Plunger Pump Bellows Seal for Food Homogenization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional plunger pumps used in homogenization of liquid foods, such as milk, face contamination issues due to the use of soft sealing materials that wear down and allow abrasion particles into the fluid, and fail to meet hygienic and aseptic requirements, requiring costly and time-consuming steam sterilization and frequent cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A plunger pump design featuring a non-contact gap seal with a guide sleeve made of hard metal and other fluid-contact parts made of stainless steel, utilizing a bellows for hermetic sealing and a triple seal system to prevent contamination, along with a compact design and efficient performance adjustment, and incorporating a compensation chamber under fluid pressure to minimize contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a contacting seal arrangement with soft sealing material is used, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but abrasion particles are released contaminating the fluid
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful sealing material is extracted and removed from the system. Instead of using soft sealing rings that generate abrasion particles, the patent employs a bellows made of corrosion-resistant hard metal that hermetically seals the plunger area outside the fluid, eliminating the source of contamination while maintaining sealing effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The bellows acts as an intermediary hermetic seal between the plunger and the fluid environment. This intermediate sealing structure prevents direct contact between the plunger and fluid, allowing the plunger to move without releasing abrasion particles into the pumped fluid while still maintaining effective sealing.
2Reliability
If steam sterilization and frequent cleaning are implemented, then hygienic standards are met, but time and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The pump design enables self-cleaning functionality. The plunger pump can clean itself by pumping cleaning agents through the system during normal operation, eliminating the need for external sterilization equipment and manual cleaning processes. The corrosion-resistant hard metal surfaces facilitate easy cleaning while maintaining hygienic standards.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If a non-contact sealing arrangement is used, then abrasion particles are prevented, but sealing reliability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The bellows is constructed from composite or composite-equivalent structures combining corrosion-resistant hard metal materials that provide both the non-contact sealing capability to prevent abrasion and the durability required for reliable long-term operation. The material composition ensures both low abrasion and high sealing reliability.
4Productivity
If the plunger enters the septic zone during suction stroke, then pumping function is achieved, but germ accumulation occurs on the plunger surface
Solution Approach 1:
The plunger is extracted from direct contact with the fluid environment by enclosing it within the bellows. This removes the plunger surface from the septic zone, preventing germ accumulation while allowing the plunger to continue its pumping function through the bellows enclosure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design ensures a long service life of sealing elements, prevents contamination, reduces manufacturing costs, and allows for efficient cleaning and monitoring, maintaining fluid purity and safety while minimizing environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
the area of the plunger, which due to its function lies outside the fluid to be pumped and can therefore be contaminated, is hermetically sealed from the fluid to be pumped in the suction chamber by means of a bellows
Implementation Method 2
By guiding the plunger in a non-contact sealing arrangement, preferably designed as a gap seal, the formation of abrasion, as described in the prior art, is excluded
Implementation Method 3
The compensation chamber (6) is filled with a medium at a pressure equal to or less than the pressure in the suction chamber (4)
Data Source
AI summary
A plunger pump for conveying a fluid, comprising at least one oscillating plunger (2) which is guided without contact in a sealing arrangement (9) which separates a suction chamber (4) having a supply line (5) from a working chamber (12) and a bellows (7) which partially hermetically encloses the plunger (2) and which is attached on one side tightly to the plunger (2) and on the other side in the area of a feedthrough opening for the plunger (2) tightly to a boundary wall (8), is designed such that a compensating chamber (6) open to the interior of the bellows (7) and filled with a pressurized medium is arranged adjacent to the suction chamber (4), wherein the medium pressure is equal to or less than the inlet pressure of the fluid acting on the outside of the bellows (7).