Pump solutions suppliers are hoping for a busy day at The Pump Centre conference and exhibition at the Telford International Centre on Thursday 3 May.
The exhibition organisers are expecting upwards of 1000 visitors. Resilience seems to be a key theme at this year’s event, and looking at ways to improve the long-term reliability of pump installations and related assets. There seems to be an industry impetus towards increasing installation life whilst reducing the need for maintenance visits and emergency call-outs. And there is added impetus as the water industry gears up for the new Ofwat (the water industry’s regulation body) regulations which will come into force from 2020.
One exhibitor, ECS Engineering Services’ Jamie Wesley, commented: “We are expecting discussions on new partnering arrangements between contractors, suppliers and operators. ECS can develop designs that are intelligent and innovative and perfectly matched to the needs of each individual site, whilst maintaining excellent support services in terms of asset management, servicing and maintenance scheduling.”
Systems integrator Boulting Technology is speaking and exhibiting at the event. The firm’s Andy O’Rourke will present a paper titled ‘Eliminating variability is the key to enhanced resilience.’ He will discuss how a smarter approach to pump control can reduce process variation in flow, pressure and level changes and result in smoother operation of pumps and motors without start/stop operation.
He will go onto to explore the benefits of this approach, which not only include energy savings, but also reduced wear, increased uptime and reduced frequency of pump failures and motor components.
The event is expected to present a number of methodologies for delivering high levels of resilience.
Boulting’s experience in the pump sector includes an award-winning upgrade to a 90 year old raw water pumping station (RWPS). The firm says this project saw the pump station benefit from an 87 per cent increase in pump efficiency and improved reliability during start up and operation, while retaining its original character and proven robustness.
Another firm aiming to have a high profile at the show is Xylem, which will be showcasing a range of wastewater and clean water pumps.
The firm says it will display a number of durable solutions from its Flygt, Lowara and Godwin product portfolios, many of which will be making their debut at the show.
Representing Xylem’s wastewater capabilities will be Flygt Concertor, described as “the world’s first wastewater pumping system with integrated intelligence”. Flygt Concertor can provide operators with real time feedback, and also has built-in capabilities to adapt to different duty points by automatically adjusting its performance to cope with changing conditions. With additional functionality, such as blockage avoidance protocol, self-learning energy efficiency capabilities, and sump and rising main cleaning functionality, Flygt Concertor can save users up to 80 per cent in energy use.
In addition, Xylem’s portfolio of clean water application solutions will be on display with a variety of products from the Lowara e-series: Increased reliability and improved energy savings are key features to discuss with the experts on the stand, as well as the Hydrovar 5th generation variable speed drive, which can offer energy savings of up to 70 per cent.
Other highlights include the new Godwin NC150S dri-prime pump featuring N-technology; a range of ICA solutions plus a brand new mixer from Flygt. There will also be experts on hand to discuss Xylem’s recent acquisitions in advanced infrastructure analytics: Pure Technologies, Visenti, Sensus and Emnet.
Andrew Welsh, General Manager at Xylem commented: “The Pump Centre Conference is a staple in our exhibition calendar, and we look forward to returning to this highly anticipated show. Our stand is set to be bigger than ever, with plenty of products for visitors to see throughout the day.”
