In our latest case study, we’re delving into the world of vegan leather – innovative alternatives to animal and plastic leathers which are more sustainable and have less impact on the environment.
This client of ours designs and produces transformative, sustainable biomaterials like vegan leather from natural resources like collagen, herbal extracts, minerals and oils.
They approached us with a need for a mobile high viscosity transfer pump to help test and ramp up their production of these sustainable biomaterials.
A massive growth market
According to a 10-year market forecast by Cambridge-based tech analysts IDTechEx, the vegan bio-based leather industry will grow by around 37.4% from 2024 to 2034.
To put this in perspective, new technologies developed to create sustainable alternatives to animal and plastic leather have already attracted investment worth over $1 billion. In fact, IDTechEx has discovered over 70 companies worldwide who are bringing viable vegan leather products to market.
Most of these businesses have sprung up in the last 3 to 5 years, and range from small startups like our client, to businesses that have secured hundreds of millions of pounds in funding. They are using this to scale up their production of vegan shoes, boots, clothing, fashion accessories and many other innovative new products.
What did our client need?
Our start-up client got in touch asking for advice on the best way for them to begin process testing, production and small-scale manufacturing.
The beginning of any testing and prototyping process is full of risks and challenges. Carefully considered plans which look workable on computer screens can often have wildly different outcomes in the real world.
To assist with testing, they were looking for a high viscosity transfer pump which would above all be flexible. It would have to cope with a wide range of operational conditions which would be difficult to predict but could change rapidly during the initial phases.
The pump requirements
They needed a mobile high viscosity pump which would be domestic mains-powered and could handle high viscosity material at elevated temperatures. It should also easily manage solids, be simple to clean between batches and be able to run without fluid.
Initially, the pump might run for just an hour a day. But over time this would increase to several times a day as batches were increased or more tests were carried out.
The mobile high viscosity pump would be handling a low shear, water-based material with viscosity over 35,000cst. It would be feeding a mixing vessel a few metres off the ground and drawing from a small 200L drum. The pump needed to transfer as much as possible from this drum without drawing in air or creating shear forces in the mixture.
What did we specify for this client?
At North Ridge Pumps, we’re not limited to choosing just one pump design.
As the UK’s biggest pump supplier with over 25 years in the industry, we’re experts at providing engineered pumps for a vast range of applications. We use this specialist knowledge to deliver a tailor-made solution for each client, not a standard product picked off the shelf.
Most important of all, we choose the best pump for every project – with the lowest lifetime cost. For this project, we specified an FMP40 roller peristaltic pump close-coupled on a trolley with a 1.5Kw inverter suitable for use with a 230V single phase supply.
This set-up would be able to transfer the bio-based materials at a rate of 774 to 2735 litres per hour or 12.9 to 45 litres a minute. We made the pump connections from stainless steel so the unit was easy to clean. In addition, the reinforced textile inlay hose within the pump was made from natural rubber.
A heavy-duty pump where reliability is essential
FMP hose pumps are our biggest peristaltic pumps fitted with roller technology. These rugged units are fitted with reinforced hoses and rotors, heavily
engineered integrated bearings, enlarged PU rollers plus our patented clamping system.
Thanks to its robust design and broad capacity range, peristaltic hose roller pumps like this are generally chosen for heavy duty industrial applications where the pump is a vital component in the whole process. Proven reliability is therefore paramount.
In addition, these pumps are easy and economical to maintain. This is because the hose is the only component that can wear, and the only component that is in contact with the fluid.
If you need to transfer sensitive fluids, solids or viscous materials, and aren’t sure which pump is the most suitable, speak to North Ridge Pumps to see how we can help.
