What are transfer pumps?
The main purpose of using pumps is moving fluids from one receptacle to another, which is necessary for a wide array of applications. For instance, transfer pumps are usually used in small-scale personal, agricultural or commercial applications in which a particular fluid, especially gasoline or oil, needs to be moved from one tank to another. However, they are also used in larger scale applications like shipping and mining, or in construction projects when a body of water needs to be moved to a different nearby location.
They are powered by powerful, high-quality and self-priming motors which are easy to use. If you are looking to buy a cheap transfer pump of a considerable quality, your best best is buying one online due to the convenience and higher chances of finding a great deal. They can be used for boats or caravans, water transfer, small rain system, sprayers, or other industry uses. Transfer pumps can be even used with a liquid that has weak alkaline and acid.
How do they work?
Having in mind the fact that there are so many different applications where a cheap transfer pump can be used, it is no surprising that they come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The larger ones are centrifugal pumps and these are typically heavy duty ones that use a spinning impeller for drawing the fluid out of the original receptacle and pump it forward. On the other hand, the smaller versions that are meant for personal use may be hand-driven reciprocating pumps, but still,a bigger part of all the different types of transfer pumps are powered by either electricity or internal combustion engines.
Pump efficiency
When a pump operates at a flow which is away from its best efficiency point, its efficiency is naturally lowered. Therefore, a centrifugal pump which is operating at 80% efficiency at its best efficiency point, will operate at maybe 30% efficiency at half flow. In reality, the larger you pump, the more money you will be losing, which will eventually cost you lots and lots of lost dollars.
For example, consider a 1,000 hp motor, running continuously throughout the entire year. With an estimated energy cost of 7 cents, these 1000 hp (746 kW) will consume 746 x 24 x 360 x 0.07 = $451,181 per year. This is what usually happens at 30% pump efficiency. In case the efficiency of the pump is significantly improved or restored back to its original peak of 80%, the energy cost would be only 451,181 x (30/80) = $169,193.
Bottom line is, you will save $281,988 per year. Now take a look at the equation once again and put your own numbers into it. Although the numbers may change, the point remains the same: efficiency is definitely not a small issue and equates to big dollars.