What is the Difference between Chemical Pumps, Chemical Metering Pumps, Dosing Pumps, Proportioning Pumps, Injection Pumps, and Metering Pumps?

If you’re not an expert in all things pumps, finding the right pump for your application can certainly be a daunting task. There are so many different kinds of pumps that differ in function, and on top of that, even the pumps with the same function have different names. The point of this blog is intended to give some comfort and relief that you are indeed researching the right pump for your application.

“The Difference?”

I’m sure many readers right now have a good idea of what the “difference” is between these pumps, and if I can use a metaphor, you may feel like the kid in school who’s pretty sure they have the answer but not sure enough to raise their hand. Allow me to give the answer so you can indeed say “ah! I knew that!”… there is no difference.

At least, to us there is no difference. What we have found, if anything, these are actually just terms that vary by industry and sometimes even region. Companies inquiring about Madden Dosing Pumps tend to be from outside the country for example and inquiries on Madden Chemical Injection Pumps tend to stem from the agricultural world. But these findings are by no means a certainty, nor do they matter.

“Your Point?”

The point is, no matter what term is used to find a pump, whether it be chemical pump, chemical metering pump, dosing pump, proportioning pump, injection pump, or metering pump, that person should have landed at Madden website because they need a durable, accurate, and consistent pump.

So… in Layman’s terms, if you are NOT looking for pumps that can add liquids, even corrosive liquids, to another process accurately and consistently, then you’ll probably need to continue your search. Occasionally an issue that comes up is an inquiry from an individual/company looking for a centrifugal pump. Now here is a term, which for the first time in this blog, is indeed different from the rest. Centrifugal pumps have a different design and a different purpose.

Diaphragm Metering Pumps vs Centrifugal Pumps

Here are links to two videos; one explains how a centrifugal pump works and the other explains how our pumps work.

• Check out our Youtube Channel (Centrifugal Pumps) (Proportioning, Injecting, Metering, etc)

“Ok, I get it, so why would I need a chemical pump, metering pump, dosing pump, injection… Why would I buy a Madden Pump?”

Fair enough, we hear you. The simplest, shortest answer is that you would buy our pumps if you need to add/inject/meter a liquid, chemical, acid, or caustic into another process accurately and consistently. Especially if this is vital to the business/operation and it needs to be done up to 24/7/365. Madden pumps are durable. We build our pumps with the idea that a sale will be made based mainly on quality. Madden pumps have a simple but strong mechanically actuated design that can be assembled to handle any liquid chemical. Our pumps can be manually or automatically adjusted to increase or decrease output. Accuracy does not diminish over time and only minor wetted end repairs are normally required. We hope you take comfort in knowing that anyone with common tools can replace these wearable parts.

Here’s an interesting fact backing up our durability. This summer (2015) we sent out some replacement parts to a couple customers still using our pumps… they were purchased in 1960!

Here are some common applications that Madden pumps serve:

• Adding nitrogen fertilizers to agricultural irrigation systems
• Adding chlorine dioxide or sodium hypochlorite to purify water systems
• Adding flocculants to water for clarity
• Adding acids for refining ore in gold, copper, and zinc mines
• Adding boiler water chemicals to boiler operations
• Pumping diatomaceous earth for filter applications
• We’re pumping dyes for fabric companies
• Brabazon Pump (Wisconsin) has sold some of our pumps for adding chemicals for paper making

These applications show just a chunk of where our pumps are working.

Conclusion

So if you only take away one thing from this article, make it this: chemical pumps, chemical metering pumps, proportioning pumps, dosing pumps, injection pumps, and metering pumps are all just common search terms that are synonyms for an accurate and consistent metering pump that can add a liquid/chemical into a process.