Why the Solids Handling Mag Drive Pump Could be the Right Choice
Magnetic drive centrifugal pumps have always faced a significant technical barrier – their inability to handle solid-containing fluids effectively. Pump operators have had to rely heavily on mechanical seals and complex flushing systems, resulting in substantial maintenance demands and heightened contamination risks. A few years ago, the CDR engineering team in Italy developed a solids-handling magnetic drive pump. These pumps deliver exceptional performance without external flushing requirements while ensuring zero vapour loss and maintaining full ATEX certification standards.
Breaking Through Traditional Mag Drive Limitations
Standard magnetic drive pumps are unable to process fluids with solid particulates meaning customers have tended to rely on centrifugal pumps with two mechanical seals and external flushing systems. Whilst sticking to the traditional mag drive pump design, CDR crafted a new style of open impeller to ensure the smooth flow of liquids without any blockage issues, new bushes with ample channels to promote the unrestricted movement of solids, and the use of pure silicon carbide provides outstanding mechanical and chemical durability. The diamond-like-carbon surface treatment further enhances resilience against dry running by reducing friction between the rotating and static bushings by up to 90%.
Safety and Environmental Protection
We’ve mentioned it once, but you cannot overstate the importance of zero-vapour-loss when it comes to volatile organic chemicals. When designing the solids handling mag drive, it was important to maintain the structural integrity of the existing mag drive design guaranteeing absolute fluid containment. The absence of mechanical seals eliminates potential emission and leakage paths. The addition of diamond-coated silicon carbide components paired with optimised fluid circulation paths ensures uncompromised safety performance even with particulate-laden fluids (up to 2mm fines).
Innovative Design Features for Reliable Operation
The solids-handling mag drive pumps have been developed with distinctive design to directly address fundamental challenges magnetic drive pumps traditionally faced with particulate-laden fluids.
- Single-piece shaft construction
- Optimised fluid circulation paths
- Reduced axial thrust
- Carefully engineered fluid channels demonstrate exceptional effectiveness in minimising bush pressure, yielding minimal axial thrust loads.
- The single-piece enclosed impeller configuration minimises axial thrust
Maintenance and Serviceability Improvements
Mag drive pumps are renowned for their intentional simplicity and the solids handling mag drive is no exception. These pumps were developed with the same modular architecture as our standard mag drive pumps so the elimination of complex sealing systems and specialised tools allows for straightforward, cost-effective site maintenance. The pump cartridge assembly system allows for quick and easy replacement of internal components.
What Makes This Pump Different
Our solids-handling mag drive pumps have set a new standard for fluid-handling operations. These pumps handle diverse fluid challenges, from aggressive chemicals to ultra-pure liquids. The distinctive advantage lies in their ability to maintain zero-vapour loss without external flushing systems. This capability proves especially valuable when eliminating mechanical seals becomes crucial – particularly relevant for heat transfer oil applications where annual leakage can lead to significant cost implications. The reinforced isolation shell, engineered with carbon fibre reinforcement and PFA lining, delivers outstanding chemical resistance and structural integrity. Pumps are currently available in Stainless Steel 316 PFA-Lined making them the right choice for a wide variety of fluids handling applications.
If you would like to talk about reliable pump solutions for handling VOC’s with solid particulates, call us on 01933 674777 to speak to an engineer.



