History of Discflo and the Disc Pump Technology

The 'disc pump' to operate solely using the boundary layer/viscous drag phenomema was designed by Sargent in 1850. The pump comprised 29 closely-spaced discs wrapped by a metallic band with holes in it to let the fluid pass through. In the 1900s, Nikola Tesla developed the idea further. He desigend a series of seven closely-spaced discs that proved good for handling low-viscosity fluids and fluids containing small solids. The idea though was never developed commerically.

Discflo Founded in 1982

In the 1970s, the US inventor, Max Gurth experimented with the Tesla design by widening the spacing between the discs. This allowed more viscous products to be pumped and increased the efficiency of the pump so that it could compete commercially with centrifugal and PC type pumps. The first patents were awarded for the Discpac technology in the late 1970s, and Discflo Corporation was founded in 1982 to manufacture and market the Disc Pump.

To increase pumping efficiency further and produce higher heads, Discflo developed and patented the High Head Discpac in 1988. This design adds small 1/2"-diameter ribs to the inner surface of the discs, enhancing the boundary layer/viscous drag effect.

R & D Continues

Our most recent development is the ConiDisc line of pumps, launched in 2000. The ConiDisc, which uses a conical Discpac design, is designed for thick suction conditions and applications with very low NPSH requirements. It also improves the efficiency of our High Head line of pumps. Contact Discflo Sales for more information.


Discflo continues to develop the innovative Discpac technology, the most importance advance in pump technology for over 100 years.