ITT Flygt wins energy efficiency awards

Left to right: Dr. Peter Harrison, Deputy Minister, Natural Resources Canada; Michel Bakhos, General Manager, ITT Flygt, Canada; Donald Gardner, ITT Flygt, Ottawa branch manager.

The 2000 Natural Resources Canada, Energy Efficiency award was presented to ITT Flygt for N-Pumps Sustained Efficiency in Raw Sewage. Categories included: equipment and technology, building, housing, media and student competitions. ITT Flygt's N-pumps won the equipment category.

The N-pump series features a radical new hydraulic end design which ensures efficient, clog-resistant, and trouble-free pumping over extended periods. The result is improved operational economy due to less downtime, dramatically reducing the total life cost of the installation.

Its unique, self-cleaning design produced an award-winning performance:

• 75% to 80% hydraulic efficiency at Best Efficiency Point, even in fluids with a high solids and fibrous content.
• Clog-resistant operation.
• At least 15% to 20% reduction in power consumption, in field testing with over 100,000 hours in operation.

Commenting on the award, Michel Bakhos, P.Eng., General Manager, ITT Flygt, Canada, said: "Engineers, operators and manufacturers have been expending considerable resources in their efforts to reduce energy consumption in sewage pumping installations, by using "higher efficiency components", or by adding new hardware, such as variable speed drives. In some instances, increasing the efficiency of the components, or adding the variable speed drive, has produced the desired results. In other cases, however, it has resulted in frustration and disappointing results.

"The N-pump has been tested, together with two widely used sewage pumps, over nine months in two existing raw sewage pumping stations. The actual performance of the three different impeller designs has been logged and the results show very high energy savings, up to 52%, with the new impeller design when handling media laden with soft solids as compared to the clear water test results.

"The N-pump hydraulic design was the result of several years of research and tests to invent a non-clog effluent pump capable of handling raw effluent such as municipal sewage.

"The new design incorporated back-swept vanes and a relief groove, practically eliminated possible clogging with stringy material and the design was optimized to increase operating efficiency. Other qualities of the new design include: elimination of wear rings, balanced impeller for longer bearing and seal life, lighter weight, and the achievement of a wider specific speed range.

"Energy savings in clear water were easily calculated and tested, however, the main energy savings are achieved when operating in real wastewater applications," said Mr. Bakhos.

See our home page on how to order your subscription. We regret we can only accept orders from Canada and the United States.