Sulzer, our favourite Piranha

Recently, I wrote about Kolmeks, the Finnish pump manufacturer, established in the 1940s.

The Swiss giant, Sulzer, by comparison, is truly venerable, having been founded in 1834 (as Sulzer Brothers) and is one of the oldest and largest pump manufacturers in the world, with nearly ten thousand employees and a turnover of over CHF3 billion (￡2.86 billion).

Sulzer’s Flow Equipment Division produces a comprehensive range of pumps for an equally wide array of applications, such as waste-water, light drainage, sewage, and commercial de-watering. The last one, commercial de-watering, is something of a specialism. Sulzer’s de-watering pumps can be specified for use with water that contains abrasives and solids. Likewise, Sulzer’s heavy duty submersible pumps can cope with contaminants that would be otherwise problematic.

My personal favourite is the Sulzer ABS Piranha range, mostly for the aptronymic connotations. With their razor-sharp little teeth, piranha have a fearsome reputation (we have all heard the stories of Amazonian fishermen, devoured in minutes when a single drop of blood from a mile away drives swarms of these tiny, red-bellied terrors into a feeding frenzy); in similar (if more believable) fashion, Sulzer’s Piranha pumps chomp their way through particulates in waste-water, teeth shredding as they go. One piranha is a marginally more realistically portrayed than the other, but you can decide which one.

Built with these gruelling applications in mind, it is not surprising that Sulzer pumps have an enviable reputation for robustness and reliability. When considering total lifecycle costs, Sulzer pumps represent exceptional value.

Sulzer’s four main philosophical tenets are: ‘Minimise, Enable, Governance, Engage’. Reading the ‘Enable’ policy gives a good idea how Sulzer approach their product design and development, as the underpinnings of this particular section lean heavily towards reinvestment and continuous research and development. Indeed, Sulzer not only invest heavily in their internal R&D, but also operate as part of a global external network of contributors; I will take an educated guess that this is a key factor in explaining how Sulzer has exerted such market prominence over such an exceptional length of time. Sulzer cite their collaborative approach to development as important in their drive towards improved recycling, reduced reliance upon plastics in favour of bio-degradable polymers and decreased chemical and energy footprints.

Sustainability, of course, is a key issue for manufacturers, especially large manufacturers- as defined by having (two of): a ￡36m gross income; 250 or more employees; assets totalling ￡18m or more. Large companies are obliged to document their carbon emissions, and energy consumption, as part of their annual reporting. Not surprisingly, Sulzer takes these responsibilities seriously, with deep-rooted sustainability polices, a commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and using energy from renewable sources.

Here at Pumps (UK), we are very fond of ABS Sulzer pumps. They are solidly engineered, and, when correctly operated, failures are very rare. We have confidence in both the longevity and performance of the range, and we highly recommend them.

Daryl Williams

August 2022