Modern Pumping Today

In the News: Sweetening the Deal with EcoFlow Valves

/ 0 Comments / in News, ThermOmegaTech / by ThermOmegaTech

A major U.S. sugar producer has several hundred pumps throughout the plant. These pumps are either using packing, which requires constant maintenance or using mechanical seals, which require a water supply to cool and flush it. In the latter instance, the water is usually either returned to a seal water tank or dumped to drain. Any water that ends up on the floor or in a drain finds its way back to process and must be evaporated (large cost) or sent to wastewater (even larger cost). Because of this, any unnecessary water flow that can be cut from the process is beneficial.

CHALLENGES

  • This plant faced several challenges prior to its adoption of EcoFlow valves:
  • The plant could not use mechanical seals on their pumps due to the large water demand and up-front expense of a closed recirculation system.
  • Packing was used in all pumps instead of double mechanical seals, causing leaks and constant maintenance.
  • Expensive seals were damaged every year due to accidental dry running.

HOW OUR ECOFLOW VALVES HELPED

ThermOmegaTech® EcoFlow valves were placed on the seal water outlet of their pumps’ double mechanical seals to control the seal water temperature…

To check out the full article visit Modern Pumping Today.

In the News: Keeping Cool for the Sake of Safety

/ 0 Comments / in News, ThermOmegaTech / by ThermOmegaTech

Modern Pumping Today interviewed our Vice President of Engineering, Nick Tallos, on the role thermal relief valves play in potable water systems.

MPT: What applications are the ThermOmegaTech range of thermal relief valves designed for?

Nick Tallos: The primary application we found for one of our valves, which is used as a thermal relief valve, is for domestic water supply booster pumps—so we’re not talking about chemical or processing pumping with this application; the focus is on potable water for buildings. And in this application, we discovered that the pumps need to be sized for the maximum demand, and they have to be run to maintain pressure throughout the building. In other words, you can’t shut it off…

MPT: How would you best describe the benefits of the ThermOmegaTech range of valves? What are your customers looking for?

Nick Tallos: We’ve had customers report that idling pumps can sometimes elevate water temperatures to what we’d consider standard for hot water taps or even scalding hot. So building managers are obviously concerned about someone in their building turning on what should be a cold water tap and unexpectedly getting hot water…

MPT: How important is customer feedback to your product offerings? What do you hear from your customers that you put into your products?

Nick Tallos: We hold customer feedback at a very high level, especially during product development. Over the years, we’ve learned that the customer wish list makes a pretty good place to start whenever we’re deciding which features should be included on a valve—whether it be pipe sizing, valve size, flow rate. There are so many applications where a self-operating valve link to temperature controls prove beneficial, even separate from pump relief, that we greatly value what our customers bring to the table…

To check out the full article visit Modern Pumping Today.