Bredel Announces Newly Expanded APEX Hose Pump Range

Improved process uptime and significantly reduced pump maintenance

Bredel Hose Pumps (part of Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group) has added two new models to its APEX range of seal-less, valve-less hose pumps, ideal for chemically aggressive or abrasive applications. Widening the APEX performance envelope to 6,200 liters/hour at pressures of up to 8 bar, the APEX28 and APEX35 design offers significant capital and operations savings, lowering the total cost of ownership. They are also more reliable than air-operated diaphragm pumps and progressive cavity pumps for these challenging applications.

Recent international product trials in process-critical abrasive slurry transfer operations demonstrated that the new APEX models can dramatically extend the time between scheduled maintenance intervals compared with air-operated diaphragm pumps and progressive cavity pumps.

U.S. trials showed significant reductions in abrasive wear compared to previous pumps. While the user’s existing air-operated diaphragm pumps require maintenance every 7 or 10 days, the APEX35 ran continuously for more than three months without maintenance. Additionally, there was no requirement for compressed air, which equated to another significant saving. A brine dosing application in Germany showed that during the first six months of the trial, the APEX35 required no maintenance whatsoever and the operator made huge savings over the downtime previously experienced each month with a progressive cavity pump.

In addition to the financial benefits associated with reduced maintenance, APEX pumps have been engineered to deliver additional cost savings through increased uptime and process continuity. Precision machined hose elements and optimized hose compression, combined with medium pressure operation, enable the pumps to meter or transfer fluids reliably and accurately for long, uninterrupted periods of time.

Project payback periods for APEX are expected to be extremely short, since the only wear part is the hose, which can be replaced quickly and easily, without removing it from the process line. With no internal valves, Bredel APEX hose pump technology also helps users improve their processes by eliminating troublesome ancillary equipment such as anti-siphon valves, back-pressure valves, degassing valves or run-dry protection. In addition, customers can simplify spares inventory, since the hose is the only part that needs to be kept in stock.

About Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG)

Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) is the world leader in niche peristaltic and sinusoidal pumps and associated fluid path technologies. Founded on nearly 60 years of supplying engineering and process expertise and with over one million pumps installed worldwide, our pumps are tried, tested and proven to deliver.

WMFTG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc, a global organization employing approximately 5,000 people worldwide. Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group comprises eight established brands, each with their own area of expertise, but together offering our customers an unrivalled breadth of solutions for their pumping applications:

• Watson-Marlow Pumps: peristaltic tube pumps for pharmaceuticals and industry
• Watson-Marlow Tubing: precision tubing for pumping and other purposes, in a range of materials
• Bredel: heavy duty hose pumps
• Alitea: unique peristaltic solutions for OEM customers
• Flexicon: aseptic filling and capping systems
• MasoSine: gentle sinusoidal pumps for food, chemical and cosmetics applications
• BioPure: advanced single-use tubing connector systems
• Asepco, specialises in manufacture of aseptic valves and magnetic mixers for the biopharmaceutical industry

Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group is an international operation based in Falmouth, Cornwall, UK. Watson-Marlow Pumps has offices in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and Vietnam.