Transferring liquid from one container to another is tricky, especially if it is vicious like oil or cleaning liquid. Funnels are too slow and are not effective if being used in big containers like drums, but there are pumps that can be used for different industries to make things easier.

Liquids are easy to contain, but it is hard to control or manipulate without use of tools. Pumps are commonly used to transfer and move liquids from one source to another. Water pumps, for example, are used to quickly fill a tank for storage. The same goes for other liquids that are used in different industries. There are different types of pumps for different uses, one of which is an air-operated oil drum pump.

Types of pumps and uses

Industrial pumps are heavy-duty process pumps used for moving large industrial liquids. They can be used for moving different types of products like water, chemicals, petroleum, wastewater, oil, sludge, slurry, and food. They also have a couple of variations:

• Centrifugal pumps use the hydrodynamic qualities of fluid while moving rotationally to the direction of transfer. These are commonly used in oil refineries, powerplants, and municipal water applications.
• Positive displacement pumps or PDP produces the same revolutions per minute (rpm) as centrifugal pumps, but the difference is the fluid is displaced through a plunger, a piston, or a diaphragm. It is used generally for industrial applications such as processing plants. It supplies fuel oil for burners, gasoline transfer, and is also used to pump coolants in machines.

Industrial pumps have different specifications depending on use. It is best that manufacturers are contacted to know more about them and to properly get the pump that is needed.

There are also the drum and hand pumps which can safely transfer or move liquids from drums or containers.

• Drum pumps have different styles such as air-operated piston, siphon, and double diaphragm with which it can have variable-speed and electric driven motors. One of its uses is in the manufacturing industry where there are 100- to 200-litre barrels of liquid that can be too heavy to tip over, or that it may be a volatile compound that it needs a pump to be moved. It consists of a vertical shaft where the pump is located on one end and has a narrow tube with a pumping element on the other end which fits and slides inside the lid of the drum or container.
• Hand-operated pumps, on the other hand, are manual pumps that are simple to use. It is preferred when the operation of machinery is dangerous. These pumps are mostly made from high-grade plastic, stainless steel, or with a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Hand pumps also have different types most similar to drum pumps like piston, diaphragm, siphon, and rotary hand-operated drum pump.

Pumps are easy to source since there are many suppliers and manufacturers available depending on the type and need. They are a worthy investment for businesses, as they ensure safety in the workplace and cuts time in transferring liquids, which brings productivity to any workplace.