Editing Pump (section)

==Applications==
[[Image:Dosierpumpe.png|thumb|Metering pump for [[gasoline]] and [[Gasoline additive|additive]]s]]

Pumps are used throughout society for a variety of purposes.  Early applications includes the use of  the [[windmill]] or [[watermill]] to pump water.  Today, the pump is used for irrigation, [[plumbing|water supply]], gasoline supply, [[air conditioning]] systems, [[refrigeration]] (usually called a compressor), chemical movement, [[sewage]] movement, flood control, marine services, etc.

Because of the wide variety of applications, pumps have a plethora of shapes and sizes: from very large to very small, from handling gas to handling liquid, from high pressure to low pressure, and from high volume to low volume.

===Priming a pump===
Typically, a liquid pump cannot simply draw air.  The feed line of the pump and the internal body surrounding the pumping mechanism must first be filled with the liquid that requires pumping:  An operator must introduce liquid into the system to initiate the pumping, known as ''priming'' the pump.  Loss of prime is usually due to ingestion of air into the pump, or evaporation of the working fluid if the pump is used infrequently.  Clearances and displacement ratios in pumps for liquids are insufficient for pumping compressible gas, so air or other gasses in the pump can not be evacuated by the pump's action alone.  This is the case with most velocity (rotodynamic) pumps — for example, centrifugal pumps. For such pumps, the position of the pump and intake tubing should be lower than the suction point so it is primed by gravity; otherwise the pump should be manually filled with liquid or a secondary pump should be used until all air is removed from the suction line and the pump casing.  Liquid ring pumps have a dedicated intake for the priming liquid separate from the intake of the fluid being pumped, as the fluid being pumped may be a gas or mix of gas, liquid, and solids. For these pumps the priming liquid intake must be supplied continuously (either by gravity or pressure), however the intake for the fluid being pumped is capable of drawing a vacuum equivalent to the boiling point of the priming liquid.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y99ulE85e8Q |title=NASH Liquid Ring Vacuum Pump - How It Works |date=2017-01-20 |last=Nash |access-date=2024-11-07 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

Positive–displacement pumps, however, tend to have sufficiently tight sealing between the moving parts and the casing or housing of the pump that they can be described as ''self-priming''.  Such pumps can also serve as ''priming pumps'', so-called when they are used to fulfill that need for other pumps in lieu of action taken by a human operator.

===Pumps as public water supplies===
{{main article | Hand pump}}
[[File:Al-Jazari Automata 1205.jpg|thumb|Arabic depiction of a [[piston]] pump, by [[Al-Jazari]], c. 1206<ref name=Hill2>[[Donald Routledge Hill]], "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East", ''[[Scientific American]]'', May 1991, pp. 64-9 ([[cf.]] [[Donald Hill]], [http://home.swipnet.se/islam/articles/HistoryofSciences.htm Mechanical Engineering] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225091836/http://home.swipnet.se/islam/articles/HistoryofSciences.htm |date=25 December 2007 }})</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Ahmad Y. al-Hassan|author-link=Ahmad Y. al-Hassan|title=The Origin of the Suction Pump: al-Jazari 1206 A.D. |url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/Notes/Notes%202.htm |access-date=16 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226102543/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Notes/Notes%202.htm |archive-date=26 February 2008 }}</ref>]]
[[File:Taccola first piston.jpg|thumb|First European depiction of a [[piston]] pump, by [[Taccola]], c. 1450<ref>{{cite book| last = Hill | first = Donald Routledge | title = A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times | location = London | publisher =  Routledge | year = 1996 | page = 143 | isbn =  0-415-15291-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MqSXc5sGZJUC&q=Taccola+first+piston&pg=PA143}}</ref>]]
[[File:Pump-enabled Riverside Irrigation in Comilla, Bangladesh, 25 April 2014.jpg|thumb|240px|right|[[Irrigation]] is underway by pump-enabled extraction directly from [[Gumti River (Tripura)|the Gumti]], seen in the background, in [[Comilla District|Comilla]], [[Bangladesh]].]]

One sort of pump once common worldwide was a hand-powered water pump, or 'pitcher pump'. It was commonly installed over community [[water well]]s in the days before piped water supplies.

In parts of the British Isles, it was often called ''the parish pump''. Though such community pumps are no longer common, people still used the expression ''parish pump'' to describe a place or forum where matters of local interest are discussed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/parish+pump|title=Online Dictionary – Parish Pump|access-date=2010-11-22}}</ref>

Because water from pitcher pumps is drawn directly from the soil, it is more prone to contamination.  If such water is not filtered and purified, consumption of it might lead to gastrointestinal or other water-borne diseases. A notorious case is the [[1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak]]. At the time it was not known how cholera was transmitted, but physician [[John Snow (physician)|John Snow]] suspected contaminated water and had the handle of the public pump he suspected removed; the outbreak then subsided.

Modern hand-operated community pumps are considered the most sustainable low-cost option for safe water supply in resource-poor settings, often in rural areas in developing countries. A hand pump opens access to deeper groundwater that is often not polluted and also improves the safety of a well by protecting the water source from contaminated buckets. Pumps such as the Afridev pump are designed to be cheap to build and install, and easy to maintain with simple parts. However, scarcity of spare parts for these type of pumps in some regions of Africa has diminished their utility for these areas.

===Sealing multiphase pumping applications===
Multiphase pumping applications, also referred to as tri-phase, have grown due to increased oil drilling activity. In addition, the economics of multiphase production is attractive to upstream operations as it leads to simpler, smaller in-field installations, reduced equipment costs and improved production rates. In essence, the multiphase pump can accommodate all fluid stream properties with one piece of equipment, which has a smaller footprint. Often, two smaller multiphase pumps are installed in series rather than having just one massive pump.

==== Types and features of multiphase pumps ====

====='''Helico-axial (centrifugal)'''=====
A rotodynamic pump with one single shaft that requires two mechanical seals, this pump uses an open-type axial impeller. It is often called a ''Poseidon pump'', and can be described as a cross between an axial compressor and a centrifugal pump.

====='''Twin-screw (positive-displacement)'''=====
The twin-screw pump is constructed of two inter-meshing screws that move the pumped fluid. Twin screw pumps are often used when pumping conditions contain high gas volume fractions and fluctuating inlet conditions. Four mechanical seals are required to seal the two shafts.

====='''Progressive cavity (positive-displacement)'''=====
Progressive Cavity Pumps are well suited to pump sludge, slurries, viscous, and shear sensitive fluids. <ref>{{cite web |last1=Daniel |first1=Alvarado |title=Production Engineer |url=https://www.sulzer.com/en/products/pumps/pumps-by-type/progressing-cavity-pumps |website=sulzer |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref> Progressive cavity pumps are single-screw types use in surface and downhole oil production.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Alvarado |first1=Daniel |title=Production Engineer |url=https://www.slb.com/resource-library/oilfield-review/defining-series/defining-pcp |website=slb |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref> They serve a vast arrange of industries and applications ranging from Wastewater Treatment,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Daniel |first1=Alvarado |title=Production Engineer |url=https://accapumps.com/progressive-cavity-pumps-in-wastewater-treatment-the-ultimate-solution-for-efficient-fluid-handling/ |website=ACCA Pumps |date=25 February 2025 |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref> Pulp and Paper, oil and gas, mining, and oil and gas.

====='''Electric submersible (centrifugal)'''=====
These pumps are basically multistage centrifugal pumps and are widely used in oil well applications as a method for artificial lift. These pumps are usually specified when the pumped fluid is mainly liquid.

''Buffer tank''
A buffer tank is often installed upstream of the pump suction nozzle in case of a [[slug flow]]. The buffer tank breaks the energy of the liquid slug, smooths any fluctuations in the incoming flow and acts as a sand trap.

As the name indicates, multiphase pumps and their mechanical seals can encounter a large variation in service conditions such as changing process fluid composition, temperature variations, high and low operating pressures and exposure to abrasive/erosive media. The challenge is selecting the appropriate mechanical seal arrangement and support system to ensure maximized seal life and its overall effectiveness.<ref name="pump-zone.com">[http://pump-zone.com/seals/seals/sealing-multiphase-pumping-applications.html Sealing Multiphase Pumping Applications | Seals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903074300/http://pump-zone.com/seals/seals/sealing-multiphase-pumping-applications.html |date=2009-09-03 }}. Pump-zone.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.</ref><ref>[http://www.sealsentinel.com/interphex/Day1-Story2.html John Crane Seal Sentinel – John Crane Increases Production Capabilities with Machine that Streamlines Four Machining Functions into One] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127044346/http://www.sealsentinel.com/interphex/Day1-Story2.html |date=2010-11-27 }}. Sealsentinel.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.</ref><ref>[http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/vacuum-pump-new-on-sa-market-2005-04-22 Vacuum pump new on SA market]. Engineeringnews.co.za. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.</ref>