Thirty years ago, the managers of a wide range of manufacturing and liquid-storage facilities would not
have been incorrect if they thought that the industry was about to enter “The Age of the Seal-less Pump.” With stricter federal emissions regulations set to be introduced in 1992, this would have been welcome news for those in the petroleum refining, petrochemical, gas processing and chemical industries where the use of hazardous/toxic materials or other pollutants was prevalent. Faced with tighter control guidelines for these types of emissions, plant and storage-facility operators needed a pump technology that could deliver the environmentally sensitive leak-free operation they demanded, while at the same time addressing maintenance and cost concerns.
Extensive documentation existed to support the thesis that seal-less pump technology was the answer in these applications. For example, in June 1990, Vista Strategies, Inc., a management-consulting firm, produced a report for a leading manufacturer of industrial gear drives, pumps and compressors that predicted, among other things, that:
- The Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for most refining, petrochemical and chemical plants will
be seal-less pumps.
- The chemical industry is moving to use seal-less pumps at a faster rate than the petroleum industry.
- The seal-less market will be served two-thirds by magnetic-drive units and one-third by canned-motor units.
- The long-term answer to the new federal regulations will be seal-less pumps.
And, perhaps most significantly:
- Seal-less pumps will take an increased percentage of the market – probably 25% by 1995 and 50% by 2000.
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