Background

In the never ending quest for increased pumping efficiencies longer lifetimes and the ability to deal with more hazardous liquids and solids, Advanced Ceramics are playing an increasing role. Advanced ceramics are now used as pump shafts, seats, bearing surfaces, gears and even complete pump bodies.

Many of these components are found in leading edge applications such as chemical industry valve sets or oil field flow control devices.
Pumping Components

The excellent erosive wear and corrosion resistance of Technox® zirconias has led to their use in several pump components, typically parts subjected to high stress, such as shafts, couplings or thrust plates.

Centrifugal pumps are available which have all major parts in advanced ceramics materials, with zirconia being used for the shaft, rotor cover and can. Typical applications areas for such pumps are in sludge pumps and process pumps for the chemical industry.

Both Mg-PSZ and Y-TZP components have been successfully applied in petrochemical and process industries as valves, seats, nozzles etc.

AZoM - Metals, ceramics, polymers and composites - Technox® 3000 zirconia pump components from Dynamic-Ceramic.

This was one of the first uses for technical ceramics in wear applications. Alumina was the material that was originally used and still is in many cases. For rotary pumps the ceramic ring is fitted to a metal cup, then attached to the shaft, where it is spring loaded against a carbon-phenolic ring. The properties sought are sliding wear and corrosion resistance.

Sintered silicon carbide is now being considered due to its longer lifetime, better acid resistance and pressure-velocity (P-V) ratio, however, the cost is often three times that of alumina.