Skip to Content
Industry Profile

Pump Markets

Pumping liquids is fundamental to the smooth operation of life in all its aspects. From central heating and water supply in our homes, through sewage treatment in our cities, to the extraction of raw materials and the manufacture of finished products, pumps play a fundamental role — and globally the industry is worth almost $40 billion.

What pumps represent in a plant

A few examples from utilities and industry show the economic weight of pumping equipment:

  • a 650 MW combined-cycle power station uses 18–20 pumps (boiler feed, condensate extraction, cooling water, utilities) worth around $4 million;
  • a 1 GW supercritical coal-fired station uses 40–45 pumps, including slurry handling for flue-gas desulphurisation, worth $11–12 million — considerably more where sea-water cooling requires 316 or duplex stainless steel;
  • a 1,700 MW pressurised-water nuclear reactor may require up to 150 pumps worth $140–150 million, with unit values from $12,000 for utility service up to $20 million for specialist reactor coolant pumps;
  • a 300,000 barrels-per-day oil refinery can run 600–650 pumps worth around $150 million;
  • chemical plants also use large numbers of pumps, though unit values are lower since operating conditions are usually less onerous than in refineries.

One process, many pump types

Depending on the application, the number, type, size and materials of the pumps vary considerably. A single chemical plant may use air-operated diaphragm pumps to unload raw materials, centrifugal pumps to feed the reactors, metering pumps to add reactants and catalysts, and eccentric screw pumps for waste products and slurries.

The toxicity, flammability and corrosiveness of the liquid determine whether a sealed, magnetic-drive or canned-motor pump is used — and its material, from ductile cast iron to exotics such as zirconium and titanium. Configuration follows the site: in-line close-coupled pumps where space is limited, vertical line-shaft pumps for high lift, self-priming pumps for liquids with a high air content, side-channel pumps for volatile liquids such as LPG. Impeller design does the rest — open-style impellers for stringy or fibrous material, eccentric screw pumps where the solids content is particularly high.

Standards differ by sector

In the process units of a refinery, pumps are typically specified to API standards, designed for high-temperature, high-pressure service; ISO or ANSI are sufficient for utility duties and for all but the most demanding chemical processes. West European municipal water and wastewater pumps meet the relevant ISO standards — though in some developing countries these standards may or may not be applied. At the other end of the spectrum, some applications such as biofuel processing buy at lowest cost and replace the pumps each season.

A diversity that mirrors society's needs

The astonishing diversity of pump types, designs and materials mirrors the range of applications where pumping is required. Every transformational technology — solar power, geothermal energy, shale gas extraction — depends on the pump industry's ability to respond: the abundance of natural gas in the US, Iceland's geothermal electricity and the proven viability of solar power in Spain and the western United States all testify to the demands made of the pump industry, and to its success in finding solutions.