Rotary Vane Pump for Marine Diesel Transfer

Enquiry to Transfer Diesel Fuel at 116 L/min at 3.3 bar on Board a Ship

We were contacted by a vessel owner in the marine industry that required a new pump for transferring diesel fuel on board ship. They needed a pump that could achieve 116 L/min at around 3.3 bar and delivery was required in 3 weeks. They were using a very old screw pump and had been experiencing a lot of issues with sourcing spare parts, they were keen to get a more reliable and easier to maintain pump.

North Ridge's NRBAL-12R/B300H Vane Pump

We had the ideal solution for this customer, our NRBAL-12R/B300H series vane pump. Vane pumps are excellent at transferring low viscosity liquids such as LPG, ammonia, solvents, alcohol, fuel oils, vegetable oils and refrigerants. This is because they do not have any internal metal to metal contact components, and they can self-compensate for wear. This enables them to maintain their performance over time while handling low lubricating liquids. Other positive displacement pump types like gear and screw pumps can suffer from aggressive premature wear when handling low lubricating liquids.

Why Choose a Vane Pump?

Vane pumps have many other benefits; they can self-prime from dry, have excellent priming capability, are easy to maintain, they are low vibration and extremely quiet when operating compared to other pump types. They can also run dry for small periods of time and handle small amounts of vapour.

Vane pumps have an internal cylinder that rotates via a shaft from the motor. This cylinder has various slots all the way round that house a series of vanes. As it rotates, the vanes slide in and out of the cavities, this forces the fluid through the pump at pressure.

As this is a positive displacement pump, it can maintain pressure regardless of fluctuations in flow rate, a common problem when using centrifugal pumps for fuel transfer applications. To protect the pump and the system, it is also fitted with a built-in pressure relief valve on the pump head. This can be set to the desired pressure and will open when required for protection.

This pump is directly coupled to a 4 pole 60Hz motor and mounted on a common baseplate. This customer requested pressure gauges on the inlet and outlet and custom length pipework and flanges for fitting in the current space on board ship. We said no problem and built this custom solution to make life as easy as possible for the customer.

The pump was subsequently ordered and delivered to the customer in under 3 weeks. The vessel now has a reliable, efficient and simple to maintain pump for their refuelling process. 

Below is the specification of the pump that was installed:

Interested to learn more about Vane Pumps? Read more