Steam Boiler Feed Pump

boiler feed pump is a pump that supplies water to a boiler. The water can be supplied freshly from a water source (such as a reservoir) or from water that has gone through the condensation process from the previous water cycle. The pump is a high-pressure pump, and it can be found in any plant that uses boiler, such as thermal power stations.

A steam boiler feed pump is a specific type of pump used to pump feedwater into a steam boiler. The water may be freshly supplied or returning condensate produced as a result of the condensation of the steam produced by the boiler. These pumps are normally high pressure units that take suction from a condensate return system and can be of the centrifugal pump type or positive displacement type.

Feedwater pumps range in size up to many horsepower and the electric motor is usually separated from the pump body by some form of mechanical coupling. Large industrial condensate pumps may also serve as the feedwater pump. In either case, to force the water into the boiler, the pump must generate sufficient pressure to overcome the steam pressure developed by the boiler. This is usually accomplished through the use of a centrifugal pump. Another common form of feedwater pumps run constantly and are provided with a minimum flow device to stop overpressuring the pump on low flows. The minimum flow usually returns to the tank or deaerator.