What Pump Types Are Used in Commercial Buildings?

What pump types are used in commercial buildings?

Image 3 provides a listing of pump applications within a commercial building complex. These include cooling systems, domestic hot water (DHW), heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), heating systems, fire systems, wastewater and many more.

The applications within a building will depend on the specifics of the design and features, so all buildings will not have all the applications shown in Image 3, but this should give some perspective to the variety of pumps and types that could be used in a commercial building.

The primary pump type that serves these applications is a rotodynamic pump. However, there are many subclassifications of rotodynamic pumps that will be used depending on the application requirements. For example, pressure booster pumps have variable flow demand and need to provide nearly constant pressure at fixtures through the building. Because of the variation in flow, these pumps typically include variable speed drives and often have multiple pumps operating in parallel (Image 4).

This is just one example, and the needs for other building applications will result in different types and sizes of rotodynamic pumps.

For more information on pumps used in commercial buildings, refer to HI’s Pump Application Guidebook for Commercial Building Services, at pumps.org.

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