BSM Goes Hollywood

Gear pumps to create movie magic on next installment of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’

Lights, camera, cue fog machine, annnd action! Our BSM Pump division has recently completed a novel project, shipping 25 pumps to an OEM for a fog machine application. The custom-engineered pumps are destined for the set of the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The job is an interesting change of pace from BSM’s usual end users in defense and industrial applications.

‘Fog juice,’ as it’s known in the biz, is created by vaporizing water and glycol- or glycerin-based liquids or through the atomization of mineral oil. The modified BSM 1 S-Series will pump the liquid that produces the fog. The S-Series is capable of handling discharge pressures to 200 psi at flow rates to 32.0 gpm. This pump is suited to a wide range of liquids with liquid viscosities ranging up 100,000 ssu.

For this particular order, BSM ground the gears and housing to minimum end clearance for greater suction, and used a Viton O-ring for compatibility with the pumped liquid. Rather than the signature BSM gray, the pumps were painted black to blend into the background of the movie scenery.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a bit to see our pumps in action on the big screen. The next installment of Pirates of the Caribbean is not slated for release until late 2021.