Demand for Total Pumping System Solutions Is On the Rise
As processes become more complex, operators are turning to pump companies for total solutions and not just the one component, according to a new report, Pumps World Markets, by McIlvaine Company.
Pump motors and controls have already been incorporated into many pump company sales platforms. The development of digital monitoring of pump functions also offers significant opportunity for the supplier to generate initial and aftermarket revenues.
The supply of complimentary devices is another revenue generator. For example, Flowserve is a large pump supplier that is pursuing the total solutions approach. The company states that “Having equipped desalination plants for more than half a century, Flowserve understands energy is the largest operating cost for any SWRO facility. Flowserve also understands that high-efficiency equipment and especially energy recovery devices are critical to making the process cost-effective."
In 2009, Flowserve acquired the Swiss company CalderT, which specializes in the design, engineering and manufacture of energy recovery devices and related propriety technologies for reverse-osmosis desalination. Flowserve offers pumps, seals, valves and energy recovery devices, as well as materials expertise and application knowledge to its customers.
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McIlvaine Company says Ebara another large pump company that is taking a total solutions approach. The installation of cryogenic turbine expanders in existing LNG plants presents a very effective upgrade with an advanced but field-proven technology requiring relatively low investment costs and only short installation time. All LNG plants commissioned before 1996 are currently operating with an ineffective expansion valve. Ebara recommends replacing the existing Joule-Thomson valve, a.k.a. J-T valve, with a cryogenic turbine to expand the condensed natural gas from high pressure to low pressure. The thermodynamic efficiency of the existing refrigeration process is substantially improved, providing an increase of the total LNG output between about 5 to 7 percent. To attain this increase in efficiency, no substantial investments are necessary.
McIlvaine Company says there are many ways that pump companies can take advantage of the demand for Total Solutions and the way to start is with a thorough understanding of the processes where pumps are used.
