What size pump do I need in my brewery?

Figuring out what size pump you need in a brewery isn’t difficult, but does require a little calculation. First, you need to know the following:

• How much do you want to move in how much time? 
• How high do you need to pump your wort?
• What equipment might limit how fast your wort can move?

Now you need to turn these numbers into the following:

• Flow Rate (GPM) - How much do you want to move in how long? 
• Discharge head (feet) - How tall are your tanks, plus how high off the ground are they?
• Back Pressure (PSI) - When you add up the pressure drop of all of the equipment the pump must pump through, what do you get?

With those numbers recorded, multiply your back pressure by 2.3, then add your discharge head to get total head. Now you can look at a pump curve and see the range that your pump can efficiently operate at. If your total head falls within that range, you're golden.

If you're looking at a CPE pump, contact us to get pump curves. We're always more than happy to provide.