M

agnetically driven (mag

drive) centrifugal pumps
have been in use since
1947 when the first mag-
drive pump was developed. Mag
drives have always been the work-
horse pump in applications with
corrosive and often toxic fluid ap-
plications, and particularly over the
last 20 years theyve become more
common in the chemical process in-
dustries (CPI).
A typical mag-drive pump is com-
prised of a magnetically coupled
rotor-and-drive assembly separated
by a containment shell that hermet-
ically seals pumpage from the at-
mosphere (Figure 1). The mag-drive
pumps key feature is a sealless
design, which eliminates a mode of
failure. This often makes it a strong
solution for pumping applications
with mechanical seal problems.
The mag drive is commonly used to
pump hazardous and high intrinsic
value pumpage where the process
cannot or should not be diluted by
flush media (typical in a traditional
mechanical-seal pump). Mag drives
have many growing applications
in global industries, such as petro-
chemicals in petroleum refineries,
pharmaceutical applications, and
pulp-and-paper mills, which employ
caustic, acid and solvent services
during production. However, this
type of pump is somewhat under-
utilized in many of these industries
due to common misconceptions
about the technology.
Mag-drive fundamentals
Magnetically driven pumps have
several design features that extend
pump life, especially in common CPI
applications with hazardous scenar-
ios. The mag drives key design fea-
ture is the absence of a traditional
rotating mechanical seal (compare
Figure 1 and Figure 2). Instead, a
full hermetic seal with no rotating
component reduces the risk of leaks.
This sealless design is the most well-
known feature of mag drives and is
a primary reason why they are often
used for hazardous or valuable flu-
ids. Another advantage is avoidance
of mechanical seal maintenance and
flush plan maintenance.
Mag-drive pumps are available
in either ANSI or ISO dimensional
standards. They are available in
most metallurgies, as well as non-
metallic designs, such as with a
polymer lining. A polymer design of-
fers improved corrosion resistance,
utilizing polymer coatings such as
EFTE (ethylene tetrafluoroethyl-
ene). All mag drives, whether metal
or lined, have very limited solids
handling capability. The nature of
the mag-drive design has circuits
that facilitate process lubrication
of internal bearings, and these pas-
sageways are typically very small.
If solids are introduced, the circuits
can easily get blocked, leading to
pump damage. The passage ways
are sometimes so small that it will
take only a minute amount of very
small solids to erode the compo-
nents of a mag-drive pump.
Design and usage
In addition to the sealless advan-
tages, there are some key consid-
erations when deciding whether
to use a mag-drive pump. Because
they utilize magnets to transfer
power and torque from the drive
assembly to the driven rotor as-
sembly, its important to recognize
that there are temperature limita-
tions for magnets materials. When
exposed to temperatures above
their threshold they can begin to
lose their magnetism. Over time,
Feature Report
56 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2014
Feature Report Part 1
FIGURE 1.
The main components
of a mag-drive pump
are shown in this
cross section
Magnetically Driven
Pumps: An overview
Understanding sealless pump technologies
and their potential applications
Richard Tym
ITT Goulds Pumps
Source:
ITT Goulds
Pumps
this loss of magnetism results in
pump failure due to degradation of
the magnetic coupling between the
drive and the driven component.
Therefore temperature characteris-
tics of the application are a critical
factor when considering application
of a mag-drive pump.
Another factor to weigh is the
torque limitation due to the mag-
netic coupling of the drive and com-
ponents. Its important to make sure
that the magnets are sized correctly
so magnetic-coupling breakaway
torque is not exceeded during unit
startup or steady-state operation. If
breakaway torque is exceeded, the
magnetic coupling between the drive
and the driven assemblies is lost, and
the impeller will cease to spin, which
means the pump must be shut down
to allow the magnets to recouple.
If there are numerous instances of
magnet decoupling due to improper
magnet selection or other circum-
stances, such as clogging or process
upset, magnets will degrade over
time to the point where the pump
will no longer operate properly.
In metallic mag-drive pumps,
eddy currents can also affect perfor-
mance. Eddy currents are electrical
currents generated by the motion of
the magnets moving past an electri-
cally conductive containment shell.
The inner workings of a metallic
mag-drive pump have a drive mag-
net and a driven assembly separated
by a metal barrier. As the magnets
start rotating around this barrier,
eddy currents form and generate
heat. The design of a mag-drive
pump must take into account the
removal of this heat to avoid boiling
and possible flashing or vaporizing
of process lubricants, which will
cause pump failure through bear-
ing damage. Furthermore, there is
a loss of horsepower due to eddy
currents. Eddy-current effects can
be mitigated by correct sizing of the
magnets and the motor.
A final consideration when utiliz-
ing mag-drive pumps is to be aware
that they are extremely sensitive
to dry-run and dead-head condi-
tions. In the case of dry run, a loss
of liquid in the pump system can
cause the process lubricated bear-
ings to overheat and crack, leading
to pump failure. Dead head occurs
when running the pump against
a closed valve or a blockage in the
line results in the loss of fluid cir-
culation. This results in a buildup
of heat and excessive thrust loading
that can cause unit failure.
Overview of mag-drive designs
A common misconception about
mag-drive pumps is that their de-
signs are complicated. These mis-
conceptions are based on older
mag-drive designs that commonly
had a large number of component
parts, including individual heat-
shrunk bearings, spacers and vari-
ous O-rings. More than a dozen
components were typically involved
and assembling and disassembling
required longer maintenance time.
However, the industry has made
great strides in recent years, result-
ing in newer, significantly simpler
technologies (Figure 3). Improve-
ments to bearing-cartridge designs
reduce and consolidate components,
such as bearings and spacers, mak-
ing for easier maintenance, reduced
downtime and less inventory.
Operationally, there are several
fundamental components in a mag-
drive pump design. There are two
separate rotating assemblies (drive
and driven) connected by a mag-
netic coupling. The motor transfers
power through the drive magnet
assembly to the driven magnet as-
sembly, which is connected to the
impeller and ultimately moves the
fluid in the pump system. Between
the two assemblies is a contain-
ment shell that keeps all of the
fluid within the pump and serves
to maintain pressure, acting as a
hermetic seal that prevents fluids
and vapors from escaping to the
atmosphere. The magnets interact
through magnetic flux lines that
are translated across the contain-
ment shell. Within these two assem-
blies are alternating rings of north
and south magnets, which both at-
tract and oppose each other based
on positioning, preventing slippage
from occurring. This type of design
is known as a coaxial synchronous
magnetic drive, and ensures that
both the pump and motor will spin
at the same rate.
Some high-temperature mag-
drive designs (>500F) use a
slightly different design to alleviate
demagnetization effects. The drive
magnet assembly outside the con-
tainment shell is typically the same
as a standard design. However, the
driven assembly consists of a me-
tallic torque ring that couples with
the drive magnet to spin the impel-
ler (Figure 4). This design protects
against excessive temperatures by
removing driven magnets from im-
mersion in high-temperature media,
and is often used in heat-transfer-
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2014 57
FIGURE 2. One advantage of mag-drive pumps is the absence of
a mechanical seal (shown here), which reduces the risk of leaks
FIGURE 3. Unlike earlier designs, todays mag-drive
pumps are simpler and have fewer components
Source:
ITT Goulds
Pumps
Source: ITT Goulds Pumps
Source: ITT Goulds Pumps
Feature Report
58 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2014
media applications, as well as many
other high-temperature chemical,
oil-and-gas and general industry
applications. This design allows for
a small amount of slippage due to
the use of the drive metallic torque
ring, but it typically does not ex-
perience issues with decoupling,
although a slight loss of efficiency
(when compared to traditional mag-
drive designs) may result.
Finally, the rare earth materials
from which magnets are made are
important to understand. The most
common is neodymium iron boron
(NdFeB), which has a high mag-
netic field strength per volume, but
cannot withstand high tempera-
tures. Other materials commonly
used in mag drives are samarium
cobalt (SmCo) and aluminum nickel
cobalt (Alnico). SmCo has slightly
lower magnetic strength than
NdFeB, but can withstand higher
temperatures. Alnico can handle
much higher temperatures than
both NdFeB and SmCo, however it
lacks strength and cannot handle
the torque present in some of the
more demanding pumping applica-
tions. Magnet material selection is
therefore critical when specifying
mag-drive pumps.
Typical applications
Hazardous and regulated services
are the most common applications
for mag drives as they are well-
suited for pumping liquids that
may pose threats to people and the
environment. The mag-drive design
offers heightened safety for work-
ers and better protection for the
environment by eliminating leaks
of hazardous fluids (see boxes on p.
58 and 59). Sealed pumps applied
to these types of services may leak
over time, or require complex double
seals to prevent hazardous liquids
and vapors from escaping to the at-
mosphere, which can lead to safety
hazards, downtime and increased
maintenance requirements.
Some examples of primary mag-
drive applications are liquid pump-
ing of strong acids, strong bases,
and solvents, such as acetone, hy-
drochloric acid, sulfuric acid and
sodium hydroxide. Many of these
would pose a serious health risk to
plant personnel if there is a fluid
or vapor leak. Some materials can
even auto-ignite when exposed to
the atmosphere.
In these situations, a mechani-
cally sealed unit can be riskier and
more expensive than a mag drive.
Typically a traditional mechani-
cally sealed pump in a hazardous
application process would utilize
complex double-seal systems that
are a significant capital investment.
They also require much more main-
tenance and additional monitoring.
Other mag-drive applications can
be where liquid is hard to seal with
a traditional mechanical seal. For
example, pulp-and-paper mills em-
ploy sodium hydroxide applications
where pumpage can crystallize on
seal faces, which then can cause
seal failure. To avoid this, a flush
must be run to the seal that can
increase installation, maintenance,
plant water and energy consump-
tion costs.
The need for environmental
regulation adherence in the mar-
ketplace has also driven aware-
ness of mag-drive pumps. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) regulates emissions and
waste, and instituted the Clean Air
Act of 1990, which requires certain
chemicals or services to utilize a
sealless pump. Furthermore, many
chemical plants have implemented
their own set of guidelines based on
internal hazard classifications.
Valuable pumpage, such as mer-
cury and printer ink, along with
other industry services where
downtime brings significant costs,
can also be viable candidates for
mag-drive usage. Single seals leak
fluid upon failure, and once a pump
leaks, the fluid is not usually recov-
erable. This results in lost money
and environmental cleanup time.
A double seal is an expensive and
higher-maintenance solution. Mag-
netically driven pumps can protect
precious pumpage and eliminate
risk of leakage due to their her-
metically sealed design and limited
maintenance needs.
Finally, remote locations are sce-
narios that often call for sealless
mag-drive pumps. As plants ex-
pand, sometimes over miles of land,
some services are located remotely
and are not conducive to routine
monitoring and maintenance. Ex-
amples include wastewater-treat-
ment facilities where pH correction
is needed because water is going to
be introduced back into a system
or a nearby river or lake. This re-
quires technology to eliminate po-
tential leaks and limit maintenance
needs. Another example would be a
sealed pump in a remote area that
would require flushing. This may
require running a significant length
of flush line to the pumps location
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
AT PAPER MILLS
P
ulp-and-paper mills are now able to drastically reduce environmental concerns by
eliminating a primary potential point of failure by replacing sealed pumps with
sealless mag drives. The latest mag-drive designs and technologies feature fewer
parts and are robust enough to withstand the caustic chemicals commonly used in paper
mills, including sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, sodium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide,
and hydrogen peroxide. Any of these chemicals may cause damage to and leakage
through the seal faces, ultimately damaging pumps and posing safety and health risks to
workers. Plant operators can streamline maintenance requirements and utilize mag-drive
pumps to handle hazardous sulfuric acid services commonly found in almost any paper
mill, minimizing potential environmental hazards and saving time and money.
FIGURE 4. This
high-temperature
(>500F) mag-drive
design uses a metallic
torque ring instead of
a drive-magnet as-
sembly to couple with
the drive magnet. Re-
moving magnets from
the high-temperature
pumpage eliminates
the possibility of
driven magnet
demagnetization
Driven torque ring
Motor (drive) Pump (driven)
Drive magnet
assembly
Source: ITT Goulds Pumps
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2014 59
and also carries high water-usage
costs. Introducing a sealless pump
to a remote location eliminates the
need for seal checks and flushing,
and provides a reliable system with
minimal maintenance.
By taking the seal out of the sys-
tem, a major failure point is elimi-
nated and reliability is enhanced.
Eliminating bearings is a second
feature mag-drive pumps offer that
improves reliability. Close-coupled
mag-drive designs eliminate the
power end, removing the possibil-
ity of oil-lubricated bearing failure,
coupling misalignment, and in most
cases, the need for a baseplate.
Comparison to other seal options
A mag-drive pump is comparable
in cost to single-sealed and canned-
motor pump designs, and is less
costly than double-sealed pumps
that utilize barrier-fluid systems.
There is no replacement of seals
and no running of flush lines, lead-
ing to reduced maintenance and
downtime. When evaluating differ-
ent pump sizes and duty points one
must look at total lifecycle costs.
The chart shown in Figure 5 pro-
vides a breakdown across the vari-
ous pump designs. Canned-motor
pumps require more maintenance
time and dollars, as they are gener-
ally very difficult to work on, and
require a specialized maintenance
shop on site. Also, operators may
need to send the motor out for ser-
vice if there is a breach of the pri-
mary barrier to the internal motor
windings. Double-sealed pumps
have higher costs across pump
sizes compared to mag drives. Mag
drives also deliver optimal
performance, with metallic
mag-drive efficiencies often
equivalent to that of metal-
sealed ANSI pumps. Also
worth noting is that non-
metallic (lined) mag-drive
pumps can be up to 30%
more efficient than metallic seal-
less pumps.
Lined versus metallic
Lined mag-drive designs (Figure 6)
protect the metal casing from cor-
rosion that is common in chemical
applications. Some common linings
are PTFE (polytetrafluoroethyl-
ene), PFA (perfluoroalkoxy alkanes),
ETFA (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene)
and PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride).
All offer corrosion resistance from
chemicals; however, they are not
universally resistant to all media,
which is why various coating options
exist. Some components can also be
fiber reinforced with carbon or glass.
For example, the impeller can often
be reinforced with these materials to
provide greater protection from hy-
draulic erosion. In a lined mag-drive
pump there is no eddy-current heat
buildup or potential power loss from
currents as the containment shell is
typically fiberglass-reinforced plas-
tic (FRP) that is coated with one of
the linings listed above.
One thing to consider with lined
mag-drive pumps is that they are
generally limited in the areas of
temperature and pressure. The
linings can only accommodate
temperatures in the mid-200F
range, with various casings typi-
cally capable of sustaining design
pressures in the mid to upper 200
psi range. Overall, lined mag-drive
pumps are very good for working
with various acids or bases as long
as they are below certain tempera-
ture and pressure thresholds.
A metallic mag-drive-pump de-
sign (Figure 7) is capable of with-
standing higher pressure and tem-
peratures limits. These pumps are
well suited for solvents, heat-trans-
fer fluids and other non-conductive
fluids that typically run hotter.
Some metallic mag drives can easily
handle over 500F for liquid-service
temperatures. Metallic mag-drive
pumps also are strong solutions
for pumping non-conductive fluids,
such as benzene, that can build up
an electrostatic discharge, which
can be an issue for designs employ-
ing an FRP polymer-lined contain-
ment shell. When using an FRP-
lined shell design, the electrostatic
discharge can arc through the
nonmetal containment shell, caus-
ing a pinhole leak that will cause
complete pump failure over time,
as well as introduce environmental
and personnel hazards that may be
difficult to observe at their onset.
In a metallic mag-drive pump this
arcing charge will not penetrate the
alloy containment shell.
Finally, metallic mag-drive de-
signs have better solids-handling
SAFER WORK ENVIRONMENT FOR
ALUMINUM MANUFACTURER
A
North American architectural aluminum
store-front and door manufacturer used
several anodizing tanks to treat and color
its aluminum products. Each tank contained
17% sulfuric acid that needed to be maintained
at 70F for optimal results. During the course
of the anodizing process, heat was generated
as the sulfuric acid reacted with the aluminum
products, and the acid was pumped out of the
tanks through chillers. Each of the pumps was
a mechanically sealed ANSI pump with a large
sheet of Plexiglas leaning up against the pump
unit, effectively acting as a spray shield. A fine
mist of sulfuric acid would emit from each pump
seal, barely noticed by plant personnel. This
hazardous condition resulted in workers finding
multiple holes in work clothing where the acid
had splashed during the workday. Needless to
say, a change was needed in order to increase
worker safety. Initially, the plant agreed to install
one non-metallic magnetically driven pump as a
test on one of these tanks. The mag-drive pump
cut maintenance, increased safety and reduced
downtime. The replacement was such a success
that mag-drive pumps replaced all mechanically
sealed ANSI pumps, providing a safer and more
efficient work environment for plant personnel.
Pump size
150
100
50
0
L
i
f
e

c
y
c
l
e

c
o
s
t
s
,

%
50-32-160 85-50-200
Single
mechanical
sealed pump
Double
mechanical
sealed pump
Mag drive
Canned
motor pump
Discharge Q = 10 m
3
/h 40 m
3
/h
Head H = 28 m 41 m
Speed n = 2,900 rpm 2,900 rpm
Power P = 1.5 kW 7.0 kW
FIGURE 5. This chart compares the lifecycle costs for centrifugal pumps
using various sealing options
Source: Infractor
DEGUSSA-Hls
Feature Report
60 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2014
capabilities compared to their lined
counterparts. Metal is more resilient
to solids erosion than a lined pump,
although only up to a point. Also,
with metal-mag-drive designs there
are typically options for providing
additional internal bearing flush
since concerns over breaching and
compromising polymer linings are
eliminated. Metal mag drives also
offer more options for monitoring and
controls. Instrumentation devices,
such as thermocouples, resistance
temperature detectors (RTDs), level
switches and temperature switches
are all more readily available to use
on a metallic mag drive, once again
because concerns about breaching
lined components are eliminated.
Avoiding failure modes
When using mag drives, one can
encounter failure modes not pres-
ent with a sealed-pump applica-
tion. The most common mag-drive
failure mode is dry run. Simply
put, dry run occurs when a pump
is run without fluid. Mag-drive
designs employ process lubricated
bearings often made of carbon or
silicon-carbide material. During dry
run, the lack of fluid in the system
causes the bearings to lose lubrica-
tion, which can result in cracking,
fracture and eventual failure due to
the nature of the bearing material.
Another cause of dry run is when
fluid overheats, boils and flashes off
in the lubrication circuit, effectively
removing process lubrication. This
can lead to chipping, cracking and
increased temperatures that can
melt plastic linings and lead to a
pump seizing.
Some solutions to avoid dry run
are to attach a power monitor to the
pump, which can alert the operator
or control system of the condition,
or just automatically shut the pump
down after a short period of time.
There are also specialized methods
of treating or coating rotating and
stationary silicon-carbide compo-
nent surfaces that reduce their co-
efficient of friction and can, for a
short time, minimize the effects of
dry run.
The other common failure mode
of mag-drive pumps is dead head-
ing, which can occur by running the
pump against a closed discharge
valve. Fluid temperatures begin
to rise quickly because of energy
buildup of impeller rotation in a
closed system, leading to boiling,
cavitation and bearing damage.
Dead heading can be avoided by
flow and temperature monitoring
and controls.
Processing solids can also provide
a set of challenges due to erosion or
clogging. Mag-drive pumps are not
made to handle solids. Introducing
solids will cause accelerated ero-
sion, especially within lined mag-
drive pumps. Solids can also collect
in low-pressure areas in the bear-
ing circuits, typically at the rear
corners of the containment shell,
causing accelerated erosion. Clog-
ging of process lubrication and re-
circulation circuits can also occur
where the bearings can lose lubri-
cation and fail. A primary solution
in metallic mag drives is a bear-
ing flush where added pressure is
introduced to a pump system and
can help to keep solids from build-
ing up in these circuits. Improved
pump designs in both lined and
metallic mag drives can also lead
to more fluid movement (and thus
easier solids removal from problem
areas), achieved by introducing
more channels or adding pumping
actuators in the lubrication circuit.
A final important consideration is
magnetic decoupling. In mag-drive
pumps, the magnetic field between
the magnets spins the impeller.
The magnetic coupling has a torque
limit, so the pump must be prop-
erly sized, and designs must take
into consideration the proper mag-
netic materials as well as sizing. If
magnet materials and size are not
properly specified, the torque limit
is exceeded and the magnetic cou-
pling connection can be broken, re-
sulting in downtime and possible
unit failure. Some common causes of
magnetic decoupling are hard starts
with higher rates of start-up torque
than seen during steady operation,
wet end clogging due to an unex-
pected high shear or fibrous fluid, or
a process upset, such as encounter-
ing colder temperatures than antici-
pated, which causes a spike in fluid
viscosity. Employing a power moni-
tor can detect magnet decoupling
and mitigate these effects.
Final remarks
CPI plant operators continue to gain
a deeper understanding of the latest
magnetically driven pump technolo-
gies, which offer simpler and more ef-
ficient fluid-process solutions. Using
magnetically driven pumps can
yield significant benefits by improv-
ing safety, reducing plant downtime,
slashing maintenance time and as-
sociated costs, cutting onsite parts
inventory and eliminating potential
failure points through a hermetic
sealless design. Todays mag-drive
pumps have ideal processing ap-
plications in industries that handle
hazardous fluids. Mag-drive pump
designs offer distinct advantages
over traditional sealed models when
used in the proper environments
and appropriately specified.
Edited by Gerald Ondrey
Author
Richard Tym is global
product manager for the
non-metallic and mag-drive
product lines at ITT Goulds
Pumps (240 Fall St., Seneca
Falls, NY 13148; Phone: 315-
568-7378; Fax: 315-568-7076;
Email: richard.tym@itt.com).
During his six years with ITT
Goulds Pumps, Tym has held
various positions in engineer-
ing and product marketing.
He earned a bachelors degree in mechanical en-
gineering from Wilkes University and an MBA
from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
FIGURE 7. Metallic mag-drive pumps
are more suited for higher temperature
and pressure applications
FIGURE 6. Mag-drive pumps can be
supplied with polymer linings for coro-
sion protection
Source: ITT Goulds Pumps Source: ITT Goulds Pumps