World Pumps 50 Years - Plad

30Anniversary featureWORLD PUMPS50 years of World PumpsA brief historyof pumpsTen years ago, World Pumps put together a briefhistory of the pump industry telling the story of pumpdevelopment since the Egyptians invented the 'shadoof'in 200BC. We stopped then at 1999, but here we bringthe story right up to date with some of the main industryevents of recent times.Fifty years ago, Trade & TechnicalPress launched a new magazineto report on technical developments in pumps. The original title ofPumping was short-lived, being soonsupplanted by the pan-EuropeanPumps, Pompes, Pumpen in 1965 as themagazine linked up with the fledglingEuropump association. Over the nextseventeen years, the pump industrybecame increasingly international andin 1982, the publisher decided to markthis trend by re-launching the magazineas World Pumps.The thirtieth anniversary year saw Trade& Technical Press acquired by ElsevierScience Ltd who incorporated themagazine into its Elsevier AdvancedTechnology Division. Since then, anumber of editorial changes havebrought with them new approaches asthe industry matures. There have beenreviews of software and web pages,eventually eclipsed by sheer numbers.An annual International Buyers’ Guidehas been published since 1997, and isnow supplemented by an on-lineversion. Since 2003 World Pumps hasworked with BPMA on the annualprestigious Pump Industry Awards. Themagazine now features regular contributions from the Hydraulic Institute,underlining its international credentials.Man has been using pumps of sometype for 4000 years, which makes 50www.worldpumps.com0262 1762/09 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reservedJanuary 2009

WORLD PUMPSAnniversary featureJanuary 2009years a very short time in the history ofpumping. Indeed, looking back at themost significant developments intechnology, the last fifty years seemrelatively insignificant. By 1959, all themajor pump designs had beenintroduced and mostly developed intocommercial products. So what hasWorld Pumps been writing about forthe past 50 years?Driving trendsOne trend has been the increasingimportance of niche positive displacement pumps, particularly rotary types.Peristaltic, progressing cavity and rotarylobe pumps have all risen in profile astheir capabilities have been introduced tonew markets by improved communications. Increasing competition has meantthat users have been more inclined toexperiment in the search for the idealpump for difficult duties.now dominate the building servicesmarket. Pump selection software hasspeeded up the process of choosing apump, as well as opening opportunitiesin marketing. For the designer, CAD andCFD have reached new heights. Theycan now interact but they still havesome way to go before they fullyreplace personal expertise.Life cycle costing has become a part ofeveryday life and has shown thatenergy costs usually eclipse all otherlifetime costs. Vast savings areOvertaken by computersElectronics and computers haveovertaken all our lives and inevitablyhave entered the physical world ofpumps in the form of variable speeddrives (VSD’s), SCADA systems andcondition monitoring equipment.Integral VSDs on in-line pumping unitsComings and goingsITT, IDP, Sterling Fluid Systems, Grundfos,Wilo and ABS have changed almostbeyond recognition. Establishedindependent makers like Harland, Flygt,Worthington and now Weir Pumps havedisappeared, whilst newer names likeTextron, Constellation Capital, IDEX,Pentair and Flowserve havearrived on the scene, continuing the trend for the biggestcompanies to get bigger.Other interesting changesinclude diversification. Forexample, after more than 50years of providing submersible motors to pump makers,Franklin Electric has ‘pulledthe plug’ and now buyspump companies toproduce its own units.The trends that have affected all ofus have also had their impact onthe pump market. Increasedenvironmental awareness gavea real boost to pumpswithout shaft seals.Magnetic drive and cannedmotor units have thrived and evenproduced a hybrid combining the twotechnologies. Pump shaft sealing hasalso changed dramatically. Asbestos inpacking is outlawed and today the vastmajority of new pumps are suppliedwith mechanical seals, often in factoryassembled cartridge format to avoid therisk of face damage during handling.Materials have also developed. Seawater pumps have seen gunmetal andaluminium bronze replaced by highlyalloyed super-austenitic and superduplex stainless steels. New non-metalshave made possible tiny pumps forhuman implant. Ceramics and tungsten/silicon carbide have vastly reducedwear rates in pumps of all sizes. Evenlarge sub-sea variable speed supersynchronous drive motors for pumpsare now possible.We are all aware that in recent years,discussions about the pump industryhave been dominated by talk of mergers,takeovers and disposals. Indeed, as weconsider the major pump makers of2009, it is hard to name one which hasnot changed markedly since 1959.Mind you, it is alsointeresting to note fromthe chronology of thepump industry listedbelow, that even inthe early years of thismagazine mergers andacquisitions were notunknown and ever sincethere has been a continuousenvironment of change.Global marketplacefrequently realised by system improvement but appropriate legislation ispractically impossible to formulate.Although pump efficiency improvements give relatively small returns forlarge outlays, legislation for raisingefficiency now exists in Korea andChina. The European Commission, aspart of its Energy Using ProductsDirective, has targeted the raising ofefficiencies of water pumps. Europumphas been instrumental in assisting theEC in this task and has proposeda method for eliminating badperformers.Probably the biggest single changein this industry has been thetransition from a local to a globalmarketplace. Fifty years ago we hadonly national trade associations buttoday the significant impetus in intercompany relations is at intercontinental level. The Europump Associationhas grown massively in stature andeffectiveness in its 49 years, and nowworks in close partnership with theHydraulic Institute in the US. Thispartnership reflects ever closercooperation between pump manufacturers' associations, a developmentthat mirrors this magazine’s evolutionfrom national through European toglobal coverage.www.worldpumps.com31

32Anniversary featureWORLD PUMPSJanuary 2009A brief history of the pump industryGeorge and James Weir set up thepartnership that forms the Weir Group1912Ebara Corporation founded;Duriron (Durco Pumps) founded1872Weise & Monski, Ochsner, ByronJackson and Wilo founded1916Hazleton Pumps founded asBarrett Haentjens and Co.1873G & J Weir moves to Glasgow1875Hodgkin and Neuhaus, forerunnerof SPP, founded1877Ritz Pumpenfabrik established1878Steimel founded; Hodgkin andNeuhaus becomes the PulsometerEngineering Company Ltd1881Halberg Maschinenbau founded1883Holden & Brooke founded2000 BC Egyptians invent the shadoof200 BCCtesibius invents the reciprocatingpump; Archimedean screw pumpdescribed (but not invented) byArchimedes1580Sliding vane pump invented byRamelli; Serviere invents the gearpump1650Otto van Guericke invents hispiston vacuum pump1674Sir Samuel Morland patents thepacked plunger pump1738Ural hydraulic machinery plantestablished1790A W Chesterton foundedPlenty Ltd establishedWorthington Pump & MachineryCorporation acquires WorthingtonSimpson Ltd1917John Crane founded; HydraulicInstitute establishedLouis Bergeron invented theconcrete volute pump andfounded Bergeron S.A.1918Scanpump and CCM Sulzerfounded1919Torishima Pump Mfg Co andKawamoto Pump Mfg established1920Bombas Itur, Wernert Pumpen andSIHI establishedThomas Simpson establishes hispump business in LondonHayward Tyler established1888Kirloskar Brothers Ltd founded1890Salmson starts making pumps inParis; Osna Pumpen established1830Screw pump invented byRevillion1893Uraca Pumpenfabrik founded1921LaBour foundedSero Pumpenfabrik foundedMidland Dairy Machines foundedSulzer Brothers founded189419221834Henry R Worthington invents thefirst direct-acting steam pumpPeroni founded19231840Peerless founded; Pacific Pumpsfounded1896KSB opens UK subsidiary; DiaPumpen founded1924Jung Pumpen established; Leistritzstarts making screw pumps1897Wirth founded1848Goulds Pumps founded1851John Gwynne patents hiscentrifugal pump improvements1853Bornemann Pumpen founded1856Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon founded1857Roper Pump Company foundedJacob Edson invents thediaphragm pump and founds theEdson Corporation1860David Brown commences businessas pattern makerWorthington Pump Company andThomas Simpson amalgamate toform Worthington Simpson Ltd1862Lawrence Pumps established;Philipp Hilge founded1866Lederle foundedwww.worldpumps.com1927Industrial Filter and Pump Mfg Cofounded1903Rateau founded1905Leistritz Company established1928Girdlestone Pumps founded1906Stuart Turner Ltd founded1929Heishin Works, and Houttuinfounded1907Mitsubishi Heavy Industriesproduces its first pump1909Tristam Pumpen and Pumpenfabrik Ernst Vogel foundedIngersoll-Rand enters the pumpbusiness by acquiring theCameron Steam Pumps Works1910Edur Pumpenfabrik foundedPleuger pioneers the submersibleturbine pump motorStenberg and Flygt commencetheir cooperation1930Gilbarco produces its first gasolinepump1911Jens Nielsen builds the first Vikinginternal gear pump, founding theViking Pump CompanyRené Moineau receives adoctorate for his thesis which willlead to the invention of theprogressing cavity pumpEnsival starts selling centrifugalpumpsDickow Pumpen and HitachifoundedScanpump foundedKSB established; Southern Crossestablished in AustraliaArai Pump Mfg. Co. foundedFlygt’s forerunner StenbergfoundedSigma Lutin founded; StorkPumpen founded187119261901Allweiler foundedA.S. Cameron invents the firstreciprocating steam pumpRheinhuette starts pumpproductionReda Pump Company founded1931Imo established by Ingeström andMontelius