Energy Efficient Solid Body Vortex Pump Breakthrough

Redefining the Affinity Laws for Pumps

Pump performance has traditionally been governed by the well-established Affinity Laws:

1. Rule 1: Doubling the RPM of a pump doubles its flow rate.
2. Rule 2: Doubling the RPM increases pressure (head) by four times.
3. Rule 3: Doubling the RPM increases power consumption by eight times.

While our pumps adhere to the first two laws, we’ve achieved a major breakthrough with Rule 3:

• Our pumps consume significantly less energy than predicted by Rule 3, offering substantial energy savings—an innovation that sets us apart in the pump industry.

Overcoming RPM Limitations

Conventional centrifugal pumps are limited in their ability to operate at higher speeds due to cavitation, which causes a sharp decline in performance. Our new design not only avoids cavitation at higher RPMs, but also increases efficiency as speed increases.

After collaborating with top-tier academic institutions and manufacturers in China—including the China Agricultural Machinery Testing Center (CAMTC)—we overcame numerous design challenges, including delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The results have been transformative.

Test Results: A Leap in Performance

Our testing has confirmed groundbreaking results, demonstrating that our pumps provide increased efficiency and performance compared to conventional designs.

• Official CAMTC results attached – Including translated English summary.
• No cavitation at higher than conventional RPMs—a key benefit that sets our pumps apart.
• Significant reduction in size, complexity, and cost thanks to a single-stage impeller that delivers multi-stage impeller performance.
• Small-scale pumps achieving performance on par with much larger conventional pumps, offering greater flexibility in design and application.

For example, our demonstration prototype pump with a 103mm (4-inch) impeller achieved:

• 50cu/m (50 ton) of water per hour at a 75-meter (246 feet) head.
• Mechanical efficiency of 79% at 5293.6 RPM.

Revolutionizing Variable-Speed Pump Efficiency

Many modern variable drive (VD) pumps invert the efficiency principle we’re addressing. These pumps often reduce their RPM by half to cut energy consumption to one-eighth—a common practice, especially now in the swimming pool industry. However, this approach causes the pump’s efficiency to plummet, dropping to as low as 10%. The primary advantage of this method lies in reducing the overall system resistance (including pump) to the point where there will be an overall energy and cost saving. Naturally, the associated volume and pressure reductions align with the affinity laws.

By contrast, the breakthrough NFT pump technology stands apart. To begin with, our pump efficiency curve is up to three times wider than conventional pumps. This allows our VD pumps to have increased energy efficiency at both higher and lower RPM. Simply put if the RPM is lowered, our efficiency decline is significantly less pronounced compared to conventional pumps. This important point enables NFT pumps to maintain a higher level of efficiencies even at lower RPMs. Moreover, as repeatedly stated increasing the RPM enhances efficiency even further. This dual advantage allows NFT pumps to outperform traditional pumps across a broader range of operating conditions and industries.

Consider this: any flow rate and pressure achievable by a large pump operating at say half RPM can be easily matched by a far more compact NFT pump running at a higher RPM and efficiency. To illustrate, an NFT pump with a wet end the size of a lemon can effectively serve the needs of an average-sized swimming pool (up to 50,000 litres). Not only does it deliver the required flow and pressure, but it also achieves superior litres-per-watt-hour performance compared to current market offerings.

Real-World Applications and Market Potential

These high-speed pumps unlock unprecedented possibilities for diverse industries and applications:

• Compact installations: ideal for ships, submarines, pools, and spas.
• Agricultural and industrial systems, where energy efficiency combined with high performance is becoming increasingly critical.
• Building systems, enabling adaptive flow and energy management during low to peak usage and ensuring consistent flow and head, simply by the control of RPM.

The potential applications are vast, and we are actively seeking partners to help commercialize this breakthrough technology.

Introducing NFT’s Solid Body Vortex (SBV) Pumps

In addition to our variable-speed SBV pumps, NFT is also introducing a revolutionary fixed RPM pump design: Solid Body Vortex pumps. SBV technology represents a fundamental departure from traditional centrifugal pump principles.

• Water molecules travel through the solid body vortex at speeds equivalent to the speed of sound in water, minimizing molecular friction and significantly reducing energy loss.
• This results in quieter and more efficient operation, having demonstrated cavitation-free performance across all tested operating RPMs.

Moving Forward

This breakthrough marks a significant milestone in pump technology, and we are excited about the possibilities it offers. NFT is now actively seeking strategic partners to help bring these patented pumps to market and revolutionize many industries worldwide.

For more information, please visit our website at www.nft.net.au or contact us at +61 (0) 448 885 820.