Pump technology specialist Slack & Parr [Derby, UK] has launched a new range of high-precision, food-safe gear metering pumps to give food and drink manufacturers maximum control of a wide range of viscosity fluids.
The Pulseless Flow range has been developed to deliver liquids into the manufacturing line with greater accuracy to improve repeatability and reduce in-process waste even at high speed.
“Fluid metering pumps have a vital role to play in controlling how liquid ingredients are delivered into a food and drink processing line and can fundamentally impact standardisation and repeatability in the end product,” explains Neil Anderton, Hydraulics & Industrial Director at Slack & Parr.
“For most food and drink manufacturers, particularly in high-volume markets, delivering identical products time and time again is essential for maintaining consumer experience and brand reputation. We developed Pulseless Flow to support the industry in consistently achieving this level of precision.”
Slack & Parr’s Pulseless Flow range has been developed in collaboration with manufacturers across the food and drink industry, from chocolate and confectionary to spreads and dessert. The technology has been developed to provide a specialist alternative to standard pumps, including reciprocating, peristaltic or diaphragm pumps, which are commonly used in food and drink processing but aren’t designed to achieve the high levels of precision that gear pumps can offer.
Slack & Parr’s gear pump technology is engineered to overcome the potential for product inconsistencies caused by small variations, known as pulsation, in the rate and volume of liquid flowing through the pump and into the manufacturing process. This can lead to modest but notable variations in recipe ratios or differences in the way the product looks and is also linked to increased wastage. The Pulseless Flow pumps are engineered to eliminate pulsation and deliver constant speed and accuracy of flow with almost zero variation throughout the process, even under high pressure.
“These pumps are built from finely engineered, food-safe materials, including stainless steel and special ceramics, which enable us to deliver extremely high levels of dimensional stability, strength and durability alongside unmatched levels of precision,” says Neil Anderton.
The range includes single-outlet pumps with off-the-shelf delivery times alongside custom-designed, multiple-outlet or planetary gear pumps which provide multiple, identical fluid outlets from a single piece of equipment. Crucially, these pumps only need one drive system to power them, which leads to enhanced processing efficiency and consistency as well as significant machinery cost and space savings.
Slack & Parr has been designing and manufacturing metering pumps for over eighty years and is the global market leader in the supply of specialist pumps to multiple industries around the world, including food and drink, pharmaceuticals, manmade fibres, and oil and gas.
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