Condensate pump

A condensate pump is a specific type of pump used to pump the condensate (water) produced in an HVAC (heating or cooling), refrigeration, condensing boiler furnace, or steam system.

Condensate pumps may be used to pump the condensate produced from latent water vapor in any of the following gas mixtures:

Condensate recovery systems help reduce three tangible costs of producing steam:

Condensate pumps as used in hydronic systems are usually electrically powered centrifugal pumps. As used in homes and individual heat exchangers, they are often small and rated at a fraction of a horsepower, but in commercial applications they 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 pumps may also serve as the feedwater pump for returning the condensate under pressure to a boiler.

Condensate pumps usually run intermittently and have a tank in which condensate can accumulate. Eventually, the accumulating liquid raises a float switch energizing the pump. The pump then runs until the level of liquid in the tank is substantially lowered. Some pumps contain a two-stage switch. As liquid rises to the trigger point of the first stage, the pump is activated. If the liquid continues to rise (perhaps because the pump has failed or its discharge is blocked), the second stage will be triggered. This stage may switch off the HVAC equipment (preventing the production of further condensate), trigger an alarm, or both.

Some systems may include two pumps to service the tank. In this case, the two pumps often alternate operation, and a two-stage switch serves to energize the on-duty pump at the first stage and then energize the remaining pump at the second stage. This second stage action is in addition to any triggering of other system changes as noted for a single pump installation. In this way pump runtime is shared between the two, and a backup pump is provided in case one pump fails to function as designed.

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