Praise for perstaltic pump

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.