Creeping energy bills are having an enormous effect on businesses, and tank storage sites are no exception. As energy costs increase, operators could benefit from reassessing how their pumps are running, and a few small changes could make a big difference.
Pump running costs can be a significant overhead for a tank or terminal storage site, particularly when you consider that 20 per cent of the world’s electricity demand is used to power pump systems.
We’re finding a lot of storage operators are reviewing their running costs and looking for areas to reduce energy consumption. Like all of us, their conscious of their bills, but also don’t want to pass on their costs to their supply chain.
ED&F Man Terminals has used rotary lobe pumps supplied by Vogelsang for over a decade, and recently leveraged them to help with reducing its energy consumption, which it achieved by nearly a third.
Ian MacKenzie, UK Operations Manager, ED&F Man Liquid Products UK, said: “We had an efficiency drive and looked for ways to cut our energy costs. Vogelsang looked at our pump systems and suggested that we don’t need to run them at full speed to achieve the BEP (best efficiency point); they could do the job we need with them running at as little as 50%. This reduced our energy costs by 30% which was fantastic.”
Whilst energy efficiency should be considered when specifying a pump, so should other costs associated with the life of a pump (installation, maintenance, replacement parts). As time is of the essence for storage and transit jobs, reducing downtime is important to Vogelsang, which is why they come with Quick Service capabilities; parts can be changed and the pump serviced with minimal disruption and downtime.
Compared to other positive displacement pumps, the rotary lobe pump has a smaller footprint due to its compact design and can easily be installed in tighter, trickier areas. Another factor which makes this type of pump popular with tank storage and terminals is its ability to handle a variety of media, including viscous and abrasive solutions.
“We first installed Vogelsang rotary lobe pumps on our molasses tanks over 15 years ago and they have worked brilliantly in the years since,” Ian said. “We move and store liquids such as molasses, vegetable oil, non-hazardous products, and needed pumps that are capable of pumping a wide range of viscosities and the rotary lobe pumps have no trouble in doing so.”
Learn more about the Rotary Lobe Pump
