At the Throckley factory of SWIFTLY SEALED
Ibstock Brick, over the course
of the past five years,
peristaltic pumps have been
replaced with Bredel SPX
models supplied by Watson-
Marlow Pumps Group.

These positive
displacement pumps have
constant flow capabilities and
work 12h/day. Their first task
was to pump mains water
into a mixing process.

“Here, a constant volume
and constant flow are vital
for process success: too soft
and the mixture collapses;
too hard and it becomes
difficult to cut,” says Gavin
Van Der Merwe, engineering
manager. “The Bredel SPX50
high pressure hose pump
offered a perfect option
linked with PLC control and
HMI output.”
The Bredel SPX50
provides a maximum
continuous flow rate of
10,500L/h and Watson
Marlow says that the directcoupled
design of the SPX
provides the performance,
reliability and ease of
maintenance benefits of
bare-shaft (long-coupled)
designs with the compact
advantages of close-coupled
pumps in sizes ranging from
10 to 100mm.

Ibstock subsequently
reviewed other processes. For
instance, the company has
installed smaller Bredel SPX
models for pumping waterbased
paint into the mixture
which alters brick colour.

Van Der Merwe can recall
just one maintenance job for
the pumps – replacing
elements in the SPX50 – and
this took just 40 minutes.