Pump Selection Guide
How to match a pump to your product. The right choice comes down to six variables — and then to the pump family that fits. Start here, then dig into each type.
The Framework
Every sanitary pump selection comes back to these. Work through them for your product and the right pump family becomes clear.
How thick the product is. Thin, free-flowing liquids suit centrifugal pumps; thick or paste-like product needs positive displacement.
How easily the product is damaged by mechanical stress. Delicate product needs gentle, low-shear pumps like peristaltic or twin-piston.
Whether the product carries pieces, and how large or abrasive they are. Solids favor peristaltic, AODD, and progressive cavity designs.
How much product per hour, and against what back-pressure. This drives pump size and type as much as the product itself.
Hot, cold, or CIP-temperature duty affects materials, elastomers, and hose selection throughout the pump.
How the pump is cleaned between runs. Clean-in-place capability and hygienic, crevice-free design matter in every food application.
By Pump Type
Each guide covers how the pump works, where it shines, where to look elsewhere, and the IPE lines that build it.
The hose is the only wetted part. The go-to for shear-sensitive, abrasive, and whole-piece product.
Fixed volume per revolution. Steady flow for thick, delicate, and metered duty — lobe, twin screw, twin-piston.
Efficient, high-flow transfer of thin liquids — water, brine, and CIP. Not for viscous or delicate product.
Air-driven, seal-less, and forgiving. Handles solids and slurries; runs dry and dead-heads safely.
What the sanitary standards require and how they shape selection, materials, finish, and cleaning.
Quick Reference
A fast starting point. Find your need, then read the matching guide.
Common Questions
How do I choose the right sanitary pump?
Start with your product and process: how viscous it is, how easily it shears, whether it carries solids, the flow and pressure you need, the temperature, and how it must be cleaned. Those six variables point to a pump family; from there it comes down to sizing and materials.
What's the most important factor in pump selection?
There isn't a single one for every case, but viscosity and shear sensitivity most often decide the pump family. Thin and robust favors centrifugal; thick or delicate favors positive displacement or peristaltic.
Can one pump handle both product transfer and CIP?
Some can. Twin screw and certain rotary lobe pumps are chosen partly because they handle product and clean-in-place duty in the same unit, which simplifies the line.
Give us the product, flow, temperature, and process step, and IPE will recommend and size the right pump.
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