Pumps & Systems, February 2008

With pumps part of just about every manufacturing operation, proper functioning of entire facilities often relies on a single pump. 

Half of a plant's maintenance budget is very often spent on pumps, and pumps are commonly the single largest source of unplanned downtime. They have a significant impact on environmental compliance, product quality, mission assurance and, ultimately, the bottom line.

Pumps & Systems, February 2008

Q.  

When a centrifugal pump impeller is reduced in diameter to reduce total head and rate of flow, the affinity rules predict that the new rate of flow is equal to the original rate of flow times the ratio of the new diameter to the old-as in the equation Q₂= Q₁ x D₂/D₁. On the other hand, if the model of a larger pump is made to a smaller size to facilitate testing, the rate of flow is predicted as the cube of the diameter ratio or Q₂= Q₁ x (D₂/D₁)³. Why are these two equations different?

Pumps & Systems, February 2008

Transformer oil pumps have evolved dramatically over the past several decades. Once considered to be merely a replaceable routine maintenance item, comparable to say, a valve, these pumps are now almost universally recognized as a critical component of "forced oil cooled" transformers that require sophisticated engineering, high quality construction and systematic preventative maintenance.  

Pumps & Systems, February 2008

As one of the higher volume methods of lift, ESPs offer advantages over some other high volume methods because they can create a higher drawdown on the formation and achieve more production. However, they also present problems that must be solved, such as gas interference and sand production.

More than 60 percent of producing oil wells require some type of assisted lift technology to produce the recoverable oil originally in place. About 14 percent of some 832,000 wells lifted worldwide are/were lifted with electrical submersible pumps (ESP) (from World Oil, 2000).

Pumps & Systems, October 2007

The requirement for pH adjustment or neutralization is a common demand that spans various industries, including manufacturing facilities, research laboratories, food processing, bottling plants, schools and universities.

While discharge pH limits vary from region to region, the side effects of discharging outside these limits are the same: possible fines and damage to the environment in some cases. A number of different treatment schemes and equipment can be applied to prevent effluent excursions, including limestone chip tanks, batch treatment systems, and single-, dual-, and three-stage continuous flow systems.

Pumps & Systems, October 2007

Clean Water Services is the sanitary sewer and surface water management utility for more than 500,000 people located mostly in urban Washington County in northwest Oregon. We operate four wastewater treatment plants and 39 pump stations, construct and maintain flood management and water quality projects, and manage flow in the gently meandering Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat.   

Pumps & Systems, October 2007

Growing infrastructures are creating more complex problems for municipalities than ever before, forcing them to search for a diverse range of system solutions to issues involving energy savings, maintenance savings and total life cycle cost analysis.

Pumps & Systems, October 2007

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) radio was invented during World War II by the military for communicating information and strategic plans to allied forces in a way that would counter enemy efforts to "jam" or intercept traditional radio communication frequencies.

The flexibility of the technology, reliability of communication links and the ability for spread spectrum to overcome interference has made it a preferred technology source for many decades. Now, FHSS is being used in applications across the planet.

Pumps & Systems, April 2008

Biofuel production is one of the fastest growing sectors of the energy industry. To reduce our dependence on finite energy sources such as petroleum fuels and decrease the United States' CO₂ emissions, biofuel production is projected to increase by nearly 40 percent, from 6.5 billion gallons per year in 2007 to 9 billion gallons per year in 2008.

Pumps & Systems, October 2007

The scarcity of water resources directly and indirectly impedes economic development in China. The lack of potable water directly impairs the health and well-being of millions of people and restricts agricultural and industrial activity. The shortage of water also causes a secondary problem by constraining the ability to expand electrical power production to meet the needs of the rapidly growing economy.