Sealless Pump for Critical Media: Key Technology for Industrial Applications

Canned motor pumps play a key role here, combining safety, emission prevention, and high plant availability. HERMETIC-Pumpen GmbH develops and supplies such pump systems for processes in which pump technology is not merely a component, but a prerequisite for new technologies.

Hermetic principle as the basis for safe processes
Canned motor pumps integrate the motor and hydraulics in a fully encapsulated system. The design-related elimination of mechanical seals removes potential leakage points and enables permanently leak-tight operation—even with highly toxic, easily volatile, or flammable media. This makes the technology particularly suitable for safety-critical processes in which even the smallest emissions pose significant risks to people, the environment, and plants.

HERMETIC canned motor pumps are designed for fluid temperatures from –160 °C to +480 °C, system pressures up to 120 MPa, and power ratings from 1 kW to 690 kW. This range allows them to be used both in standardized applications and in highly specialized pumping tasks under extreme operating conditions.

Pump technology as a strategic enabler
In many future-oriented industrial applications, pump technology is no longer merely a supporting unit, but a decisive enabler of entire process chains. New technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), CO₂ cycles, hydrogen electrolysis, and thermal energy storage place the highest demands on leak-tightness, operational safety, and long-term stability. Hermetically sealed pump systems create the conditions needed to test new processes under real operating conditions and scale them up to industrial level.

Canned motor pumps make it possible to safely handle media with very low viscosity, high vapor pressure, or pronounced toxicity—properties typical of CO₂, ammonia, hydrogen-related processes, or highly reactive chemical intermediates. In this environment, HERMETIC is regularly involved at an early stage in  development, pilot, and proof-of-concept projects, specifically contributing its technology to new applications that are still largely unstandardized.

Chemicals and Petrochemicals: safety with highly critical media
In the chemical and petrochemical industries, canned motor pumps are used to handle hydrocarbons, toxic intermediates, aggressive media, and high-pressure and high-temperature processes. Typical applications include methanol production, toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) processes, and plants for producing diesel and biodiesel from edible fats. The hermetically sealed design helps reliably prevent emissions and achieve long service lives, even in continuous 24/7 operation.

For particularly demanding media such as 1,3-butadiene, which places high requirements on pump design due to its low boiling temperature, high volatility, and toxicity, canned motor pumps enable safe and lowmaintenance operation, even in potentially explosive atmospheres.

Industrial Refrigeration, NH₃/CO₂ cycles, and secondary systems
Another key field of application is industrial refrigeration. HERMETIC is one of the leading suppliers of canned motor pumps for natural refrigerants such as ammonia (NH₃) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). The pumps are used in industrial refrigeration systems, logistics and production facilities, sports venues, and complex  infrastructure projects. The application experience gained from thousands of installed pumps forms the basis for their use in new CO₂-based process and energy transition applications.

In addition, canned motor pumps are used in water- or water-glycol-based secondary and distribution systems, for example in the cooling of digital infrastructure. In data centers and server rooms, operational safety and availability are paramount. Here, the company’s pump solutions minimize leakage risks and contribute to stable cooling in continuous operation.

Energy Transition: hydrogen, CCUS, and large-scale energy projects
As part of the energy transition, HERMETIC canned motor pumps are used, among other applications, in electrolyzers for hydrogen production, where they reliably circulate electrolytes such as potassium hydroxide and thus contribute to temperature stabilization and process safety. One example is an electrolyzer in a refinery environment, which is co-funded by the European Union under the EPHYRA project as part of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership.

Hermetically sealed pump systems also perform central pumping tasks in applications for the capture, utilization, and storage of CO₂ (CCS/CCUS), for example in the circulation of toxic amine solutions and the handling of liquefied CO₂. One example is the Greensand project, where HERMETIC pump technology is used for CO₂ handling tasks on an industrial scale. Tests show emissions of less than one gram of CO₂ per year of operation, even at high system pressures.

A growing application focus is also on intank canned motor pumps for ammonia, which is becoming established as an energy carrier and hydrogen derivative. Fully emission-free operation directly in the medium meets key requirements of future energy and material cycles. In addition, HERMETIC canned motor pumps are used in large-scale energy projects such as offshore wind farms, for example for cooling converters in the Dogger Bank project in the North Sea.

Long-Term stability and service as decisive factors
In addition to canned motor pumps, HERMETIC’s portfolio also includes magnetic coupling pumps as well as vacuum pumps and systems. Long-term operational reliability is a key factor: HERMETIC complements its pump systems with a worldwide service and partner network covering commissioning, maintenance, troubleshooting, and 24/7 emergency service. The aim is to safeguard the technical reliability of sealless pump systems throughout the entire plant lifecycle.