Technology

The Ilmajoki sewage treatment plant (STP) located in southern Finland was built in the mid-1970s during a boom of infrastructure construction. Over time, industrial presence in the Ilmajoki area grew, and the plant saw an increase in flow of industrial effluent—or liquid waste and sewage. As the amount of influent increased, the plant was no longer able to meet required performance criteria suffered from a severe lack of oxygen—particularly during peak loading times.

Compressed air audits are valuable exercises on significant energy users in a plant.  Often done on main compressed air systems, these studies are also valuable on secondary systems, like dedicated low pressure circuits that feed production machinery.  An audit of such a system turned up some surprising results on a process that was initially thought to be very efficient.

When it comes to industrial vacuum pumping applications, whatever material is involved in the process generally gets ingested into the vacuum pump. It’s an inherent issue with any industrial vacuum application, whether it’s simply moisture from inlet air, or something more tangible (i.e. dust, debris, etc.). Harsh vacuum applications — such as those that involve corrosive acids, excessive moisture, or dust particles — can wreak havoc on a vacuum pump’s reliability. This holds especially true for oil-sealed vacuum pumps, rotary vane pumps and piston vacuum pumps.

Air-driven Venturi vacuum generators have long been a viable option for fast-response, localized, vacuum-powered systems. Through the last decade, they were considered convenient and flexible solutions with quick response time. However, they were not regarded as energy efficient, probably due to their use of compressed air. Extensive product development with this equipment — particularly the crucial system accessories — often makes the selection of the most energy-efficient items difficult for many localized operations.

Hoffman & Lamson has been manufacturing multi-stage centrifugal blowers for a long time. Lamson was founded in 1880, and Hoffman was established in 1905. Now a single entity under the Gardner Denver Nash Division, the company has some serious resources to complement its 100-plus years of blower expertise.

For the University of Cologne, the COPT.ZENTRUM is a central element of their technology transfer strategy from science to practice. Small- and middle-sized companies will benefit from the premises of the center, the technology, and the newest scientific findings in the field of organic electronics. Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum supplies the necessary vacuum technology.

Metallurgical High Vacuum Corporation (MHV) is proud to announce another milestone in their commitment to excellence: they were awarded certification attesting to establishment of their quality management system in conformance with the International Quality System Standard ISO 9000-2008, with a scope for Design and Manufacture of High Vacuum Mechanical Pumps and Rebuild of Mechanical Pumps.

"The most impressive feature of this year’s PROCESS EXPO was the tremendous quality of customers in attendance," said Gil Williams, Chairman of the Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA) and President of Poly-clip System USA and Canada. “During the show we were able to meet with a number of important customers and sit down with prospects that we are confident will lead to new sales in the short to medium term, helping us close out 2015 on a strong note and jump start our sales efforts in 2016.”

The design of wastewater treatment plants is changing, and it has something to do with LEGO® bricks. More specifically, it has to do with how large and complex LEGO structures are built. If you follow the instructions carefully, you build module after module, eventually piecing them together to create a fully functional and cohesive unit.

Aeration tanks use bubble diffusers to distribute oxygen within the wastewater. Fine bubble diffusers, or those that produce a large amount of very small air bubbles, first began to become popular in the 1980s, as they had a much higher efficiency than coarse bubble diffusers. Fine bubble diffusers generally feature a membrane that allows airflow to pass from the piping system on the floor of the tank through the body of the diffuser and the membrane, providing oxygen into the wastewater for treatment.