About this tool & our methodology

Knowledge base v0.3.0 · Last updated: September 14, 2026

What ChemPumpSelect is

ChemPumpSelect is a free pre-selection tool for chemical duty pumps. You enter your fluid, concentration, temperature and duty point; a deterministic rule engine screens wetted materials against a compatibility knowledge base and walks a decision tree to a pump type — producing an RFQ-ready specification sheet you can send to any manufacturer.

It answers the first half of pump selection: pump type + wetted material class + a specification suppliers can quote against. It deliberately does not do model-level selection (no pump curves) — that second half belongs to the manufacturer's engineering team.

How it works — and why there is no AI inside

Every recommendation is produced by a deterministic, auditable rule engine. There is no AI model generating answers at runtime. This is a deliberate design choice for three reasons:

• Reproducibility — the same inputs always produce the same answer, and we can show you exactly why (the "Engineering rationale" section of every report).
• No hallucinations — a wrong material recommendation in corrosive service can mean leaks, fires and injuries. Rules don't improvise.
• Honest limits — when your duty falls outside what our data supports, the tool says so and routes you to a human engineer instead of guessing (see below).

Where the data comes from

The knowledge base covers 35 chemical media × 13 wetted materials with A/B/C/X compatibility ratings and temperature limits — plus 2 high-hazard media (hydrofluoric acid, oleum) that are deliberately excluded from automated selection and routed to engineering review. Ratings are compiled by cross-referencing published pump-manufacturer resistance guides (including Grundfos), specialty-alloy corrosion data (including Rolled Alloys), pump-industry material selection guides, and industry standards (ANSI/ASME B73.1, API 610, ISO 2858). Everything we use is public and verifiable — no proprietary data, no black boxes. Where sources conflict, we show you their positions directly in the report (look for "Sources disagree") and assign the most conservative rating. Ratings are assigned per concentration band — sulfuric acid, for example, is three separate entries (< 50%, 50–80% and 93–98%) because dilute, mid-range and concentrated acid are different materials problems.

What the tool refuses to answer

The tool declines to produce an automated report — and routes you to human engineering review — when:

• Your stated concentration is outside the band our data was compiled for
• Your duty exceeds the single-stage end-suction envelope (head > 150 m, or flow > 400 m³/h)
• The medium is high-hazard (e.g. hydrofluoric acid, oleum) or not yet in the knowledge base

We would rather send you to an engineer than hand you a plausible-looking wrong answer.

How this tool is funded

ChemPumpSelect is free. It is supported by Chinese manufacturing partners: if you ask, we forward your inquiry to pump manufacturers listed in our supplier directory so they can quote. This is disclosed on the homepage, in the contact form consent, and in our privacy policy. We do not endorse, warrant, or act as agent for any manufacturer — supplier evaluation and due diligence remain your responsibility, and every report includes a supplier verification checklist to help you do it.

Maintenance

The knowledge base is versioned and expanded over time. Ratings are indicative for the stated concentration and clean fluid; final material and pump selection must always be confirmed with the manufacturer's engineering team. Questions, corrections and media requests: leads@chempumpselect.com.