Successful market launch of the single-flow VPS range for tank farms

Successful market launch of the single-flow VPS range for tank farms


FRISTAM Pumpen Schaumburg reports on its first successful installations in the industry. The manufacturer of single-flow screw pumps offers its customers innovative pump solutions for tank farms in the chemical, oil and gas industries. Since November 2017, the company based in Stadthagen, Germany, has been able to deliver various orders in the areas of diesel, fatty alcohols and oils. 

The pumps are capable of pumping a wide range of products from volatile petrol to viscous bitumen.

Six screw pumps instead of twelve centrifugal pumps

To expand its tank farm capacities for fatty alcohols, one of Fristam Pumpen Schaumburg’s customers put six additional tanks with the appropriate infrastructure with DN 100 pipelines into operation. There were two alternatives when selecting the pumps: one option was to install two centrifugal pumps per pipeline, one under the tank and one for each pipeline at the loading/unloading station. The other solution relied on one VPS screw pump per pipe only, or rather per tank. This is possible because VPS pumps can be operated in reverse, enabling tank trucks to be loaded and unloaded with the same pump. What’s more, the excellent suction properties and associated so-called “residues” was an essential deciding factor in choosing the VPS pumps. 

“Less pumping generally means fewer potential sources of interference and, of course, less maintenance and repair work”, the operations manager at the tank farm explained. “Thus, the investment costs, which would have been about the same in both solutions, only played a minor role.” 

The six single-flow VPS 4-5 pumps are equipped with a 30 kW drive and have been working flawlessly for over a year. They are designed for a flow rate of 120 m3/h at a differential pressure of 4 bar and a viscosity of about 1 mPa s. 

“We haven’t had any problems so far. The decision to opt for the VPS pumps proved to be the right one. They run very quietly and smoothly, and we have even been able to shorten the loading and unloading processes by about 30 percent”, the tank farm operator continued. 

Complete skids for plug-and-pump use

A tank farm for diesel products modernised its loading and unloading station for tanker trucks in the winter of 2017/18. In order to make the loading and unloading process as safe, quick, and simple as possible, the customer was looking for a complete system consisting of pumps, gas separator, filter and volume counters and finally settled on a skid from Fristam Pumpen Schaumburg. The skid consists of all the required components and was delivered ready for connection and immediate start-up. 

“The station was put into operation within a very short time and ran without any problems,” said the customer’s project manager. Two single-flow VPS 4-5 screw pumps with a 30 kW motor pump up to 250 m3/h at a differential pressure of 4 bar and a viscosity of about 4 mPa s. The redundant design of the pumps also safeguards operation in an emergency, since the second pump can continue to pump in the event of an accident. Other installations followed for biodiesel and additive blending, among others.

For more information visit www.vps-pumpen.com

21st March 2019