Equipment whose function is to raise the mechanical energy of the fluid — as pressure, velocity or both. It is the largest functional group of fluid machinery in the process industries, and concentrates most of the maintenance cost of rotating assets.
The working fluid defines the family
The fluid type is not a taxonomy level of its own — it is the attribute that separates the families in this group:
| Family | Working fluid | Typical pressure rise |
|---|---|---|
| Pumps | liquids — including multiphase mixtures and slurries | set by the system curve |
| Compressors | gases and vapors | pressure ratio > ~1.2 |
| Blowers | gases | ratio ~1.1–1.2 |
| Fans | gases at high flow | small ΔP (ratio < ~1.1) |
| Pressure Intensifiers | liquids or gases | localized multiplication, no transport |
In ISO 14224:2016 (Annex A), the corresponding equipment classes include PU (pumps) and CO (compressors). Fans and blowers have no class of their own in the standard — they appear as subunits of other equipment (e.g. the fan of an air cooler) and are covered by AMCA/ASME PTC 11 practice; failure recording follows the same subdivision logic.