We would suggest that customers should consider exactly what they will be using a barrel pump to move before making their final selection. Matching the right model of barrel pump to the right job will ensure years of trouble free operation.

1. Is a Barrel Pump a
Centrifugal Pump?

2. • The short answer here is “it can be, but it might not be”. This is because a barrel pump is in
effect a pump head that has been affixed at the end of a tube.
• This combination is designed so that the tube can be inserted into a barrel full of fluid to
facilitate the removal of the fluid from the barrel– quite literally a barrel pump is a pump that
is designed to empty barrels. The specific type of pump that is fitted into the pump head will
depend on the type of fluid that is to be pumped out.
• A centrifugal pumps use rotation to accelerate liquids to high speeds and then converts the
velocity that has been created into flow.
• Pumps of this type are made up of three main components: an impeller, a casing and a
mechanical assembly.

3. • The impeller is the crucial component which rotates at high speed creating
centrifugal force and pushing the liquid outward.
• The casing is the part that captures the liquid and directs it to the outlet while the
mechanical assembly supports the impeller and connects it to a power source.
• Centrifugal pumps are used in a wide range of industries to transport fluids a
variety of fluids including water, sewage, agriculture, petrochemicals and more.
• Barrel pumps that are going to be used for low or medium viscosity fluids, such as
water, solvents or detergents, generally employ extended centrifugal pumps with
single, double or multiple impellers.

4. • Because they can be constructed from materials which are easy to clean and will be resistant
to corrosion centrifugal pumps are often used if a barrel pump is intended to be employed as a
chemical transfer pump.
• Obviously a chemical barrel pump needs to be easy to clean – especially if it will not be used
exclusively with one type of chemical.
• Not only is thorough cleaning required to prevent cross contamination of fluids, failure to
properly remove one chemical before using a pump with a different chemical has the potential
to create all kinds of unwelcome – not to mention potentially dangerous - chemical reactions.
• The ease with which centrifugal pumps, which have only one moving part and are largely
devoid of awkward nooks and crannies within the impeller mechanism makes them ideal for
use within a chemical transfer pump.

5. • However, barrel pumps which will be used for moving medium and high viscosity
fluids, such as oils, resins or waxes, require different types of pumps that are better
suited to thicker liquids.
• Impeller based centrifugal pumps are particularly vulnerable to damage from
foreign objects within a fluid, so if there is any likelihood of solids such as metal
shavings or gravel.
• For such applications different types of pump design will be required if a barrel
pump is to be effective – air diaphragm pumps are often used, for example.

6. • In short a barrel pump can be a centrifugal pump if it is using an impeller to move the liquid,
but there is no reason why a different kind of pump cannot be used.
• Pump selection will be dependent on the viscosity and properties of the liquid to be moved,
indeed, it is the versatility of the barrel pump which makes these hard working pieces of
equipment so useful and so ubiquitous.
• We would suggest that customers should consider exactly what they will be using a barrel
pump to move before making their final selection.
• Matching the right model of barrel pump to the right job will ensure years of trouble free
operation.

7. Thanks
For More Information
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https://msepumps.co.uk/