Buying a pump is one of those plant operations considerations that come up sporadically. There's generally enough time between purchases that no one feels like an expert. The result is a strong tendency to buy whatever worked before and move on. The attitude is often that we only need to move product from one place to another. It's no big deal and most pumps are pretty much the same. Let's just find what's cheapest or easiest to install and get on to the next problem. However it may be that a little more time spent considering the purchase could be time well spent.
It is particularly useful for pumps where the cost of their energy consumption is so significant. The view of a pump purchase can change dramatically when considering the total cost of ownership. The accompanying illustration (see page 56) shows lifetime pump costs for a typical industrial pump. Using this tool as part of the purchasing decision can generally yield long-term improvements in plant profitability.