APV R Series

There are all sorts of sanitary rotary pumps on the market: lobe pumps, bi-wing rotor pumps and sanitary ECP (external circumferential piston) pumps.  Sanitary rotary pumps are available with all sorts of sophisticated seal arrangements; Internal single and double mechanical, external single and double mechanical with different flushing arrangements. Most of these pumps have stainless steel or some other hybrid nickel alloy rotors and for the most part they all perform as advertised. Sanitary rotary pumps by their very nature, however, can be fairly maintenance intensive pieces of equipment.  And most require quite a bit of expertise to maintain properly.
While the APV R Series pump is an older technology, it does have a few of the bells and whistles of newer sanitary positive displacement pumps.  It is only available with a single lip seal.  It is not designed to be cleaned in place. The standard R Series pump has rubber rotors that float back and forth on the shafts and rub on the front cover and casing. It uses a paper cover gasket that are sold in packs of 100. This is clearly not the Rolex of pumps.

So why consider using an APV R Series pump in a sanitary application?  It’s simple, easy to work on and easy to take apart and clean.  A lot of sanitary processes are not set up for CIP (cleaning in place).  The equipment is torn down on a regular basis and cleaned by hand. This is where the APV R Series pump shines.  The wet end of the pump can be disassembled with a simple crescent wrench.  You unscrew the cover bolts, pull the cover off, remove the rotor lip seals, slide the rotors out by hand, and clean out the interior of the pump and the lip seals in minutes.  Reassembly is as simple as sliding the rotors back on and bolting on the front cover…simple.  The lip seals are simple to replace, APV even offers a special seal replacement tool to make the process even easier.  This can all be done without removing the casing.

Having rubber rotors also makes the APV R Series pump more forging than most metal rotor pumps.  Solids that can often lock up a metal rotor PD pump normally will pass through the R Series.

The APV R Series Pump is also available in different custom configurations that might fit your specific need.  It is available with a front cover outlet in cases where there are clearance problems, like fitting on under a tank. There are rectangular inlet versions to handle high viscosity products.  There is even a degassing version to help with products with entrained air, making it great for dough applications.

What’s the downside of the APV R Series?  The rubber rotors wear faster than metal ones.  But because the rotors are rubber, the casing does not wear as fast as in other sanitary rotary pumps.  And the rotors can be sent back in to be reconditioned for less than the cost of a new rotor.

The APV R Series pump is available in 6 sizes, covering a flow range of 1-240 gallons per minute.  Is it the perfect sanitary PD pump? No, it does not have the pressure capabilities of more modern pumps and cannot be cleaned in place.  It cannot run in 24/7 continuous service. But if you are looking for a simple sanitary lobe pump that can be taken apart and cleaned daily, the APV R Series pump is one you might consider.
Holland Applied Technologies