Millions of homes around the world are fitted with water heating devices such as boilers or water supply heaters. Should they overheat, pressures can rise internally until the tank ruptures. Though extremely rare, this does happen and can even propel a water heater like a rocket through the floor and roof of a dwelling. So how can we sleep peacefully each night with the knowledge that a potential catastrophe lurks in the basement?

It’s typically impossible to see inside pipes and tanks.

Industrial pipes are usually steel or stainless. Even the occasionally used PVC is typically opaque.

But on the day of this customer visit, they had a sight glass placed in a horizontal run of pipe which permitted a peek inside. Normally this glass was used to inspect the color and clarity of the product flowing by. But today the customer and myself were fixated on...

Unlike most of my colleagues I didn’t start out with a mechanical background.  While they were studying kinetics and machine design, I was studying digital electronics and industrial power.  When I started my career in the world of pumps, I had to learn a whole new set of concepts.  What was surprising was that while the terminology may be a bit different, the concepts are very similar.  Think of the following as a “Rosetta Stone” for translating the common terms and concepts of fluid systems to your more familiar terms and concepts of electrical systems.

Long before Covid-19 many of us, myself included, have been sidelined by illness.  During this period of downtime, we rest and minimize physical activity.  Post-illness we’re eager to resume our normal lifestyle, but doing so without preparation can lead to difficulties, even injury.  For idled pumping equipment the same principle applies.

With today’s fast-paced supply chain demands, it is essential that tanker truck systems can unload contents quickly to ensure timely delivery for optimum manufacturing efficiency. Stony Run Enterprises Inc., a family-owned trucking enterprise located in Hamilton, Ohio, understands this sense of urgency with its commitment to transport multiple types of products with “speed, safety, and professionalism.”

In the world of positive displacement pumping, reduced speed operation is a common requirement.  High viscosity liquids, shear sensitive liquids, abrasive liquids, or any combination thereof require the pump speed to be reduced from synchronous motor speeds.

Copper is fast becoming a critical resource as the world shifts to an increasingly lower carbon footprint, and with the growing demand comes a need for more efficient processing (i.e., refining) of the mineral ore.

The owner of a copper mine in Antofagasta City, Chile wanted to replace its legacy centrifugal pumps used for injecting sulfuric acid into agglomeration tanks – where crushed copper is heaped into uniform particles and sprayed with sulfuric acid + water. The acid component helps to optimize ultimate metal recovery by improving permeability of the raw material at this stage in reparation for the next step: lixiviation, or leaching, to extract the metal.