Pumps, the mechanical devices we use to transfer liquid from one place to another, have come a long way. A pump can move fluids from low to high areas or low to high-pressure areas by converting the fluid’s mechanical energy into hydraulic energy or pressure energy. The truth is, pumps have come a long way, and today’s pumps are more technologically advanced and efficient. They have been an indisposable part of modern living, and it is easy to see why.
How pumps came to be
The Egyptians are credited for the invention of the first pump in 2000bc, known as the shadoof. Essentially it was a bucket tied to a rod and rope and was used to draw water from deep wells. That proves that man has always been looking for an easy way to draw and transport water from different water sources.
The subsequent notable advances of the pump came during the Greek civilization in the 3rd-1st century bc. The engineers of Hellen invented the water wheel, which was used to generate power and for irrigation. It was also during that time that Archimedes invented the screw pump.
Also known as the archimedean screw, it had a shape similar to a giant screw, and its working mechanism was straightforward. Two people turned it by hand, and it worked by pressurizing the water to rise through the pump for irrigation. It is also believed that piston pumps were invented during the same period as the screw pump.
In 1953, Nicolas Grollier de Servier, a French man, designed the early gear pump. Later in 1636, Pappenheimv, a German engineer, made a deep-toothed rotary gear pump used to lubricate engines today.
In 1698, Thomas Avery invented a steam pump. The steam was used to form a vacuum that, in turn, pulled water up. 1738 saw the first invention of the automated pump machine, but it took several years before the first pump business appeared. The centrifugal pump, one of the most common pumps used today, was invented during the 17th century, and it used straight vanes for drainage. Today it is motor-driven and pumps water through suction force.
Thomas Simpson established the first pump business in London in 1790. Many years later, around the 1850s, several pump companies, including the Edson corporation, emerged. It was until the 1940s that powerful advances in pump technology began. In 1948, Stenberg-Flygt AB invented the first submersible pump, and HMD invented a magnetic drive pump in 1949.
Jet pumps, deep well turbine pumps, submersible pumps, seal-less vertical pumps, peristaltic pumps, bush pumps, chopper pumps, air operated double diaphragm pumps, and metering pumps are some of the other notable pumps invented in the 1900s.
Today’s pumps
Today, pumps are advanced and have changed our lives in many ways. Pump companies like PumpBiz have different types of pumps classified into positive displacement pumps and dynamic pumps. Thanks to technology, there is a pump for almost any application you can think about.
Summing up
The primary difference among today’s pumps is that they apply to different liquid types. For instance, a pump for pumping water may not be similar to the one that pumps petroleum because the liquids have different properties.