Plunger pump in the context of Force pump

Hand pumps are manually operated pumps; they use human power and mechanical advantage to move fluids or air from one place to another. They are widely used in every country in the world for a variety of industrial, marine, irrigation and leisure activities. There are many different types of hand pump available, mainly operating on a piston, diaphragm or rotary vane principle with a check valve on the entry and exit ports to the chamber operating in opposing directions. Most hand pumps are either piston pumps or plunger pumps, and are positive displacement.

Hand pumps are commonly used in developing countries for both community supply and self-supply of water and can be installed on boreholes or hand-dug wells.

A reciprocating pump is a class of positive-displacement pumps that includes the piston pump, plunger pump, and diaphragm pump. Well maintained, reciprocating pumps can last for decades. Unmaintained, however, they can succumb to wear and tear. It is often used where a relatively small quantity of liquid is to be handled and where delivery pressure is quite large. In reciprocating pumps, the chamber that traps the liquid is a stationary cylinder that contains a piston or plunger.

A plunger is a cylindrical rod used to transmit hydraulic compression force. It is characterized by its length being much greater than its diameter, and it is thus distinguished from a regular piston (where the working surface is larger than the thickness of the rod, i.e. more like a disk).

They are mainly used as part of certain types of pumps and hydraulic machines. Plungers are used for fluid-mechanical power transmission in pumps (plunger pumps), hydraulic gearboxes, high-pressure diesel injection pumps, hydraulic workshop presses and jacks, and other equipment, and are distinguished in fluid mechanics by being a piston without moving seals. The seals are instead located in the wall through which the plunger slides (as opposed to piston rings on a piston).