July 26, 2016 Power Behind The Process

Volume 10 | Issue 4

Known for its highly adaptable and wide range of pumps, Wilden is a market leader in air-operated double-diaphragm pumps. As Pat Whiteman le

Everything that you touch, eat, or use at some point was involved in a process. Before it arrived in your possession, a company took the raw material for, let’s say, ink or food, or paint, and had to get it from a truck or other device and somehow unload it. Usually, that gets done with a pump. More often than not, that pump is a Wilden pump. “We have the widest breadth of product available and material selection within our industry” says Walter Bonnett, global marketing manager for Wilden. “Whatever the application challenges, a majority of the time, you can use a Wilden pump to get the job done.”

Wilden Pump was founded in 1955 on the sketches of Jim Wilden and his unique, reliable and highly utilitarian pump, known as the air-operated double-diaphragm pump. The pump was conceived out of necessity. A large water pipe had ruptured several feet below ground flooding a shop at a factory where Jim Wilden worked. Amid the chaos, a cool-headed foreman surveyed the inundated workshop and drenched workmen and yelled out to Jim, “You would make a million dollars if you could invent a pump to get this stuff out of here.” So, he did. Jim Wilden invented his air-operated double-diaphragm-pump based on the need to pump water, slurry and other finely divided substances such as cement and created a pump tough enough to handle the job.

Little did he know he had pioneered a revolutionary new product. Wilden became the first to market with his pump in 1955. Today, Wilden Pump continues to be the industry leader with annual sales over $100 million.

Safe By Design
Wilden pumps and accessories are employed in a host of difficult fluid transfer applications ranging from circulation duty in clean room environments to municipal sludge pumping. Wilden pumps are intrinsically safe by design and employed by a host of industries including process ceramics, chemical, dry powder, mining, sanitary, waste treatment, oil and gas, paint, pulp and paper, semiconductor, plating, finishing and bio-pharm industries.

Wilden Pump and Engineering LLC, still resides in Grand Terrace, Calif. where the company was started. Wilden occupies more than 110,000 square feet with its world-class facility and includes a fully equipped R & D laboratory, clean room, test facility, QC department, CAD department, injection molding center and customer satisfaction department. Acquired by Dover Corporation (NYSE: DOV), Inc. in 1998, Wilden operates as a stand-alone entity within the Dover Resources division and continues to be managed by its existing leadership.

The company also has manufacturing facilities in Germany, China, India and recently opened a facility in Mexico. “Not only does our facility hold state-of-the-art equipment, it also houses a deep knowledge base and intellectual capital ready to work for our customers,” says Bonnett. “We are customer focused and internally driven to listen to market needs. We are continually developing products from inception through final product release.”

Pro-Flo X™
Released just one year ago, Wilden’s Pro-Flo X™ featuring Wilden’s new patent pending air distribution systems delivers efficiency and process optimization. “You can dial in your best efficiency point for your application,” explains Bonnett. “Our efficiency management system or EMS™ empowers our users to control flow rates and air consumption with the simple turn of a dial. Each pump can be finely tuned by adjusting the air volume at the pump inlet with a variable control dial. By turning the EMS dial, you can either maximize flow to get the job done fast, or you can maximize efficiency to reduce processing costs. Pro-Flo X™ gives customers the reliability, flexibility and efficiency needed in today’s energy conscious and performance driven applications.” Pro-Flo X™ also includes all of the advanced design features of previous Pro-Flo X™ systems that have been reliably serving the industry for many years now.

Saniflo™ – the Evolution of Clean
Another Wilden standout product is its premier sanitary and bio-pharmaceutical pumps known as the Saniflo™ line. The line is specifically designed to meet the stringent guidelines established for sanitary process applications.

“Wilden is proud to be the sanitary global leader in air-operated double-diaphragm pumps (AODDP). Our commitment to the sanitary and bio-pharmaceutical industries is evident in that our Saniflo™ Hygienic Series meet and exceed one of the highest hygienic standards in the world, known as EHEDG” says Bonnett. “Our Hygienic Series pump design and performance set the standards for equipment used in bio-pharmaceutical and food industries. Not only are these pumps designed to meet the demands of safety, performance and hygienic requirements, they also ensure the careful transfer of our customers’ products.”

Saniflo™ pumps incorporate a straight flow-through design, large solids passage and efficiencies to ensure process success. Saniflo™ pumps have a shear sensitive operation, Tri-clamp® style fittings, and are offered in various sizes and surface finishes. The Saniflo™ pump line also offers pumps that are CIP (clean in place) and COP (clean on plate) for ease of use and maintenance. “As a global leader in AODD pumps, we are committed to the sanitary and biopharm industries, we understand that safety, performance, hygienic requirements and the careful transfer of products is what’s essential when choosing process equipment,” says Bonnett.

Green, Pump & Grow
While Wilden enjoys large market shares in many industries, the three areas it sees the most potential for growth in the near future is food, chemical and biopharmaceutical. “These industries continue to grow in addition to our core industries. In addition, we see a lot of manufacturers focusing on green issues and we are also asking ourselves hard questions about issues in that regard. That is what the first generation of the Pro-Flo X™ addresses, the energy aspect and helping managing costs, creating a more efficient pump than any other AODDP system. Still, we are always looking to do more.

Wilden will continue to address the green movement by making pumps more efficient for manufacturers and to develop products for the three upcoming industries. “We also want to drive the industry as a whole,” says Bonnett. “Overall the industry is relying on older technology. Our philosophy is to push the industry forward and see what we can do to find the latest more efficient way for manufacturers to do the work they need to do.”

At the same time, Wilden has never had such a diverse product offering. Its UnitecTM product line adds yet another dimension. The Unitec products boast machined sealing surfaces and superior product containment. The conductive plastic pumps in the UnitecTM series are designed to safely discharge static electricity when hazardous static build-up is present in a process system. The pump’s ability to safely discharge this static electricity also meets the ATEX 100 directive standards for Europe. “We hope the UnitecTM pumps will exceed our customers’ expectations about how an air-operated double-diaphragm pump should perform,” says Bonnett. “We hope our end users will put Wilden pump technologies to the test, I have the full confidence that we can solve their toughest pumping challenges”.

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