Fluidics move the world - what makes fluidics move?

Pumps - and, of course, compressors - are energy-hungry units: it is estimated that around a quarter of industrial electricity is used to pump fluids. In terms of global electricity production, this represents 10 % of the world's total - meaning that one in ten power stations is in operation just to provide the energy needed to move liquids from A to B.

This is not always efficient: in particular, improperly dimensioned, worn or poorly controlled pumps, as well as inefficient compressors and compressed air leaks, are known to be huge energy wasters. In addition, pumps are often oversized due to ignorance or uncertainty. As a result, the units operate outside their optimum efficiency, have to be throttled and wear out more quickly. However, the consistent use of modern speed control systems could help to save 7.5 terawatt hours of energy and 4 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions in Germany alone. Thanks to the lower energy consumption of controlled drives, improved impeller geometries or smaller clearances, the extra cost of new equipment is quickly amortised.

Another factor to consider is the enormous burden of high energy prices, particularly for companies with a high degree of upstream integration: Production processes such as the casting of machine parts or the testing of large pumps are expensive, with energy requirements in the megawatt range and huge costs for electricity and gas, experts warn — and point out that, unlike consumers, industrial companies do not benefit from fixed price guarantees. Energy and cost optimisation will therefore not only be part of the product development specifications for pump manufacturers in 2023, but also at the heart of their own manufacturing processes.

In addition to efficient drives and precise controls, more and more suppliers are using methods such as software-based anomaly detection, in which an algorithm examines current operating conditions. Based on these values, the software can make predictions about future malfunctions or anomalies and suggest appropriate measures. According to the VDMA, predictive maintenance can prevent around 70 % of unplanned shutdowns. There are growing calls for the integration of condition monitoring — even for relatively simple components such as valves and even seals. This is not easy when the necessary sensor technology also has to work in the Atex area, for example. Even mechanical seals are making the leap into the digital world with products such as EagleBurgmann's wireless Smart Seal sensors.

Operators are increasingly unwilling to take risks, especially when dealing with explosive or environmentally hazardous substances. Sealless magnetically coupled pumps are therefore in great demand, especially because manufacturers such as Richter Chemie-Technik supply them with wetted parts or linings made of PFA or PTFE. However, because the magnetic force can only transmit a certain amount of torque, a full-length shaft is sometimes essential — this can be made even tighter, for example with leak-free mechanical seals from EagleBurgmann. The nitrogen-flushed sealing solutions are used in compressor stations for natural gas pipelines, where they prevent the escape of the greenhouse gas methane.

Energy price shock, stalled supply chains and the war in Ukraine: things are not going well for the European industry. So it comes as something of a minor miracle that the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) says 2022 has been “much better than expected” for manufacturers of pumps, valves and fluid technology. But that can mean a lot: The raw figures in the VDMA report "Pumps and Compressors for the World Market 2023" show that, despite the optimism, orders (-3 %) and sales (-2 %) were down on the previous year. At the same time, the order backlog built up during the Corona years is slowly disappearing — an advantage for operators, but one that leaves suppliers dependent on new orders.

But business as usual is becoming less and less an option: even hitherto reliable markets such as China seem unable to keep up with the tremendous pace. While the Chinese are once again demanding more pumps (+8 %), more and more suppliers from the country are entering the German and European markets with high-quality products. As a result, pump imports to Germany increased by a respectable 12 %. The picture is similar for compressed air technology, with exports to China up 17 % and imports up 14 %.

While in previous years incoming orders exceeded actual sales — a typical indicator of supply bottlenecks — these are beginning to fade into the background. Standard parts such as lids or sheet metal are largely back on the market, but electronic components such as chips or semiconductors are still a cause for concern. This is not so much the case for ball and butterfly valve manufacturers, but certainly for actuator suppliers — especially as the trend towards digitalisation, connectivity and modularisation continues unabated. Companies such as Samson, for example, are taking advantage of the extension of the Ethernet standard to include the Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL) to equip positioners with Ethernet-based Profibus communication with integrated valve diagnostics.

However, this kind of added intelligence will only work if the sought-after electronic components, especially semiconductors, are available in time. Experts do not expect this to happen before the end of 2023, which poses a challenge for pump manufacturers in particular, who have high hopes of integrating their equipment into cyber-physical systems.

There is little doubt that the fluidics of the future will evolve beyond mere components such as pumps or compressors to digitally enabled system solutions. Whether it is AI helping to design pumps, algorithms enabling condition-based maintenance, or 'pump as a service' subscriptions complementing current business models, a future without pumps, valves or compressors is unthinkable.