News

ASAP UK, a subsidiary of ASAP Innovations – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of PPE - has today announced the availability in the UK of a range of cleanroom products designed for the most demanding environments

ASAP UK, part of ASAP Innovations, has announced the availability of its global bestselling range of cleanroom gloves, designed for optimum protection and comfort in environments from semiconductor manufacture to pharmaceuticals, and from aerospace to food production and handling. 

There are many scenarios where working at height is simply unavoidable and some of the most hazardous work sees operatives working on top of an elevated surface or structure. It’s here where selecting the correct fall arrest solution is critical. Jon Rowan, Product Line Manager at MSA Safety, explores where, when and how Self-Retracting Lifelines (SRLs) should be deployed for vertical fall arrest protection, and looks at the features that define the most reliable, robust and best lifetime-value equipment.

Pipeline operators and specialty hot tapping service companies have a more precise and safer solution in pipeline intervention solutions. The newly engineered Enerpac LSA Line Stop Actuator Series provides cost-effective isolation of pipelines to allow for maintenance and modifications, avoiding interruption of service and costly shutdowns. Used in conjunction with the Enerpac hot tapping range, the LSA Series applications include tie-ins and line bypasses, for example. 

The Water Jetting Association has made significant improvements to its governance to help promote its work and further its aims both in the UK and internationally.

The changes were approved at the association’s annual general meeting (AGM), held virtually via a digital video platform for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

They include the introduction of a Marketing and Communications Committee to guide the promotion of the Water Jetting Association (WJA) in the UK and internationally and the strengthening of the roles of all three WJA committees.

The Water Jetting Association, the member organisation for the water jetting industry in the UK, has become a member of the European Water Jetting Institute.

The WJA is now looking forward to working with other members of the EWJI to further shared aims that include continuously improving the safety and technical capabilities of water jetting processes.

WJA Director David Kennedy said: “We’re very pleased to have joined the EWJI. Sharing experiences and expertise and working together to promote water jetting must be a good thing for our industry.

Enerpac announces new Enerpac ZE2 and ZW2-Series electric pumps for manufacturing and workshop applications requiring productive flow rates, quiet operation and simplified controls. They are especially suitable for applications in a facility or location where an air-line drop is not available, feasible or desired. In addition, the ZE2 and ZW2-Series pumps can be used for long periods without overheating and provide an improved total cost of ownership.

Classification society DNV has issued a verification statement allowing global survival technology specialist Survitec to use its game-changing fire foam testing process onboard maritime vessels or offshore structures.

Survitec’s new Produced Foam Live Test method uses ultrasound technology to verify the effectiveness of fire-fighting foam, according to the mandatory requirements set out in IMO MSC.1/Circ.1432 9.2.4.

Bitumen Overview

Bitumen is an important material used in a wide range of industrial processes such as refining, pipe coating and in road, pavement, and roof construction. Also referred to as asphalt, it is insoluble in water and has glue like properties that allow it to bind with aggregate particles to create strength. Once set it seals the surface and protects against water ingress. These excellent properties combined with its durability, economical cost and huge supply continue to make it a popular solution today.

Bitumen needs to be handled at high temperatures in its liquid form, most commonly around 140 to 170°C, this state allows it to be sprayed, transferred, or unloaded to be used in processes such as mixing with aggregate and laying roads. Even when hot it is viscous, these properties combined with its sticky nature require very careful consideration during the pump selection process.

Tanker Loading of Bitumen

An engineering consultancy group specialising in the energy and industrial sectors secured a €2.1 million project for upgrading a fuel and bitumen processing plant. Chemical Processors, manufacturers and storage terminals are often located at ports to enable the quick and efficient transport of bulk liquids via tanker loading and unloading.

This upgrade involved increasing the number and capacity of tanks for delivering higher volumes to tankers, this therefore included the installation of larger positive displacement pumps to deliver high flow rates in a shorter amount of time, accommodating larger vessels, and reducing vessel waiting time. Having a very limited time frame for supply and requiring pump selection support, they approached North Ridge in the hopes we could support them in an efficient manner, which we did.

Pump Optimisation for Asphalt

This project required 6 units in 3 different sizes, with differing internal design (External and Internal Gear) to produce the varying flow rates and pressure demanded on site.

The 4” and 10” Pumps were handling Bitumen with a possibility of 1mm solids, and so External Gear pumps operating slowly with hardened teeth for minimising wear, were selected as the solution for handling this blend of high viscosity asphalt. Due to the size of pumps selected, their internal tolerances meant they are able to accommodate 1mm suspended solids without issue. We did however recommend that inlet strainers were installed to capture any particles above this size which is something we always recommend with gear pumps.

The smaller flow rate of 5M³H of clean Asphalt without solids meant two 2” Internal Gear Pumps were selected for this duty as they were better suited to handle the clean blend.

Experience has taught us to specify larger gear pumps installed with gearboxes, to reduce the operating speed to as low as 250RPM. This gentler pumping action allows the passing of viscous fluids, with small solids whilst reducing gear wear from the abrasive and tacky nature of the bitumen.

As bitumen can cool quickly and increase viscosity or harden completely, we typically recommend units are fitted with heating jackets to prevent this from occurring, on this occasion the customer had already installed trace heating on the pipework and had a readily available solution for the pumps also.

To further protect the units from damage, we fitted gland packing instead of mechanical seals, as if the bitumen were to harden then gland packing is less susceptible to damage when the pump starts up again.

As the asphalt pumps are used to fill tankers and trucks, it is possible that a discharge valve may be closed during loading operations, therefore we installed each unit with built-in pressure relief valves to protect the units and system components. The valve is normally set to 10% above the operating pressure, it then opens if the system pressure increases too high and recirculates the fluid inside the pump head to avoid damaging the pipework or the pump itself.

Outcome

We delivered two 2” Internal Gear Pumps, two 4” External Gear Pumps and two 10” External Gear pumps, the largest unit delivering 250m³/hr at 9 bar, all fitted with ABB Atex motors suitable for installation in non-safe areas.

The site now has reliable and robust bitumen pumps which will enable increased plant output and productivity, ensure larger bulk carriers can be accommodated, decrease tanker loading time, and reduce the likelihood of vessel demurrage.

The varying sizes of pumps and flow rates allow the plant to remain flexible in loading a range of bulk carriers and vehicles simultaneously, regardless of their location on site.

If you have an application you are unsure of the correct solution, visit www.northridgepumps.com to see how we can help.

Whether you are an employer or an employee, you should do everything in your power to keep yourself and others safe while in a workplace environment. Every workplace has risks and hazards associated to it, but there are some industries where the risk of an accident is even greater. In particular, if appropriate safety measures are not implemented and followed, the industrial sector can be a dangerous place to work in. Accidents can result in serious injuries and even death, followed by hefty consequences such as fines, imprisonment, and reputation damage. That’s why there are a series of procedures and regulations in place to ensure the health and safety of workers and site visitors.

Medical environments, whether that’s the development, manufacture or packing of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, must be monitored to the highest levels to ensure complete compliance and safety for staff and end-users. ION Science’s range of fixed PID sensors can measure VOC outputs on multiple large sites or single key areas, using world-leading gas detection technology. 

One of the most important areas for VOC (volatile organic compounds) monitoring is sterilisation and packaging. Many medical manufacturers use ethylene oxide for decontamination of products prior to leaving the site. While this is a highly effective method, it is a harmful VOC and needs careful monitoring via PID (photoionisation detection) technology to ensure the right levels are used to remove potential contaminants, but also so that the ethylene oxide is removed safely prior to distribution.