For more than 50 years, FELUWA has specialised in designing and manufacturing hose-diaphragm pumps, a technology that has carved out a distinct niche in demanding pumping applications worldwide. The German company, which traces its origins back more than a century, has evolved through several industrial phases before establishing itself in the pump market. Today, FELUWA is recognised for engineering solutions that thrive where abrasive, solid-laden fluids need to be pumped at high pressure and over long distances.
In Australia, FELUWA is represented by Paolo Romagnoli, Managing Director of FELUWA’s Australian subsidiary, who explained how the company’s MULTISAFE® hose-diaphragm pumps differ from other positive displacement designs.
“Traditional diaphragm pumps use a flat, circular diaphragm. We use a hose element that is softly actuated by hydraulic fluid, which brings major benefits in wear characteristics and maintenance,” Romagnoli said.
This distinction allows FELUWA to deliver reliability in environments where centrifugal pumps or flat-diaphragm designs would struggle. The hose element isolates the pumped medium from the pump body, meaning only the hose and valves are exposed to the process fluid. As a result, exotic alloys are minimised, wear is reduced, and long service life is achievable, often measured in decades.
Australian installations
In Australia, hose-diaphragm pumps have been applied in several specialised niches. At Origin Energy’s Eraring Power Station in New South Wales, FELUWA pumps have been handling fly ash, an abrasive by-product of coal combustion, since 2006. These are among the largest FELUWA pumps operating in the country.
FELUWA has also supplied pumps to Glencore’s Murrin Murrin operation in Western Australia, where they have been installed for more than 25 years.
“Those installations prove the longevity of our pumps,” Romagnoli said. “If they are maintained properly, a hose-diaphragm pump can operate effectively for 30 years or more.”
A new milestone is the Hemi Gold Project in Western Australia, where FELUWA will deliver pumps for Australia’s first autoclave gold processing facility. The pumps will feed solids-laden fluid at high pressure into autoclaves, representing a showcase application for hose-diaphragm technology in mining.
Where hose-diaphragm pumps fit best
Romagnoli explained that the competitive advantage of hose-diaphragm pumps in the mining and power industry lies in applications involving long-distance slurry pipelines or steep elevation changes.
“If you need to pump significant distances and/or deal with large elevation changes, you will need to stack multiple centrifugal pumps in series. With a hose-diaphragm pump, you can often achieve the duty with a single pump,” he said.
This is one reason why FELUWA has identified strong opportunities outside Australia, particularly in India, where iron ore and coal slurry pipelines of hundreds of kilometres in length are being developed. By comparison, Australia’s rail infrastructure for ore transport makes such pipelines less viable.
In downstream processing, FELUWA pumps also serve industries such as chemicals, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, and waste sludge treatment, such as Super Critical Water Oxidation (SCWO) or wet oxidation processes. In these applications, high-pressure atomisation or the ability to pump viscous, abrasive fluids provides a significant advantage over alternatives.
Global expansion
China remains a major market for FELUWA, particularly in coal gasification, but the company is also exploring new opportunities in Southeast Asia. Over the past 12 months, it has appointed agents in Vietnam and Malaysia to build local connections and open doors to growth industries. Vietnam is emerging as a processing hub, while Malaysia has a more established industrial base, and both markets could benefit from hose-diaphragm pumps in upstream and downstream applications.
FELUWA also has long-running installations in Indonesia, where pumps have been operating successfully in gold mining for several years. “Often the best sign of success is when you hear nothing from a customer, because it means the pumps are quietly doing their job,” Romagnoli said.
Beyond Asia, one of FELUWA’s most significant strategic moves has been the establishment of a US office in 2023. North America represents about 18 per cent of the global pump market, compared with Germany’s 5 per cent and Australia’s less than 1 per cent. Many of FELUWA’s early US installations were specified through European-designed plants. However, the new office enables the company to serve customers directly and provide faster access to parts and service.
“Having a local presence enables us to build stronger relationships and to demonstrate the benefits of hose-diaphragm pumps in the world’s second largest pump market,” Romagnoli said.
With Asia offering new industrial projects and the US accounting for a major share of the global pump market, FELUWA’s expansion strategy is designed to position the company where long-term opportunities are strongest.
Innovation and sustainability
Over the past two decades, FELUWA has steadily enhanced its MULTISAFE® hose-diaphragm pumps with more advanced condition monitoring capabilities. Customers can now track valve performance, pump operation, and energy efficiency in real time, either locally or remotely. This enables predictive maintenance, reducing downtime.
From a sustainability perspective, FELUWA highlights several advantages. Energy demand is lower than with multiple centrifugal pumps in series, and efficiency levels of around 95 per cent are common. The hose-diaphragm design also reduces the need for exotic alloys, as only the hose and valves come into contact with the pumped fluid.
“The pumps are designed for a lifetime of 30 years or more,” Romagnoli said. “When customers maintain them correctly, they avoid the waste and disruption of full pump replacement. That long service life is an important sustainability contribution.”
Looking ahead
FELUWA is investing in the development of hose-diaphragm pumps capable of handling even higher temperatures. Current limits are around 180 °C, but mineral processing demands are emerging that require temperatures of 200 °C and above. Engineers in Australia and Europe are working to develop solutions at these levels.
“We’re in the early design phase, but if we can deliver hose-diaphragm pumps at those temperatures within the next two years, it will change the industry,” Romagnoli said.
For FELUWA, the strategy is clear: maintain its strong positions in China and Germany, expand into Asia and the US, continue to refine the hose-diaphragm technology, and showcase the reliability of pumps already operating in some of the most demanding applications worldwide.
For more information, visit feluwa.com
