The largest centrifugal pump available on the South African market for the food and beverage industry has been introduced by Verder Pumps South Africa. Part its new Packo range of food-grade pumps, the new centrifugal pump is capable of pumping beer into eight million 250 ml bottles an hour. It was launched towards the end of last year.

The Dutch-based Verder Group acquired the UK-based Fullwood Packo Group in 2015, with Verder South Africa embarking on an extensive marketing campaign for the food & beverage industry. Kobus Fourie, Packo pump specialist at Verder South Africa, explains that the range has application in 11 niche sectors.

These are dairy, meat and fish, textiles, wastewater and potable water, breweries and distilleries, food and beverage, washing and disinfection, surface treatment, vegetables, animal feeds and biogas, hot frying oil, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

“At the moment, our campaign is focused on breweries and food and beverage,” Fourie confirms. Globally, a demand for increased production capacities and more efficient processes in the food and beverage industry has seen a need for stainless steel pumps with flow rates in excess of 1 000 m³/h.
Responding to this latest market trend, Verder South Africa has launched its Colossus pump, an extension of Packo’s MCP3 and MFP3 pump range. It weighs 1.6 t, and offers a flow rate of 1 200 m³/h, with a 200 kW motor.

While many breweries still use cast-iron pumps for higher flow rates, the stainless-steel design of the Colossus is much more hygienic. “It is likely to become the standard in the food and beverage industry in the future,” Fourie comments.

The MCP3 and MFP3 pumps are also energy-efficient and maintained easily, with an electro-polished finish that is highly-corrosion resistant and easy to clean. Applications include dairies, breweries, and distilleries. The pumps are a particularly reliable option for filtration applications, pasteurisation, yeast propagation, and in cleaning systems.

Fourie reveals that Packo itself is undergoing an expansion and renovation of its facilities, which will allow it to manufacture and test pumps with a flow rate of up to 2 000 m³/h.