SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE
Fewer Breakdowns When Pumping Corrosive Chemicals
This is how a tube pump in Pomerode ensures high-quality drinking water
Sodium hypochlorite is essential for disinfecting drinking water, but this highly corrosive chemical poses significant challenges for plant equipment and pumps. At the Brazilian water supplier Pomerwasser Ambiental, it severely affected the membrane dosing pumps in use, causing frequent breakdowns and requiring regular maintenance.
Together with NETZSCH Pumps & Systems, Pomerwasser Ambiental found a solution ensuring reliable and precise dosing of even corrosive chemicals. We’ll show you how the right pump technology can help you to minimise downtime and reduce maintenance costs.
Individual Consulting
Challenges when pumping sodium hypochlorite
Many regions rely on sodium hypochlorite to safely treat drinking water. However, handling this highly corrosive chemical is challenging, as it attacks seals, hoses, and connections, placing considerable strain on pump systems. The consequences include frequent breakdowns, short maintenance intervals, and, in the worst case, the need to replace the entire pump. At the same time, the chemical must be carefully metered to ensure effective disinfection and consistently high water quality. The pump technology must therefore be chemically resistant, precise and capable of operating reliably in continuous service.
Recurring breakdowns threaten process stability
For Pomerwasser Ambiental, the water supplier for the municipality of Pomerode, this meant a significant burden for an extended period. The electromagnetic diaphragm dosing pumps frequently broke down. Repairs were short-lived, and damaged pumps often had to be replaced entirely. “Every failure was not just inconvenient”, explains Mayra Rego, Project Manager at Pomerwasser Ambiental. “It threatened process stability and put extra strain on staff, who had to spend too much time wrestling with maintenance and breakdowns.” As the company was no longer willing to put up with the repeated breakdowns, it turned to NETZSCH. Pomerwasser Ambiental has already been using NETZSCH pumps in other areas of the water treatment plant for several years. This long-standing collaboration was the deciding factor in seeking advice from the global specialist in handling complex media on the issue of sodium hypochlorite as well.
Tube pump with just one wearing part
Our experts recommended the PERIPRO® tube pump and made it available for a three-month field trial. Throughout the trial, NETZSCH’s pump specialists were on site to answer questions and provide support, helping the team quickly familiarise themselves with the new system. The operating principle is simple and effective: inside the pump, a flexible hose is squeezed by a pair of rollers. As the rollers run along the hose, they create a vacuum that draws in the medium and then conveys it evenly and in a controlled manner. “Only the tube inside the pump comes into contact with the fluid”, explains Rego. “Thus, there is no risk of damaging seals or valves, and component wear is drastically reduced.”
The XXL rollers enable gentle, pulsation-free and energy-efficient dosing. The hose consists of an extruded inner layer with high-density reinforcement and a precision-manufactured outer layer, which reduces the risk of sudden failures due to material fatigue. If a leak occurs, an integrated sensor detects it early and prevents consequential damage to other pump components. Maintenance has also been simplified. As the previous pumps had to be replaced frequently, ease of maintenance was a decisive criterion for Pomerwasser Ambiental. With the PERIPRO®, it is simply a matter of replacing the hose when it wears out. As a result, downtime has been significantly reduced, and operations run reliably. A frequency inverter also allows real-time control of pump speed and dosing volume. This enables the team to react swiftly to changes in water demand or fluctuating chemical concentrations and ensure the supply of high-quality drinking water to Pomerode.
The PERIPRO® tube pump efficiently and gently meters aggressive and demanding media, whilst featuring a compact design. It is designed for continuous, 24/7 operation and can be used flexibly across a range of industries. Do you want to meter corrosive, abrasive or highly viscous media with precision and reduce downtime? Get in touch with the experts at NETZSCH.
PERIPRO® tube pump
