IN FOCUS

A Qdos 60 PU peristaltic pump has completed three years of maintenance-free operation without any messy leaks of polymer in a trial at the City of Oak Ridge water treatment plant in Tennessee, United States.

There are times when a simple pump design and less maintenance are preferred by pump users, especially in messy dirty wastewater applications. Such was the case with one wastewater plant operator in South Africa, which was being called in every couple of weeks to remove, disassemble and clean wastewater pumps at one or other of the facilities that the company maintains.

The rapid growth of renewable energy in Asia is presenting the grid with a challenge: how to flexibly accommodate changing demands with existing thermal power plants? Assets at these facilities, originally designed to provide baseload, are now being asked to cover any shortfall due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy.

Valmet will deliver a Valmet DNA Automation System retrofit to Sabiya Power and Water Distillation Station in Kuwait, owned by the country’s Ministry of Electricity & Water & Renewable Energy. The new system will replace an existing control system in distillation units 1-8 and recarbonation.

Major energy producer in Canada uses local canola oil to produce renewable diesel at industrial scale – relying on a range of Sulzer flow equipment, including specially designed centrifugal pumps. The biofuel will be used to power vehicles, trains and industrial boilers.

SIGMA Group, one of Europe’s industrial pump manufacturers, has specified Thordon Bearings’ grease-free bearings for installation to the specialized pumping sets destined for flood defence and irrigation projects across Egypt.

A key ingredient of many desserts and a popular snack, the reputation of almonds as a healthy food has steadily grown. This is a trend followed by the global almond market. To meet demand, growers are investing in new orchards with highly efficient irrigation systems.

To make the country less dependent on energy imports, Lithuania is aiming to systematically expand its renewable energy sources – especially solar and wind power. To offset the volatility of these energy sources, the partially state-owned Ignitis Group company Ignitis Gamyba is investing around EUR 150 million in the expansion of the Kruonis pumped storage hydropower facility, where an additional, fifth unit will be installed.

A Peruvian mining company reuses process water as part of their iron ore processing. Until November 2019, however, this was made difficult by the fact that the medium, which is collected in a tank on site, has a very high solids content of 60 to 70 per cent. After an attempt to drain the water and remove the sediment in the tank with shovels had failed after four days, the owner decided to purchase a submersible pump with an agitator.

Siemens Smart Infrastructure has integrated electrical signature analysis from Samotics into NXpower Monitor, its industry digital caretaker for electrical networks. Using ESA and machine learning, Samotics provides real-time actionable insights to help global industrial companies eliminate industrial energy waste and unplanned downtime.