| Themes > Science > Physics > Thermodynamics > Applied Thermodynamics > Pumps | |||
A pump is a device used to raise, transfer, or compress liquids and gases. Water is a typical fluid used by pumps in applications such as irrigation and cooling, among others. Applications involving air are often where a vaccum is needed. Even an average leaf blower pumps air out in a focused stream in order to clear leaves from a particular area. Another very typical use of a pump is to force gas into a combustion chamber such as in a jet engine, where it is termed a compressor. Multitudes of uses have been discovered for pumps involving liquids varying from blood to sludge. Although a pump can be used with almost any liquid, certain attributes of the working fluid must be considered when designing a pump. For example, if the pump must displace an acidic fluid, the pump must be composed of materials which will not react with the acid. In a pump system, there must be some form of work done on the pump to make it operate. In most cases, this would be a motor which would drive either a piston or a type of rotor. The pump then does work on the fluid passing through it, and this work is translated into total energy within the fluid.
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