Wastewater within plants is generated from a number of sources. Whether it is during the production of Food and Beverages, cleaning / sterilization of equipment (CIP) or as a biproduct of a process, disposal can prove costly.
One of the ways producers may seek to reduce wastewater disposal costs is through on site treatment and reuse, but what other aspects may be worth paying close attention to, when looking at reducing wastewater treatment costs?
Reducing Pump Wear
When fluids are dewatered, they begin to form a sludge. Depending on the application generating wastewater, the sludge can be lubricating or oily, but at times can be vary abrasive in nature.
If an abrasive sludge is pumped too fast or the incorrect pump type used, these types of fluids can quickly cause seal failure or accelerated part wear leading to repeated downtime, leakage, loss of efficiency and frequent maintenance being conducted.
By reducing pump speed and selecting a pump most appropriate for the installation such as a peristaltic pump, known for its gentle handling of abrasive liquids, accelerated wear is avoided, in particular in advanced roller designs of Peristaltic pump.
Roller designs of peristaltic pump reduce hose wear by up to 80%, as the element used to compress the working hose is changed from shoes to rollers reducing friction. Furthermore as the pump casing is not filled with lubricant maintenance is far easier, less messy with reduced risk of spillages or contamination on site.
Reducing Pump Maintenance Intervals
Some designs of pump are cost effective to supply, but will be the most expensive pump you’ll ever buy.
Once the total cost of ownership is factored in which includes spares use, downtime, leakage and maintenance time the Total Cost of Ownership can far outweigh other pump designs.
Peristaltic pumps are simple in design as there is only one wearing internal part, the hose. This is easily and quickly replaced without the requirement of special training or tools; this is an excellent benefit for 24/7 applications or where excess amounts of downtime cannot be tolerated and when sometimes only low skilled staff are available to perform urgent repairs.
Maintenance too is far simpler to perform requiring only one person with the pump kept in situ whilst work is undertaken. As there is only one wearing part – the hose, when this approaches the end of its useful life, it is removed from service, sent for disposal and replaced without any cleaning of parts using hazardous chemicals and added risk to personnel.
Being simple to maintain does not detract from their dependability and robustness, the absence of mechanical seals allows the pump to run dry indefinitely without damage. Operating at low speeds with the peristalsis pumping action facilitates self-priming and the handling of viscous fluids without issues.
The absence of valves and seals means that solids up to the size of the internal diameter of the hose can be passed without clogging. In the unlikely event of clogging, the unit is reversible meaning the pump can be unclogged by simply reversing the flow.
Automated Operation
Automating pump equipment for monitoring installations in remote areas enables efficiencies to be gained. Our range of peristaltic pumps can be controlled remotely via a PLC to start, stop or reverse pumping with wastewater sampling fully automated. As peristaltic pumps are non clog, reversible and sealless they are perfect for installation within remote unmanned locations requiring minimal and infrequent inspection or maintenance.
Reduced Chemical use
With chemical shortages leading to disposal of wastewater into main watercourses, and high increases in the costs of chemicals there has never been a more important time to ensure that any flocculants, coagulants or other chemicals used within a process are being metered or dosed accurately.
Occasionally inaccurate flow dosers can be used within process which do not provide the accuracy or robustness of a chemical metering pump. Using an inverter driven chemical metering pump such as the AMP16 control allows complete proportional dosing according to your requirements which has a metering repeatability of +-2% perfect for metering gaseous fluids and other shear sensitive media, with other pump designs available for higher levels of accuracy. This too ensures you only use what you need.
If you are looking to maintain an efficient wastewater treatment process, minimize chemical use, reduce pump wear or downtime, contact us to see how we can help.
We will work with you to specify a low maintenance, heavy duty pump based on lowest lifetime cost for your application.
To see how we can help and see previous project examples visit www.northridgepumps.com, call 01773 302 660 or email sales@northridgepumps.com for assistance.
North Ridge Pumps
- 01773302660
- sales@northridgepumps.com
- http://www.northridgepumps.com
- North Ridge House 3 Chrysalis Way Eastwood Nottinghamshire NG16 3RY GB
About us
North Ridge Pumps are an independent manufacturer and distributor of pumps. Having been established since 1998, we have a vast array of experience having become accustomed to supplying pumps for most processes.
We work within a range of industries both UK and Internationally, specifying pumps for a wide variety of applications from the transfer of corrosive and aggressive chemicals, to dewatered sludge, viscous grease, resin, glues, food and Seawater.
Our pumps range from standard centrifugal and multistage pumps, to immersed and process overhung solid handling pumps. We also supply a wide range of positive displacement pumps including Vane, Piston, Progressing Cavity and Peristaltic enabling us to specify more than one solution for your application, but also ensuring the majority of applications remain within our reach.
We offer the following services:
Technical support – We know at times pump selection is difficult. Pump selections are made with confidence by technical sales engineers who understand your process, ensuring equipment is engineered beyond your needs.
To select the correct technical solution for your requirement, longevity of design is prioritised. If there are existing issues you need assistance with, we work with you to solve these which could be high maintenance costs, frequent service periods, repeated equipment breakdown leading to lost revenue, inconsistent flow rates, clogging or where pumped product is inconsistent.
Application experience – Due to our 20 years of application experience we work with you to ensure our pumps operate according to your desired application. Our experience means we have most likely provided a solution for a similar process previously. With proven results, we know how to achieve your outcome sooner.
As our pumps are completely configurable, we design pumps with materials according to your requirement, and to your required duty point. Pumps are engineered specifically for your process whether they be baseplate mounted, within a mobile frame or in kit form with couplings, hoses, and dispensing nozzle.
Industry knowledge – We have a thorough understanding of a range of industries through experience from supplying the offshore oil and gas market, to paper mills, chemical plants and food manufacturers to name a few.
We not only understand the importance of downtime but also what each process requires and how small design improvements specific to the nature of your industry and application can reduce downtime, facilitate maintenance and improve longevity.
If you have a process or application you require a pump for, or a process which requires improving, get in touch to see how we can help.
What we do in a nutshell
Pump Specification & Supply
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