biological applications like the gastrointestinal tract.
These pumps can pump media from the source to the waste or can also recirculate media inside the chip. The peristaltic pump transfers a pulsating flow.
The amplitude and frequency of vibration needed to gain a given flow rate depend on the number of rollers, the rollers’ frequency of rotation, and the diameter of the tube. Maximum peristaltic pumps are software-controlled and automatically run protocols like regular injections and simple flow changes.
Peristaltic pumps are most commonly used in applications where reliability and precision are serious, such as in laboratory settings, pharmaceutical and medical, as well as in industrial applications where the pumping of abrasive or viscous liquids is needed.
How Does A Peristaltic Pump Work?
A peristaltic pump is also known as a peristaltic tube or hose pump that works on the positive displacement principle.
During the working of the peristaltic pump, the liquid introduces through the flexible tube by rollers that revolve and press the tube against the casing of the pump.
When the roller rotates and past over specific points of the tube, the volume of the roller increases to permit more liquid to enter for the next roller pass. A minimum of one roller is utilized to close the tube during operation, so there is no need for additional valves.
When the entire tube is surrounded by track and rollers, it creates a complete closure of the tube that produces a positive displacement effect. This positive displacement effect prevents the pump from backflow and eliminates the check valve requirement when the pump is not working.
Peristaltic pumps are best for viscous and corrosive liquids because only the flexible tube of the pump makes contact with the liquid.
Types of Peristaltic Pumps
Peristaltic Pump has the following three types:
- Hose Pump
- Microfluidic pumps
- Tube Pump
1) Hose Peristaltic Pump
A wide variety of liquids can pump with hose pumps. Its working is based on the alternating relaxation and compression of the pump’s flexible hose or tube which is achieved by guiding the tubing through spinning rollers or shoes. This process sucks the fluid in and moves it onward.
The peristaltic hose pump can work in dry conditions and has a self-priming capability. You don’t need to have fluid in this pump all the time. You can also start it in a dry condition and then draw the liquid in the tube. This evades the inconvenience of priming the pump before use and reduces the risk of possible accidents.
Industrial hose pumps have adopted advanced technology from abroad and industrialized new multi-purpose and multifunctional industrial pumps.
Features of Hose Pump
- This peristaltic pump has fewer wearing and tearing components.
- Bidirectional transfer, no internal backflow.
- It can work at high pressure.
- This pump may transfer media with high solids content (up to 75%).
- Smooth flow, no mechanical components, and no valves.
- It has a high self-priming ability.
- Its maintenance is very easy.
- It can work in dry conditions, and the hose can be lubricated from the outside. In some cases, it may use without manual intervention. This process reduces maintenance costs.
Read More: Types of Pumps
2) Tube Pump
The tube pumps are ideal for process environments, laboratories, and benchtops. These peristaltic pumps are suitable for applications that require lower flow rates. They can move large volumes of fluids at a high head. These are heavy-duty pumps.
These types of pumps offer precise weighing and good reproducibility and can process viscous, chemically aggressive fluids and shear-sensitive products. According to the tubing size, the highest hydrocarbons can be produced by this type of pump. Though, due to the large diameter of the piston, the liquid load is greater than the liquid load of the insert pump.
The verderflex tube pumps can combine accurate weighing and distribution with high delivery pressure.
Features of Tube Peristaltic Pump
- It can work at a pressure of 4 bar.
- Lots of rollers will shorten the life of the tube.
- In general, it uses rollers, dry housing, and unreinforced extruded tubing.
- The more rollers you have, the more often you pump liquid into the outlet, which reduces the pulse width.
- At least two rollers are 180 degrees apart with a maximum of eight or twelve rollers.
- It utilizes a roller to squeeze the tube.
3) Microfluidic Pump
This type of peristaltic pump delivers a variable flow rate and outstanding performance. It has an excellent life cycle. Microfluidic pumps have the capability to run dry without any damage.
These types of pumps are used in engineering systems, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. If you are pumping a small volume of fluid using a microfluidic pump, it controls the fluid flow in the microliter range.
Read More: Types of Positive displacement Pumps
Advantages and disadvantages of Peristaltic Pumps
The peristaltic pumps have the below-given advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages of Peristaltic Pumps
- This pump doesn’t produce contamination because the tube is the only component that makes contact with the liquid, making it easy to disinfect and clean the pump’s inner surface.
- The design of the pump prevents it from backflow and siphoning effects.
- It can handle aggressive fluids, shear-sensitive, viscous, and slurries.
- One of the most significant benefits of a peristaltic pump is that it isolates the pump’s moving parts from the process fluid, eliminating the risk of cross-contamination.
- It is best appropriate for corrosive liquids and can easily handle corrosive liquids and slurries.
- The pump does not use glands, seals, or valves; due to that, this pump has low maintenance costs.
- It has an easy cleaning.
- Its inner surface doesn’t need cleaning because the fluid doesn’t make contact with the pump.
- These pumps are easy to use.
Disadvantages of Peristaltic Pumps
- The flexible tubes will deteriorate over time and will need periodic replacements.
- These pumps are not appropriate when a steady and continuous flow rate is needed.
- The pump doesn’t have consistent and smooth flow properties but a higher pulse flow. This represents that if you need smooth flow properties, you should consider alternative solutions.
- The continuous compression of the tube makes it weak, and the feed rate also slows down.
- Tightening the pump tube needs the drive motor, and for this, the pump will need more power.
- Failure to neglect the injection point (do not replace the pump hose) or repair it may cause the pump tube to leak, damage, or even worsen the pump.
Application of Peristaltic Pumps
- Chemical industry: Pharmaceutical production, pigments, paint sand printing acids, alkalis, phosphate slurries, and inorganic material like titanium dioxide.
- Petrochemical: drilling muds and previous deliveries.
- Water treatment: lime and silt mud etc.
- Mining and Metallurgical industries: Gold smelting of filling materials and gold mining.
- The food industries: Beverage and oil materials delivery.
- Pulp and Paper industries: Sulphur pulp delivery.
- Construction industries: cement mortar delivery and ceramic glaze slurry etc.
- Peristaltic pumps also use to deliver refractory fiber pulp, rubber latex, glue, adhesives, paint, coatings, slag metal liquid, electrolytic slag, waste, etc.
- Testing and research: These pumps are usually used for analytical chemistry experiments.
How to select a Peristaltic Pump?
Many factors should be considered for the selection of a pump, but some major factors for selecting a peristaltic pump are given below:
- Duty Cycle
- Flow rate
- Pressure
- Hose material
- Suction condition
- Contamination
- Temperature
- Duty cycle
The explanation of these parameters is given below:
1) Duty Cycle
For the selection of a pump, it is essential to be considered its duty cycle. If the pump needs to run continuously (uninterrupted time), its speed should be decreased to avoid shortening the life of the hose.
Good manufacturers have performance curves that indicate exactly which parts of the pump can use for intermittent work and which parts can only be used for continuous operation.
2) Flow
Some performance curves create based on flooded suction and aspiration of substances such as water. When dealing with high-head suction or viscous fluids, these factors must be considered to ensure the correct flow rate.
For the selection of a pump, it is essential to be considered the flow rate of the fluid that you want to move.
3) Pressure
All peristaltic pumps don’t manufacture for the same pressure. With a better design, the peristaltic pump can use in pressure applications with 15 bar. This pressure can achieve through lines that can withstand these pressures and rollers, rotors, and other parts designed to withstand these high pressures.
Due to the above-given reasons, pressure is another factor that you must consider in the selection of a pump. You must know your pressure requirement for the fluid that you want to pump and select your pump according to that.
4) Suction Condition
The peristaltic pump has a high suction power. Therefore, a pump must select according to the requirements of suction conditions.
5) Hose Material
Choosing the right hose material is very important to extend the life of the hose. It is also important when hygiene is needed for the transportation of food and medicines.
6) Temperature
Temperature is another important factor that should consider for the selection of peristaltic pumps. Make sure that the operating temperature does not exceed the hose temperature rating.
7) Contamination
If you have material contamination issues, it is advisable to choose a roller tube pump rather than shoes.
8) Maintenance
Besides changing the hose, the peristaltic pump doesn’t need much maintenance. In such areas, pumps with reliable designs and features can save money and time.
What things are to be considered in a peristaltic pump?
To decrease pulsation, numerous peristaltic pumps recommend a spring-loaded mechanism to ensure the pump’s smooth operation. This characteristic is significant for shear-sensitive liquids like living cells. One more feature to consider is the pump regulation for various pipe sizes according to the required flow rate.
The peristaltic pump is characterized due to its simple operation. The replacement of the pump heads and tubes can complete in just a few seconds. Designs that do not require internal valves have many benefits. It can operate both clockwise and anticlockwise so that the fluid can move in either direction if necessary.
These pumps don’t have any valve that reduces pipeline limitations and is useful when transferring viscous fluids.
A multi-channel peristaltic pump may use to improve product efficiency. A motor runs the pump head in up to 15 channels in these pumps, and each channel has a distinct tube. In this way, you can transfer various media at a time or distribute the same media over several containers.
FAQ section
Can a peristaltic pump transfer air?
The answer is no because a peristaltic pump cannot pump air specifically as it may transfer fluids. So although it may transfer a minor quantity of air, peristaltic pumps aren’t appropriate for air transfer applications.
How accurate is the peristaltic pump?
The peristaltic pump’s precision can reach up to + 0.5%. Some functions (e.g., medical devices) need accurate control of the fluid. Therefore, the peristaltic pump is the first option for that application.
What is a peristaltic flow?
Peristaltic flow is a fluid flow by a media like a tube due to peristaltic movement. Peristalsis means constant compression and pressure relief of a specific medium.
How much deep can a peristaltic pump go?
The peristaltic pumps can reach up to a depth of 30ft.
How to maintain a Peristaltic Pump?
Following are the few steps through that you can maintain a Peristaltic Pump:
- Regularly check the inappropriate noises; if there are any then fix them immediately.
- Check the lubricant of the pump.
- Regularly notice the leakage from the pump
- Regularly check the level of oil
See More
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