Lowara Technology is Flying High

14.02.2005

Airbus has entrusted the ITT Industries Group company, leader in the watering pumping systems sector, with solving a problem which has been affecting the filtering unit of the chemical toilets in its aircraft for some months now.

In particular, the Airbus "Maintenance and Infrastructures" staff had discovered that there were faults in the water filtering process, supported by a Uranus 55 pump, which led to the need for frequent and very costly maintenance.

To be more specific, the filter tended to clog up and lead to pump cavitation, resulting in irritating noise both in the hydraulic circuit and in the motor.

Furthermore, the increased wear of the mechanical seal and anomalous overheating of the motor caused pump breakdown and the toilet ceased working.

The solution came when Airbus engineers met the local Lowara ITT Industries representative in Nantes. An inspection carried out by Lowara technicians on the filtering unit pinpointed the technical aspects of the problem and identified Hydrovar as the device capable of improving and optimizing the operation of the filtering unit.

Specifically designed by Lowara for the hydraulic sector, Hydrovar is a frequency converter fitted with a microprocessor for managing pump performance automatically on the basis of the conditions and requirements of the unit.

Easy to install on any standard motor, it provides a plug and play solution which makes it possible to transform any pump into an "intelligent pump".

Because of these features it was found suitable for inclusion in the retrofit project for the modernization and reconfiguration of the hydraulic systems in Airbus planes.

And in fact, the faults in the filtering process were eliminated with the installation of the Lowara device. The pump, regulated at a constant flow setting, now delivers in accordance with the filter specifications, independently from the state of clogging of the same.

Furthermore, installing Hydrovar also solved the problem of cavitation which occurred during the filter cleaning stage and which led to the displacement of the pump's operating point to the right of the curve. Finally, the reconfiguration of the system eliminated the motor overheating and mechanical problems, guaranteeing perfect operation of the pump and power board.

The Airbus staff confirm that the operation was found to be advantageous not only from the technical point of view but also from an economic one because the company has recovered its investment in just a few months.

This emerges from the comparison between the costs of installing Hydrovar and the costs for frequent maintenance and for fast wear of the pump due to filtering unit malfunctions. With Hydrovar, therefore, Lowara technology is flying at the highest market levels, confirming its effectiveness and efficiency with the enhancement and optimization of the hydraulic and electrical performance of water pumping systems.

Source: Xylem Inc.

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