As a plant, facility, or maintenance manager, you understand the significant process of making a high-impact and high-dollar pump purchase. There are several options on the market for food grade pumps. When making a purchase decision, you will need to weigh functionality against cost, reliability against budget, and overall expense against return on investment.
It's an intense balancing act. With the potential of a poor purchase resulting in a regulatory issue or downtime, this process can be daunting. This is a process and feeling that manufacturers in the food and beverage industry know all too well when they are purchasing a sanitary food pump solution.
In this article, we will discuss the different types of pumps that are commonly used in the food and beverage industry, as well as their applications.
Across processing, packaging, and CIP/SIP, food and beverage pumps (sometimes called food pumps or food processing pumps) must deliver consistent flow while protecting product integrity and meeting hygiene standards.
Common use cases for food industry pumps and beverage pumps include:
Selecting the right pump allows for a sanitary design, cleanability, and reliable operation to reduce contamination risk, minimize downtime, and lower total cost of ownership.
Centrifugal pumps are one of the most common types of pumps used in the food and beverage manufacturing industry. They are typically used for transferring liquids from one location to another. Centrifugal pumps work by using an impeller to create a centrifugal force that moves the liquid through the pump. In addition to product transfer, centrifugal pumps are also used in non-product utilities such as washdown, cooling, and boiler feed services. Centrifugal pumps are ideal for moving water, broths, brines, and CIP return loops. Sanitary variants feature open impellers and easy drainability for fast cleaning.
Food grade diaphragm pumps are often used for transferring viscous materials, such as food products and liquids. Air-operated double diaphragm pumps work by using air to power the pump and excel at intermittent transfer and unloading totes/drums. Self-priming, run-dry tolerant, and simple to maintain, they are great for flexible production areas.
Peristaltic hose pumps work by using a series of rollers to compress and move a hose that is filled with fluid. With the product only touching the hose, it minimizes contamination risk. Gentle, low-shear action protects texture in yogurt, fruit sauces, and slurries while delivering accurate dosing.
These pumps provide steady, low-pulsation flow for thick, fragile, sticky products such as tomato paste, nut butters, or cream fillings. Cavity pumps use a rotor to move the fluid through a series of progressing cavities. They are excellent for long runs and precise depositing without product damage.
Positive displacement pumps move a fixed volume per cycle, ensuring accurate dosing. Common PD designs in food and beverage include reciprocating (piston, diaphragm or plunger), lobe, gear, and progressing cavity pumps, depending on viscosity and shear sensitivity.
Lobe pumps have sanitary mechanical seals and stainless-steel casing and lobes, and are efficient, reliable, and sanitary, making them an excellent choice for the food and beverage industry. Depending on the design, they can handle viscous liquids, fragile solids, and mixtures of air and liquid. These pumps are common in dairy and beverage applications, especially near fillers where cleanability and gentle handling are important.
A fairly new product, Innomag is a sealless, magnetically driven, and non-metallic pump that is available in a high-purity, chemically resistant configuration, making it ideal for the pharmaceutical and food processing industries. The pump is built with a one-piece composite shell and is carbon fiber reinforced for superior leak protection. It uses a mag-drive pump and the first fully thrust-balanced pump so it can handle solids with ease. It provides safety and performance, and easy maintenance for numerous applications.
Choosing pumps for the food and beverage industry applications isn’t just about moving fluid from point A to point B, it’s about protecting product quality, meeting hygiene standards, and controlling total cost of ownership. The right choice aligns the physics of your products with your process requirements and the compliance rules of your plant.
When choosing a pump, consider these factors and needs:
Need assistance in determining the right pump? OTC’s engineers can help specify process pumps for food industry needs, validate materials, and ensure your selection aligns with safety, efficiency, and compliance.
Explore more guidance on selecting a pump for food processing.
Selecting the right food transfer pumps and sanitary food pumps impacts product quality, line efficiency, and operating costs. From application engineering to start-up and maintenance, OTC supports end-to-end industrial pumps for food and beverage applications.
Ready to get started? Browse our selection of pumps or contact our team to discuss your needs and get a recommendation tailored to your operations.