444,444th Pump Sold 

NETZSCH Pumpen & Systeme GmbH (Germany) has recorded a sensational growth in turnover averaging 20% in the environmental sector in recent years. It is therefore no wonder that the pump with the number 444,444, where all the digits are the same, is being delivered in the renewable energy sector. From a company point of view, it is very welcome that this involves one of the newly developed TORNADO T2 rotary lobe pumps which were presented for the first time at the IFAT Environment Trade Fair in Munich.

The pump is part of a delivery which is intended for an internationally successful biogas plant constructor from Germany. In a really short time, NETZSCH has built up an intensive customer relationship with this client and this contributes to the steady turnover in this promising sector.

In the course of the planned transformation of energy systems, biogas has experienced a boom in Germany in recent years and German biogas plant constructors have carved out a lead in terms of experience and technology, which has put them in an ideal starting position to capture markets in countries where biogas is now moving up the political agenda. NETZSCH, the Bavarian pump and systems provider, has succeeded in achieving a strong position as a highly innovative company in this market which is still relatively young. Requirements have been carefully listened to in many discussions with the customer and, where there are difficulties, appropriate solutions are worked out which are precisely tailored to these needs.

In the case of the biogas plant constructor, in concrete terms this means that the conditions under which biogas is obtained from fibrous plant materials such as maize silage and liquid substrates such as liquid manure have been dealt with as precisely as possible. The result of this is a product range which also includes substrate pumps in addition to a mixing pump, which increases the gas yield of the plant due to its special design. Here, in addition to the NEMO progressing cavity pumps, with which NETZSCH has progressed to become the world leader over the last 60 years, the company also offers the TORNADO rotary lobe pumps, which are ideal for use with liquid substrates, because they require significantly less room and convey greater quantities with lower energy consumption, which further improves the cost-effectiveness of the plant.

The TORNADO T2 was the real crowd-puller at this year's IFAT, where it celebrated its world premiere in the rubber-metal version. In this design, it is ideally suited to environmental and agricultural fields of application, but also to many sectors of industry. In the all-metal version, which is suitable for use in a very wide range of process industries, but also in applications in the food and pharmaceutical sector, it was presented to the public a few weeks later at ACHEMA.

Bernd Murrenhoff, Sales Manager at NETZSCH, welcomes the fact that these two world premieres have been quickly followed by the first orders. "The launch of a new product is always eagerly anticipated in the company, because the development of the product through to it being ready for the market ties up capacities and capital, and you can only hope for there to be a quick payback on these. A positive take-up by the market, like the one we have been able to experience with the new TORNADO T2, is naturally very pleasing for us, as it shows us that we have interpreted the requirements of the market correctly. We have great expectations of the TORNADO T2 and believe that we can further increase our previous production figures of around 50,000 pumps a year with it."