Pump specifying - spot the missing pump...

Pump specification is an art, not a science. There’s so many variables that if you looked at every option before you made your choice of pump, you’d still be looking now. The pump should be correctly sized for the system or process in which it is to be installed - that’s the starting point. Other factors to consider are energy efficiency, longevity of use, reliability, adaptability for future expansion, lifetime cost, maintenance time required, and often many more application-specific factors.

Expertise is important in selecting the best pump to use. If you’re wondering how important it really is, consider just the cost implications for a moment: over the life of an industrial pump, on average the cost of the initial purchase makes up just 10% of the overall cost of owning that pump. The other costs are:

• Energy - 32%

• Maintenance & repair - 20%

• Downtime - 9%

• Operation - 9%

• Installation - 9%

• Environment - 7%

• Disposal - 4%

Source: Top 10 Global Chemical Manufacturer, FY 2006.

This is why we believe it’s very important to get the details right. Sometimes there’s constraints from the lead time, budget, or other practical reasons. However, when making a long-term decision don’t lose sight of the fact that it’s much easier to explain a higher cost or longer wait once, than to explain a bad decision over and over again.