Total Solutions Can Add $15 Billion to Pump Company Revenues
As processes become more complex, operators are turning to pump companies for total solutions and not just the one component. Energy savings, greater reliability and lower maintenance are all goals which can be met by pump companies who take advantage of this opportunity to add revenues of $15 billion. This opportunity is analyzed in Pumps World Markets.
Pump motors and controls have already been incorporated into many pump company sales platforms. The development of digital monitoring of pump functions offers significant opportunity for the supplier to generate initial and aftermarket revenues.
The supply of complimentary devices is another revenue generator. Flowserve is a large pump supplier who is pursuing the total solutions approach. The company states that "Having equipped desalination plants for more than half a century, Flowserve understands energy is the largest operating cost for any SWRO facility. Flowserve also understands that high-efficiency equipment and especially energy recovery devices are critical to making the process cost-effective.
"That s why in 2009 Flowserve acquired the Swiss company CalderT. Calder specializes in the design, engineering and manufacture of energy recovery devices and related propriety technologies for reverse osmosis desalination.
"By bringing together industry-leading pumps, seals, valves and energy recovery devices as well as unmatched materials expertise and application knowledge, Flowserve is the premier provider of complete, integrated flow control solutions for the global SWRO industry."
Another large pump company who is taking the total solutions approach is Ebara. The installation of cryogenic turbine expanders in existing LNG plants presents a very effective upgrade with an advanced but field-proven technology requiring relatively low investment costs and only short installation time. All LNG plants commissioned before 1996 are currently operating with an ineffective expansion valve. Ebara recommends replacing the existing Joule-Thomson valve a.k.a. J-T valve with a cryogenic turbine to expand the condensed natural gas from high pressure to low pressure. The thermodynamic efficiency of the existing refrigeration process is substantially improved, providing an increase of the total LNG output between about 5 to 7 percent. To attain this increase in efficiency, no substantial investments are necessary.
There are many ways that pump companies can take advantage of the demand for Total Solutions. The way to start is with a thorough understanding of the processes where pumps are used.
Source: The McIlvaine Company
