By Rogerio Melo, Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group
One of Brazil’s state-owned water and waste treatment companies is engaged in the supply and treatment of water, and the collection and treatment of sewerage. Currently serving 226 cities of around 5.5 million people, the company is responsible for designing and building some of the state water supply and sewage systems, as well as operation and maintenance of existing facilities.
A MAJOR INVESTMENT
Although not one of the largest in Brazil, this local company has been recognized as leaders in investment in high social impact projects in this sector, and over the last sixteen years has invested more than R $3.7 billion in water supply and sewage systems throughout the state.
As with all water and wastewater treatment facilities, the Brazilian sites employ many different pump types in their chemical metering and transfer applications. PC pumps featured extensively in clean water treatment, but were proving problematic, causing repetitive downtime due to abrasive wear, as well as low levels of accuracy, leaks, and high costs in terms of pump maintenance and wasted chemicals.
THE PLAN GOES INTO ACTION
Engineers from the Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group’s Brazilian office started working with company’s plant maintenance and installation teams six years ago, with the purpose of replacing the PC pumps that were suffering off-gassing and encrustation problems in fluoridation, disinfection, pH adjustment, and pre-oxidation stages of potable water treatment.
The installation of multiple Qdos chemical metering pumps for handling chlorine, permanganate, hypochlorite, and fluosilicic acid has prevented off-gassing and crystallization issues, so significantly reducing downtime at the water treatment plant. Further savings include simple pump installation without ancillaries such as back-pressure valves, pulsation dampeners, degassing valves, foot valves, strainers, and float switches. Qdos is self-priming and self-draining to keep operators safe during maintenance.
Simplicity of pump installation and operation is transferred to high flow fluid handling at the wastewater treatment plant too. Bredel and APEX hose pumps are now used to transfer aluminium sulphate, ferric chloride, sodium carbonate, polymers, and lime. These chemicals had caused frequent abrasive wear problems and clogging in the diaphragm pumps previously employed for their transfer.
Specially formulated hose materials such as NR Endurance, can double service life of Bredel pumps in abrasive fluid applications such as this. Every Bredel hose is precision machined to ensure flow stability and pump performance in tough fluid handling applications.
PARTNERING AFTER THE JOB
Today, more than 400 Qdos, Bredel and other lower pressure pumps from Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group minimize maintenance downtime and cut chemical use at the Brazilian water and wastewater treatment plant. WMFTG has offered ongoing project assistance throughout the specification, installation, and commission phases. WMFTG’s qualified and constant technical support has been essential to enhance customer confidence and to make this a successful installation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Siemens Digital Industries Software, a business unit of Siemens Digital Industries, is a leading global provider of software solutions to drive the digital transformation of industry, creating new opportunities for manufacturers to realize innovation. With headquarters in Plano, Texas, and over 140,000 customers worldwide, we work with companies of all sizes to transform the way ideas come to life, the way products are realized, and the way products and assets in operation are used and understood. For more information, visit www.sw.siemens.com.
Rogerio Melo is a WMFTG sales engineer. Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) is the world leader in niche peristaltic and sinusoidal pumps and associated fluid path technologies. Founded on nearly sixty years of supplying engineering and process expertise and with over one million pumps installed worldwide, WMFTG pumps are tried, tested, and proven to deliver. For more information, visit www.wmftg.com.
MODERN PUMPING TODAY, September 2019
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