Alfa Laval LKH Hygienic Centrifugal Pump

Overview

Alfa Laval LKH is a premium hygienic centrifugal pump for dairy, food, beverage and personal care processes that demand gentle product treatment, cleanability and dependable operation. Alfa Laval describes the pump as distinguished by high efficiency, chemical resistance and a wide range of flow rates and pressures. It is available in 13 sizes that handle capacities up to 500 m3/hour and differential pressures up to 11 bar at 50 Hz, so one pump family can serve small laboratory style lines as well as large transfer duties. Precision engineering, tight tolerances, an advanced impeller and a premium motor reduce recirculation and energy consumption compared with similar pumps.

Seven Star LLC supplies the Alfa Laval LKH to process plants in Oman and across the GCC, with engineering support in Muscat. Dairies, juice and beverage fillers, water bottlers, pharmaceutical and personal care manufacturers in Sohar, Salalah and Muscat all require pumps that can be cleaned in place without dismantling. We can help you review the model size, connection standard, seal arrangement and motor data in the Alfa Laval leaflet before you request a quotation.

Operating Principle

The Alfa Laval LKH is a single stage centrifugal pump with a semi-open impeller. The motor turns the impeller inside the pump casing, and the liquid entering the axial inlet is accelerated outward by the impeller vanes. The velocity energy is converted into pressure in the volute casing and the product leaves through the tangential outlet. A special vane design with a semi-open impeller ensures efficient and gentle handling of the product as it moves through the pump, which matters for milk, creams, yoghurt bases and other shear sensitive foods.

Seal design is critical to hygiene. As standard the Alfa Laval LKH has a single mechanical shaft seal, but a single flushed seal or a double mechanical seal is also available. The front-loading shaft seal, with the spring and washers mounted on the atmospheric side, makes maintenance fast, easy and inexpensive, and Alfa Laval states that the shaft seal can be replaced in just a few minutes. The balanced seal design minimises the risk of the seal opening during unforeseen pressure shocks. The rotary seal face is carbon and the stationary face is silicon carbide, with EPDM elastomers on product wetted parts.

Engineering Design of the Alfa Laval LKH

All media contacting steel components of the Alfa Laval LKH, including the pump casing, impeller, impeller nut and backplate, are made of W. 1.4404 (AISI 316L) stainless steel. A stainless steel shroud protects the motor and four adjustable stainless steel legs support the complete unit. A compression coupling securely attaches the stub shaft to the motor shaft with precise alignment. The standard inside surface finish is blasted, and the design follows stringent hygienic design standards with verified, effective CIP cleanability.

The motor is an IEC foot-flanged unit built to the IEC metric standard. It is available as a 2 pole machine for 3000 or 3600 rpm at 50 or 60 Hz and as a 4 pole machine for 1500 or 1800 rpm, with IP 55 protection, a drain hole with labyrinth plug and insulation class F. Motor sizes run from 0.75 to 110 kW at both 50 and 60 Hz. Alfa Laval publishes pump specific dimensions for each size from LKH-5 to LKH-90. As an example, the dimension A for the LKH-10 is 142 mm, for the LKH-25 193 mm and for the LKH-90 310 mm, while the dimension D for the LKH-10 is 247 mm and for the LKH-90 504 mm. Connections include clamp ISO 2037, union ISO (IDF), union DIN/ISO, union SMS and union BS RJT.

Key Features of the Alfa Laval LKH

The Alfa Laval LKH leaflet lists the following benefits.

• Superior efficiency reduces energy consumption and the carbon footprint of the process line.
• Hygienic design follows demanding standards with verified, effective CIP cleanability.
• A wide performance envelope reduces the need for parallel and serial pump installations and keeps the pump operating efficiently.
• Robust mechanical design and modular front-loading seals maximise uptime and reduce maintenance cost.
• Thirteen sizes from LKH-5 to LKH-90 cover capacities up to 500 m3/hour and differential pressure up to 11 bar at 50 Hz.
• Single, single flushed or double mechanical shaft seals are available.
• The temperature range with EPDM elastomers is minus 10 to plus 140 degrees Celsius.
• An extended three year warranty covers all non wear parts when genuine Alfa Laval spare parts are used.

Industrial Applications

The Alfa Laval LKH is designed for cleaning-in-place and hygienic applications within the dairy, food, beverage and personal care industries. In the Sultanate of Oman that means milk reception and processing lines, juice and soft drink blending, water treatment and bottling, bakery and confectionery ingredient transfer, and cosmetic and personal care production in the industrial estates of Muscat, Sohar and Salalah.

Operating limits must be reviewed for each duty. The leaflet gives a maximum inlet pressure of 6 bar for the LKH-5, 10 bar for the LKH-10 to LKH-70 and 5 bar for the LKH-85 and LKH-90, with 5 bar for the LKH-70 at 60 Hz. Flush media for a flushed seal is limited to 70 degrees Celsius, and sterilisation of the flush housing with the pump not in operation is limited to 125 degrees Celsius. Seven Star LLC can help customers apply these limits to the Alfa Laval LKH and request the correct motor, seal and connection options.

Technical Specifications

The table summarises published data for the Alfa Laval LKH from the Alfa Laval product leaflet.

Related Products

Customers planning a hygienic or utility process line with the Alfa Laval LKH also review the Alfa Laval M6 gasketed plate heat exchanger for heating and cooling duties, the Pentair Aurora 3800 end suction centrifugal pump for utility transfer, and the Xylem Lowara intelligent pump range for water services.

How to Order

To order the Alfa Laval LKH, send an RFQ to Seven Star LLC giving the required capacity, differential pressure, product, temperature, connection type, seal arrangement and motor voltage and frequency. We will confirm availability, share the Alfa Laval leaflet and arrange delivery to Muscat, Sohar, Salalah and other GCC locations, supported by our engineering team in Oman.