Pumps are a crucial component in a range of different processes, appliances and more that play a critical role in our infrastructure. The market is currently growing and anticipated to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. In this post, we’ll look at what the pump market involves, how it is growing and why this is such an important industry.
What Are Pumps?
Pumps are devices that are used to move a substance from one container to another. Pumps might move water, air or gas and in all cases, they do this via the use of displacement.
For those that are unfamiliar with how a pump works, the concept is based on equalization. Basically, when you have any gas or liquid filling a space, it will naturally spread out in order to fill that space equally so that there is an even distribution of molecules. As the number of molecules increases with the same volume of space, the density increases which we refer to as pressure. High pressure means that lots of gas or liquid is packed into a tight space, whereas low pressure means that the space is very large and the gas or liquid is spread very thinly across it.
Energy can be created when you have two volumes of space, one being larger and one being smaller. If these spaces are connected, then the molecules that are more densely packed will rush into the area. This is how a pump works.
Pumps normally use a fan, which uses angled blades in order to push air or water forward. This then creates a vacuum directly behind the fan, which in turn ‘sucks’ in more molecules in order to evenly distribute the area. Momentum ensures that this then continues with forward trajectory.
Effectively then, a pump will be able to move molecules from one side to another and this can be used in order to completely empty one area to create a vacuum, or to create pressure which can be used in order to drive a number of different types of machinery and implements. They can even be used for decorative purposes – to move water inside of a fountain for instance.
The Pump Market
There are many different types of pumps as mentioned and these play important roles in everything from automobiles to sewage plants. The market is thus a strong one in all economic climates and is in fact expected to grow steadily at CAGR of 5% of the coming years. Partly, this is due to an increased investment in water and wastewater recycling plants. It is also likely due to increases in the population, in urbanization and in manufacturing activities – none of which are expected to slow down any time soon.
Climate uncertainty may even help to increase the pump market, due to the need for pumps and sump pumps for removing water.
However, there are many other uses and types of pumps. For instance, consider the laboratory pump.
Laboratory Pumps
A vacuum pump is a device that is used in order to remove gas molecules from a container in order to leave behind a vacuum (a vacuum being a space with a complete lack of molecules in it and thus zero atmospheric pressure) while laboratory pumps meanwhile are used to leave behind partial vacuums or in order to fill space with a greater number of gas molecules and thus increase atmospheric pressure. The laboratory vacuum pump thus is necessary in order for the creation of a vacuum for research purposes in a laboratory study. The vacuum pump was created in 1650 by Otto von Guericke. There are several methods through which vacuum pumps can work and these are 'positive displacement', 'momentum transfer' and 'entrapment'. Here we will look at how these work.
Positive Displacement Pumps: Positive displacement laboratory pumps work by using a cavity which expands. As the area expands and the amount of gas molecules remain the same, this then reduces the pressure causing the molecules from the container to rush into the cavity. From here they will then be exhausted into the atmosphere outside gradually reducing the air pressure in the container.
Transfer Pumps: Transfer pumps, also called momentum transfer pumps, molecular pumps and kinetic pumps, work by using mechanical parts. Normally this means a rotating blade which collects and pushes the gas molecules out of the pump. As this happens the pressure in the laboratory pumps drop and more molecules flow out of the container into the pump to be pumped out.
Entrapment Pumps: These laboratory pumps work in a different way and rather than displacing the molecules will work to absorb them or solidify them. This can work through chemical reaction or via refrigeration. The air molecules will then end up in a film like state or a liquefied state and can then be filtered out of the container.
In order for these laboratory pumps to work it is necessary to be able to measure the amount of pressure in the container by seeing how it affects an amount of liquid. This then allows the operator to know how much pressure is left in the container and when to stop using the laboratory pumps. The uses of a laboratory vacuum pump are many and they can be used in order to create an environment free from gasses in order to observe chemical reactions and to work with highly combustible materials. They are also necessary for the use of electron microscopy, semiconductor processing such as ion implantation, freeze drying, vacuum engineering and more. Outside of the laboratory the vacuum pump also has many uses and it is also used for milking machines, air conditioning in some cases (services that remove all contaminants from the air), driving some flight instruments in aircraft and the composite plastic moulding process.
Laboratory pumps demonstrate just one more application for pumps and one more example of why this market is unlikely to stop growing any time soon. After all, none of these processes such as freeze drying are likely to reduce in demand any time soon!
