Pumps
Barber-Nichols (BN) has been designing and producing custom specialty pumps since 1966. BN has a broad range of hydraulic, mechanical, and electrical expertise for critical pump applications. Our pumps serve many markets, including cryogenic, aerospace, military, transportation, and energy. BN designs and produces brushless DC and induction motors with variable frequency controllers and generators for turbines. BN cryogenic pumps are used for scientific, energy, and space markets for fluids down to liquid helium temperatures at 4.2 K (-269 C). Additionally, BN has produced custom hermetic pumps with induction and brushless DC motors. BN utilizes decades of experience with modern design tools such as FEA and CFD along with test results to maximize efficiency. Our in-house engineering and custom design capabilities coupled with our on-site manufacturing, assembly, and test expertise bring a high level of pump optimization, integration, and quality to new and existing designs.
Centrifugal Pumps
Barber-Nichols has developed and manufactured custom cooling pump solutions and configurations. These customized pump solutions have evolved into product families providing thermal management cooling solutions with superior performance and unique features, including a broad range of operating flows while providing essential MIL-STD environmental capabilities.
We can provide off-the-shelf motor controllers or clean-sheet designs for custom applications.
Cryogenic Pumps
Barber-Nichols’ Cryogenic Pumps Are Highly Beneficial For Four Reasons.
First, preventing mechanical seals from leaking in a cryogenic environment is difficult and sometimes impossible. Therefore, BN’s hermetically designed pumps completely eliminate mechanical seals and thereby eliminate this problem.
Second, thin-walled pump shafts, thin-walled shaft housings, and anti-convection/radiation heat shields work together to minimize conductive and convective motor heat leaking into the cryogenic fluid.
Third, Barber-Nichols’ extensive experience with unique, high-speed bearings allows it to design pumps that can operate at suitably high speeds for long periods of time between scheduled maintenance. Operating a pump at a higher speed increases the pump’s hydraulic efficiency further minimizing the heating of the process fluid.
Finally, BN pioneered the development of cryogenic pumps with vacuum housings. Maintenance personnel can remove the pump from a cryostat without breaking the cold box vacuum.
Liquid Helium Pumps
Liquid Hydrogen Pumps
Liquid Nitrogen Pumps
Liquid Oxygen Pumps
Rocket Engine Turbopumps
BN engineers, manufactures, and tests various equipment for numerous aerospace applications. BN’s space flight hardware includes liquid rocket engine turbopumps, fuel densification systems, liquid fuel thruster pumps, and environmental control system pumps and fans. BN has the expertise to meet the space flight industry’s strict design specifications, specialized material requirements, and conformance to high-quality standards. Engineered products are designed using the aerospace ConDR/PDR/CDR process, addressing a variety of MIL and NASA standards.
Positive Displacement Pumps
Positive displacement pumps operate by trapping and displacing a fixed volume of fluid with each pump cycle. This results in a direct relationship between the pump speed and the volume of fluid delivered. They come in various designs, including piston pumps, gear pumps, diaphragm pumps, and rotary pumps.
They can be advantageous in applications requiring very high differential pressure relative to volumetric flow. One primary benefit is their ability to provide a constant discharge pressure over a varying flow range, ensuring a consistent and controlled output. Additionally, positive displacement pumps are effective at handling viscous fluids, are capable of operating in 2-phase or gaseous flow, and can be self-priming, making them a great choice for lift, low suction pressure, and near bubble point fluid systems.
