HI launches Job Board
In response to increased demands by employers for highly qualified pump industry job candidates, the Hydraulic Institute (HI) on Dec. 15 launched a new interactive job board − HI Career Headquarters (HQ). According to Mary Silver, HI Manager of Members Services and Technology, “the new site is designed to connect talented people with quality jobs.” Visit “Career HQ” on the HI web site, www.pumps.org.
Dataloggers track hurricane surge
Just hours before Hurricane Rita made landfall, U.S. Geological Survey hydrologists from Ruston, LA, worked through the night deploying 46 HOBO® water level dataloggers from Onset Computer on various structures in the area that would hold up during the storm. The loggers were set up on laptops running HOBOware® software, and programmed to measure and record water levels every 30 seconds around the clock. Protective housings were constructed of 1.25” O.D. steel pipe. About 80% of the loggers were recovered, and the team is currently offloading and analyzing the data.
Schwing promotes Wanstrom
Schwing America Inc, with headquarters in White Bear, MN, appointed Chuck Wanstrom as national sales manager within the company’s Material Handling Division. With an educational background in civil engineering, Wanstrom joined the Schwing team in October 1995 as project engineer for the Concrete Pump Division.
Grundfos buys U.S. pump maker
Denmark’s Grundfos Group realized a decisive element in its growth strategy for the American market with its purchase of pump manufacturer PACO Pumps expected to increase sales in the U.S. market by 30% - moving beyond the $250-million mark in the North American market. Paco has annual sales of about $45 million. With headquarters and production facilities near Houston, it has sales branches or distributors in all U.S. states. In other news, Grundfos started a sales company Jan. 1 in Romania to continue to boost sales in Eastern Europe, already experiencing 20% growth rates - 40-50% in Russia - and total sales of about $325.5 million.
Fluid Dynamics hires Kriebel
Greg Kriebel was named Eastern sales manager for the Boulder, CO, unit of Neptune Chemical Pumps Co. Inc. Prior to joining Fluid Dynamics, he served in a variety of positions with Capital Controls Co. and Severn Trent Services, including field service engineer, project engineer/manager and product manager. Fluid Dynamics acquired the Semblex Polymax liquid and dry polymer preparation systems from Severn Trent in November 2005.
Biopharm firm relies on Flowserve
When Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, NY, purchased a new mammalian bioreactor skid, it had the same high expectations that surround any major process improvement. But during startup, it became apparent the vessel wouldn’t maintain sterility reliably, due in part to the design of the OEM bottom-entry agitator seal. Flowserve customized a model ST seal - designed as a dual cartridge seal that mounted directly to the gearbox as well as to the bioreactor’s mounting pad - to address the repetitive seal problems. The European design and the transverse angle of the drive required detailed field measurement by Flowserve for proper fit and function. In other news, Flowserve sold its General Services Group to Xanser Corp.’s Furmanite industrial services group.
Atkins lands dairy WWTP deal
UK engineering firm Atkins International won a major contract from the city of Tulare, Calif., to support upgrade of an industrial wastewater treatment plant built to meet needs of major dairy manufacturers in the area, including Kraft, Haagen-Dazs, Land-O-Lakes and Saputo Cheese. The work will include a detailed review of process options, identification of key risks, analysis of delivery options and preparation of bid documents.
USFILTER LAUNCHES MBR CENTER
Recognizing the growing customer need for integrated biological and membrane wastewater treatment, USFilter, part of the Water Technology division of Siemens’s Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) Group, has created a new Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) Technology Center. The Waukesha, WI, center will focus on wastewater treatment solutions that combine the company’s proven Memcor MBR with established biological technologies from Envirex, Jet Tech and Davco product lines. Such technologies include multi-channel oxidation ditches, vertical loop reactors, field-erected biological systems, sequencing batch reactors, and other biological technologies of Siemens.
Tangshan steelworks overcomes water shortages by recycling mine wastewater
Tangshan Iron & Steel Group Co. Ltd (TISCO) in the Hebei province of northeastern China had to find a greater supply of clean water for boiler makeup and steel plate cooling without violating new national water consumption ratio laws. Membrane technology from Koch Membrane Systems -- including KMS Magnum high-rejection, spiral-wound elements and TARGA hollow fiber pressure cartridges − allowed it to treat wastewater from an old coal mine and support increased capacity without consuming scarce freshwater resources in the region. Included are three trains of RO pressure vessels with 108 Magnum 60”-long by 8”-diameter elements per train that can desalinate 500 m3/hour.
New chemical security bill eyed
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in December, introduced The Chemical Facility Anti-terrorism Act of 2005 which mandated security upgrades at over 15,000 U.S. facilities that produce, use or store hazardous chemicals. The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). Supporting the legislation, the New York Times wrote: “If terrorists attacked a chemical plant, the death toll could be enormous. A single breached chlorine tank could, according to the Department of Homeland Security, lead to 17,500 deaths, 10,000 severe injuries and 100,000 hospitalizations. Many chemical plants have shockingly little security to defend against such attacks.” Former NJ-Sen. John Corzine earlier introduced similar legislation to no avail.
DOD, NACE program expanded
NACE International, in an ongoing partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), has expanded its efforts to become the primary source for outside corrosion control and prevention information and education programs. It’s working closely with the Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight headed by Daniel J. Dunmire to provide technical training for DoD, NASA, and Coast Guard Personnel. NACE will be providing eight dedicated Cathodic Protection (CP) courses over the next year to DoD that will train approximately 200 students total. NACE will also train 40 DoD personnel through Level 1 of the NACE Coating Inspector Program (CIP). NACE also is working with DoD to develop new courses to address its needs that will cover marine cathodic protection and the impact of corrosion on water and wastewater facilities. In total NACE will train over 300 DoD personnel in corrosion control and prevention technology in the next year.
Chemilizer aids scale control
Chemilizer’s CP33 volumetric injector was chosen by RE-Ox LLC, of Las Vegas, for testing descalant properties of its non-hazardous, neutral pH solution anti-deposition formula injected into a municipal water system in Kansas City encrusted with calcium deposits. RE-Ox, when injected into affected pipes and water systems, removes and prevents solidified deposits. The successful project served to highlight the Largo, FL, firm’s product as well.
IDEXX to buy, expand HQ
IDEXX Laboratories Inc. will buy and expand facilities in Westbrook, ME, where it had its headquarters since 1991. The building is expected to cost $18 million. The company also owns an undeveloped 12-acre adjacent parcel that could be the site of future expansion. It expects the acquisition to be completed by May 2006.
FilmTec expansion on target
Construction of a new Edina, Minn., manufacturing facility started in 2004 for FilmTec Corp., a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, is on target for completion in 2006. This new facility, with leading-edge process and manufacturing technology, provides over double the current square footage of its existing plant, housing additional membrane lines, new fabrication cells and will introduce further automation to the company’s already automated production capabilities. Limited production has already begun, with full production expected by midyear 2006.
ITT, Pentair partner for SUBMERSIBLE motors
Pentair Inc. has entered into a joint venture agreement with ITT Industries Inc. to create FARADYNE Motors LLC, a separate and stand-alone company. FARADYNE will design, develop and manufacture submersible pump motors for these two water technology leaders. Manufacturing will begin in 2006.
GE descalant aids Canadian plant
GE Water & Process Technologies’ Ferroquest LP-7202, a blend of three organic acids formulated to remove calcium carbonate scale from cooling systems, was employed at Agrarium Redwater Fertilizer Operations, north of Edmonton, Alberta. It helped the largest fertilizer complex in Canada and one of the largest in North America (with an annual ammonia production capacity of 960K tons and total nitrogen product capacity of 1.4 million tons) reduce energy costs substantially by making cooling exchangers more efficient to the tune of 1.3 gigajoules per ton of ammonia produced - saving 114 million cubic feet of natural gas.
CST INKS DEAL FOR TWO TANKS
Kansas City’s CST Industries Inc. signed a contract with Keppel Seghers Engineering Singapore Pte Ltd. for two 22,000-m3 finished water storage tanks for the Ulu Pandan NEWater DBOO project in Singapore. This 25-mgd plant produces water reclaimed using advanced membrane technology largely for industrial use with a small amount going into reservoirs for indirect potable use.
Red Cross honors Godwin Pumps
Godwin Pumps and its employees received an end-of-year certificate of recognition for donations to the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, the company reported Dec. 30. The executive director of the Gloucester County Red Cross chapter Laura Steinmetz presented company president John Michael Paz with a certificate of acknowledgement at Godwin’s Bridgeport, NJ, headquarters.
Genzyme picks LimsLink
Genzyme Corp. chose Guelph, Ontario’s Labtronics Inc. to supply its LimsLink solution for lab data integration capabilities required to achieve the biotechnology firm goal of creating a Global Product Data Management solution. LimsLink connects laboratory systems enabling capture and processing of large amounts of product data while complying with FDA regulations.
GL&V grabs paper assets
Management of Groupe LaPerrierre & Verreault Inc. (GL&V) has acquired assets of the Paper Chemical Systems Unit of Metso Paper Inc., in Raisio, Finland. The acquisition covers intellectual property rights associated with products in wastewater treatment, including two new-generation technologies, i.e., dissolved air microflotation system and FlooBed® bioreactor - over 500 units of which have been installed to date. This is GL&V Water Treatment Group’s third recent acquisition, including Jones & Attwood Ltd. in April and Brackett Green Ltd. in November. On an annualized basis, these acquisitions have almost doubled the size of the group, set up in 2004.
Chemtura hikes additives prices
BioLab Water Additives, a unit of Chemtura - formed earlier this year by the Compton and Great Lakes Chemical merger - made several global pricing changes to its industrial water additives effective Jan. 1, or as contracts allow. The hikes range from 2 to 5 cents per pound.
