Fristam FDS Pumps Revolutionize Sauce Pumping for European Manufacturer

A leading hot sauce manufacturer faced a significant challenge in their production process.

The Challenge:

Three progressive cavity pumps were breaking down every 6-8 months, as they were not suitable for pumping corrosive, non-lubricated products like hot sauce. The annual cost of the spare parts alone had spiralled to just over €24,000!

The large, bulky PC pumps sat below a vacuum tank and de-aerated the hot sauce with a viscosity of 20-50cP, at an ambient temperature and with pressures below 3.5 bar (50 PSI). Space below the tank was tight and engineers struggled to access the pumps. To make matters worse, the PC pumps had a complex design which made stripping them down and reassembling them a challenge, particularly with such little room. 2 engineers worked exclusively on these 3 pumps for an entire shift each time they broke down.

The combined expenses of spare parts, downtime, lost productivity and labour costs compelled the customer to seek a more cost-effective solution, urgently!

The Solution:

The Fristam FDS 2 double screw pumps, with Hastelloy wet ends, to combat the corrosive combination of salt and vinegar in the hot sauce.
Once installed, the Fristam FDS-2 pump excelled on all fronts. It operated seamlessly under full vacuum conditions, pumped corrosive ingredients without issue and pumped CIP in between batches to fully clean itself and the system.

An additional bonus was the smaller size of the FDS, which gave the engineers more room to work under the tank. It is common for FDS pumps to be around 30-50% smaller than Progressive Cavity Pumps, to handle the same duty. In addition to space saving, energy use and the subsequent running costs are reduced as its cheaper to run a smaller pump!

Impressively, the pumps ran for nearly three years without requiring any servicing, around 5 times longer than the progressive cavity pumps!

The Result:

The hot sauce manufacturer overcame their production challenges, cutting parts costs by €24,000 annually and decreasing downtime. Gaining extra space under their tanks and reduced energy usage was an unexpected bonus due to the smaller size of the FDS pumps!

Encouraged by the pump’s exceptional performance, the company has since purchased two additional Fristam FDS-2 pumps with Hastelloy components, which continue to run maintenance-free since their installation!