API Pumps from Kelair Pumps Australia

Product News
Sales Engineer Alex Calodoukas (QLD)

Highest standard required for API pumps

The API (American Petroleum Institute) pump specification is one of the highest build spec in the pump industry. API pumps would typically be used in crude oil refineries for such applications as fuel transfer, blending, storage, etc. Certain process plants will also consider API spec pumps (sometimes even opting for the sealless, magnetically-driven pumps on process critical/toxic duties).

There are API requirements for centrifugal pumps (API 610); rotary pumps such as gear and helical rotor (API 676); dosing pumps (API 675); and magnetically-driven centrifugal pumps (API 685).

Although Kelair already held an extensive range of API pumps as 'core' products, it was a year or so ago when we joined forces with another API pump manufacturer, Truflo Pumps, a manufacturer of API centrifugal pumps, thus furthering Kelair's product range, and giving us a broader complement of API pumps.

Pumps built to API spec are expected to have a long service life with a low maintenance requirement. This is achieved by using extra heavy duty components, with a minimum pump casing in steel, extra heavy duty shaft, and bearings. API 610 pumps are centrifugal pumps with API plan mechanical seals and API plan extra heavy duty base-frames. These pumps have a centre-mounted volute (this eliminates "nozzle loading" through pipe stresses which would otherwise occur to foot-mounted casings with fluctuations in temperature). These pumps may be horizontal single stage, horizontal multistage, or vertical configuration.

The API specification is so demanding that the cost is often prohibitive to most industries, particularly so in the case of centrifugal pumps where there are so many alternative pump build standards that are completely satisfactory for the majority of centrifugal duties.

This month, Kelair is pleased to be making its first delivery of Truflo API 610 pumps to one of Queensland's major refineries.

Whether for refineries or process plants; transfer or treatment; process or dosing, if the requirement is to provide pumps to API specification Kelair has a broad range of API pumps on offer.

- Viking gear pumps to API 676.
- Pulsafeeder dosing pumps to API675.
- OBL dosing pumps to API 675.
- Bornemann helical rotor pumps to API 676.
- HMD and Truflo magnetically-driven pumps to API 685.
- Truflo mechanically-sealed centrifugal pumps to API 610.