Basic knowledge and development history of pumps

1、 Definition of pump

A pump is a mechanical device that transports or pressurizes liquids.

It transfers the mechanical energy or other external energy of the prime mover to the liquid, increasing the energy of the liquid.

The pump is mainly used to transport liquids such as water, oil, acid-base substances, emulsions, suspensions, and liquid metals. It can also transport liquid, gas mixtures, and liquids containing suspended solids.

Pumps can usually be classified into three types based on their working principles: positive displacement pumps, power pumps, and other types of pumps.

In addition to classification based on working principles, it can also be classified and named according to other methods, such as:

According to the driving method, it can be divided into electric pumps and hydraulic pumps, etc;

According to structure, it can be divided into single-stage pumps and multi-stage pumps;

According to their usage, they can be divided into boiler feedwater pumps and metering pumps, etc;

According to the properties of the transported liquid, it can be divided into water pumps, oil pumps, and mud pumps, etc;

According to their structure, they can be divided into linear pumps and traditional pumps.

2、 The history of pumps

The history of pumps comes from the improvement of water.

The improvement of water is crucial for human life and production. In ancient times, there were various water lifting tools, such as the Egyptian chain pump (17th century BC), the Chinese jugao (17th century BC), the pulley (11th century BC), and the water wheel (1st century AD).

A more famous one is the spiral rod invented by Archimedes in the third century BC, which can smoothly and continuously lift water to a height of several meters. Its principle is still used in modern screw pumps.

3、 The Development History of Modern Pumps

The types, uses, and markets of modern pumps have undergone comprehensive development.

1. China has become the world's largest pump production base. According to statistics from the China General Machinery Industry Association, the production of China's pump industry has increased from 120.74 million units in 2016 to 18.25 million units in 2020. Despite the impact of the epidemic, the production in 2020 still increased by 2.64% compared to 2019. It is expected that the production of China's pump industry will reach 215.31 million units in 2022.

As of 2020, there are more than 6000 pump industry production enterprises in China, including 1255 enterprises above designated size (with annual sales exceeding 20 million yuan), forming a considerable production scale and possessing relatively complete technology and production systems.

2. Divided by market share: centrifugal pumps account for 71%, with a demand for centrifugal pumps in the water industry accounting for 66.7% and the oil and gas industry accounting for 13.0% in application areas.

Typical manufacturing companies in the field of centrifugal pumps include Celem, Willo, KSB, Ebara, Grundfos, Pentair, and others.