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A pump is a device used to move gases, liquids or
slurries. A pump moves liquids or gases from lower
pressure to higher pressure, and overcomes this
difference in pressure by adding energy to the
system (such as a water system). A gas pump is
generally called a compressor, except in very low
pressure-rise applications, such as in heating,
ventilating, and air-conditioning, where the
operative equipment consists of fans or blowers.
Pumps work by using mechanical forces to push the
material, either by physically lifting, or by the
force of compression.
The earliest type of pump was the Archimedes screw,
first used by Sennacherib, King of Assyria, for the
water systems at the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and
Nineveh in the 7th century BC, and later described
in more detail by Archimedes in the 3rd century BC.
In the 13th century AD, al-Jazari described and
illustrated different types of pumps, including a
reciprocating pump, double-action pump with suction
pipes, water pump, and piston pump. |
