Robert Brown Associates is pleased to announce that it’s SENCILLO ™ model of packaged variable speed booster pump systems have received the UL /cUL – Third Party Certification Stamp by Underwriters Laboratories as a Packaged Pumping System and can be identified with the Listed Mark.
According to the Certificate of Compliance:
“Only those products bearing the UL Listing Mark for the US and Canada should be considered as being covered by UL’s Listing and Follow-Up Service meeting the appropriate requirements for US and Canada.”
Robert Brown Associates’ president, Tom Halley stated, “We decided to pursue 3rd party certification, since it does provide a solid validation to our clients that our product is not just a cheap bit of junk, built in someone’s garage without a comprehensive plan. These systems are a very integral part of a building’s utilities, and our clients need to be assured that they are built with safety and quality in mind. They do operate 24/7, in providing water service to a building, and that’s a pretty important utility on anyone’s gauge.”
The certification program is a comprehensive program whereby UL engineers evaluate the product for compliance to industry standards for packaged pumping systems. To apply for the UL certification, the company prepares written procedures for all aspects of how the pump system is constructed. Drawings and system photographs are provided to complete the documentation.
After reviewing the application, a UL inspector inspected the entire system and components used in building the system. The inspector verifies that everything conforms to the UL requirements. This includes the components, welding procedures, and the devices that are used.
Sample UL Listed Component
Following the initial inspection, a UL inspector conducts regular unannounced visits to the facility to perform inspections. UL as a certifying agency are tasked with ensuring that the product continues to conform to the UL requirements. This is in part, a safety program, and verifies that the product is manufactured using UL approved components (motors, pumps, instrumentation, etc.). If a component is used that is not UL approved, the company can be fined or forfeit the certification.
Control panel fabrication
Samples of our systems have been investigated by UL in accordance with the following standards:
• UL 508 – Industrial Control Equipment
• UL 508A – Industrial Control Panels
• UL 778 – Motor-Operated Water Pumps
• CSA C22.2 No. 14 Industrial Control Equipment
• CSA C22.2 No. 108 – Liquid Pumps
Some purchasers of packaged pump systems require a third party certification label on the products supplied. The purpose of the label is to assure customers of a third party evaluation, inspection program, and a certain level of quality and safety compliance.
There is not a current national requirement for 3rd party certification for packaged booster pump systems. Local state and municipal authorities retain the rights to set their own requirements for what pumping products are acceptable.
UL is a global independent safety science company offering expertise across five key strategic businesses: Product Safety, Environment, Life & Health, Verification Services and Knowledge Services.
A Hot Oil Pump is a specifically designed piece of equipment used to pump heat transfer fluids at high temperatures. These fluids are usually oil based and good for use up to 650 degrees F. Hot oil is used in various industrial operations to heat a process or to maintain temperature in a product or on a piece of equipment.
In the past, the only way to accomplish this heat transfer process was by using hot water or steam on the process side. In today’s industrial environment, heat transfer oil can be used for the same process, but with lower pressure requirements. The use of hot oil also eliminates or reduces corrosion effects on the pipe, equipment and pumps. Finally, in practice, oil produces a much more consistent temperature and flow in the process.
Hot oil pumps are used in many applications, from pharmaceuticals to processing rubber compounds to making asphalt with many varieties in-between. Anything and everything that requires controlled heat can be done with hot oil.
In a typical hot oil heating system, the pump is in a closed circuit, just before the heat source (usually a gas fired boiler or oil heater). The pump is on the process side of the circuit, or the heating load. After leaving the heater, the oil passes through a heat exchanger, where the heat transfer takes place. Heat is removed from the oil by this step and the heat is transferred to the product side. The oil is then returned to the pump, to begin the cycle again.
The type of pump used for this process is typically a centrifugal or positive displacement pump, depending on the flow/pressure characteristics needed in the process.
MP PUMP Company, based in Frazer Michigan (www.mppumps.com) manufactures the HTO series of centrifugal pumps, specifically designed for this application. The HTO line is one of the few close -coupled pumps (where the pump impeller is directly attached to the motor shaft) that can handle the high temperatures of hot oil without special sealing or cooling jackets.
The HTO pump is ideal for use in small spaces because it does not use a long (Lovejoy type) coupling. The pump is designed with a heat sync-type bracket, such that the mechanical seal environment is protected from the heat of the process. This design eliminates the need for external cooling to the seal. The cooling is accomplished with the air around the pump. Most other manufacturers utilize a water cooling system.
Keeping the seal cool is important in a hot oil pump. The diagram below shows how the process temperature is reduced to less than 350 Degrees F as it passes through the bracket assembly to the area of the seal. Because of this design, a less expensive mechanical seal can be used. This keeps the cost of the equipment and the complications of keeping the seal cool down.
The small amount of liquid needed to lubricate the seal then arrives at the seal at a temperature that can be handled by the seal. A cooler seal means a reduced chance of oil distillation and oxidation. This extends seal life.
The key steps that will reduce pump failures?
Maintain oil quality by eliminating air/oil contact. This step reduces distillation and oxidation.
Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations in your system design for providing the correct expansion/contraction of oil using a nitrogen gas blanket to reduce distillation.
Use the proper oil heater calculations, so as not to “cook” the oil in the heating or heat transfer stages.
Advantages of an HTO Pump:
Pump is insulated
Use highly heat resistant materials
Restricted heat flow back to the seal cavity
Reducing the oil interaction from the pump side is very important
Hot oil in the process of heating can be a smart way to go. If you decide to use hot oil, check out the HTO series to see if it is right for your application.
Robert Brown Associates is pleased to offer a full line and large inventory of ANSI pump aftermarket parts manufactured by Aurora Pump. These parts are a direct replacement fit into the Goulds® Model 3196 family of ANSI pumps. The Aurora 3550 series product offers the same quality product as ANSI B73.1 OEM parts, but at a reduced cost to the end user.
Water is becoming a precious commodity for commercial buildings and factories. The cost of using potable water (water that is treated well enough to drink) to do non-potable tasks (flushing toilets, wash-down tasks, cooling tower makeup, irrigation) has become a large expense.
Build owners pay for water usage and the cost of clean drinking water continues to increase. In some cities, the storm drains and sanitary sewer lines are combined into a single stream, either at the building itself, or in the street. Thus, cities are charged with the task of treating rainwater and sanitary sewage as a single stream. Treatment facilities are being overwhelmed, and the cost to separate the lines is cost-prohibitive.
The quick way to relieve this reality is to look at alternative ways to capture and use rainwater.
Rain run-off from the roof and parking lot is free. The key is to capture rain water for non-potable use.
A rainwater collection system is comprised of a pump system, a series of piping and valves, a tank, a diverter valve and a filtration system for the first capture from the storm drains. The pump is then designed to pull water from the tank and deliver it under pressure to the intended use.One use of rainwater in facilities is for flushing toilets. In this case, the water is pressurized and delivered to a plumbing header dedicated to some or all toilets in the facility.
Another use that is a natural for rainwater is cooling tower makeup. Buildings that employ cooling towers as part of their air conditioning system have a regular demand for makeup water, as the water in the tower evaporates during the general course of the process. This can be a significant amount of water in larger commercial towers, and is a natural for rainwater.
Of course, rainwater is also a natural for irrigation – the watering of building plants, grasses and athletic fields.
Rainwater Harvesting Pump System
A rainwater collection system can also earn points towards earning LEEDS Certification, in that it reduces overall water usage and drainage off of a building site.
To get a rainwater collection system started in the facility, a professional from Robert Brown Associates consults with the engineer or the customer. Many factors are reviewed including where to put the tank(s), what type of material to use (plastic, steel, fiberglass, etc.), system pressure needs, and flow needs based on the usage assigned to the system.
Then the elements of the system are integrated into a single system design, with controls, and a system backup to serve the needs when rainwater supplies run low.
Existing buildings can be retrofitted using a series of tanks, where existing doorways prohibit entry of larger tanks into a building mechanical room. Tanks can be installed underground or in the basement of a building, depending on the facility.
Series of interconnected Rain Collection Tanks in Existing Building with limited doorway width
Screenshot of the Rainwater Control System
A control system including a flow meter tells how much rainwater the facility has used and it will even calculate the savings.Robert Brown Associates can supply all the equipment, write the specifications, and perform the startup and system maintenance on the system. A complete training is conducted with the customer for the system so that everyone understands the mechanics, controls and operations.
Rainwater collection systems have been installed in universities, hospitals food processing plants and many other facilities around the country.
Robert Brown Associates Rainwater Collection System Installations:
Drexel University
University of Miami
Broughal Middle School
Tasty Baking Company
Friends School in Philadelphia
Rainwater Collection System installed at the Friends School in Philadelphia
Pump service is a critical aspect in overall maintenance. Typically, fluid pumps that fall into the normal range of service would be utility style pumps for sewage, boilers, HVAC and more. Through a new affiliation with Fairbanks Morse, Robert Brown Associates is able to tap into the repair services in Kansas City. Now the company has the capabilities to maintain and repair large pumps for a variety of applications. Furthermore, this makes Robert Brown an official distributor in the region.
The new service capabilities would include service and repair for large pumps such as river – low lift pumps, power plant applications like large vertical turbine, split case and flood control pumps.
Typical turnaround time for smaller pumps would be over a couple of days-time. Here a mobile pump service truck would travel to the site and pull the pump for repair and then return to reinstall the pump. Or, the customer will bring pump to the Robert Brown repair facility.
For large pump repairs a coordinated effort is required. These types of pumps may take as long as sixteen to twenty-four weeks to go through the repair process. Typically this requires engineering, balancing, tolerances, and many more service aspects to bring the equipment to operating condition.
Robert Brown Associates handles the logistics and coordination of all the services and repairs to ensure the successful operation of the reinstalled equipment.
Maintaining a proper seal is critical to keeping fluid pumps water-tight and extending the life of pumping equipment.
Robert Brown Associates has the capabilities and facilities to repair and build all types of seals, from single spring seals, to single and dual cartridge seals, welded bellows seals and multiple spring component seals.
The seal repair facility can handle a diverse number of metallurgies to meet strict specifications for application or seal repair. This is a large benefit for reconditioning a seal, which ultimately saves the customer maintenance and repair costs in pump equipment.
The seal repair service includes seal clean-up, replacement of parts, full machine and surface lapping to recapture a “like new” smooth surfaces.
Seal testing, as well as detailed failure analysis is available upon request.
All repair services are guaranteed.
Same day off the shelf deliveries for most standard style seals is provided.
Part of devastating damage to the city of New Orleans after Hurrican Katrina was caused by the failure of water infrastructure systems throughout the city. To protect the city during future hurricane seasons, the Army Corps of Engineers worked to reconstruct levees and install new pumps; however, things didn’t go as planned in 2006. That’s when the Army Corps of Engineers turned to Pentair’s Fairbanks Morse to provide eleven new pumps for the city’s 17th Street canal. Despite an extraordinarily compressed schedule, Fairbanks Morse delivered the new pumps in time for the start of hurricane season 2007.
Designed, Built and Delivered in Record Time
Fairbanks Morse was awarded a contract for 11 massive pumps to be installed in New Orlean’s 17th Street canal. Fairbanks’ ability to deliver on the contract in just six months, approximately one third of the time it would normally take under the best of conditions, was key. “Usually a project like this will take from 15 to 24 months from design to completion,” said Sam Wood, Director of Sales, Fairbanks Morse.
This timing is especially remarkable given the sheer size of the pumps, which required a high level of customization by Fairbanks Morse. “These pumps are extremely large and they are all custom-built,” said Wood. “We started with nothing. There were no parts available. All the castings had to be made and all the fabrication work had to be done. With eleven pumps, it was quite an effort.”
By July 1, 2007, Fairbanks Morse designed, built, and delivered eleven propeller pumps: each weighed 85,000 pounds and required its own semi-trailer truck for delivery, and each pump featured a 72’ discharge and is capable of pumping 156,800 gallons of water per minute. “It was a seven-day-a-week project for us but we delivered,” said Wood.
The new propeller pumps added needed capacity to the city’s existing water infrastructure, which drains storm run-off from the city. Previously, the 17th Street Canal had eighteen installed pumps which moved approximately 3,600 cubic feet per second (CFS) of water. The new Fairbanks pumps added an additional 3,850 CFS (or 1,724,800 gallons per minute) capacity. This added capacity will support the safety of New Orleans during future hurricane seasons.
About Fairbanks Morse
Fairbanks Morse offers a broad range of products serving the municipal, commercial and industrial markets including large split case, vertical turbine and vertical turbine solids-handling (VTSH®) pumps, and vortex and propeller pumps. Past Fairbanks projects include pumps with diameters as large as 140 inches and with capacities of up to one million gallons per minute.
Robert Brown Associates Local Distributor for Fairbanks Morse Pumps
Robert Brown Associates, based in King of Prussia PA, is the authorized distributor for Fairbanks Morse Pump in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. To discuss an application, call T 610-3540-0200.
Robert Brown Associates, Inc. is pleased to offer a new Lunchtime Seminar called “Magnetic Drive Sealless Pumping Applications”.
The seminar is focused on providing a continued learning experience for process engineers, by teaching a detailed look at the design and application of magnetic driven pumps, including:
v General Function
v Construction & Design
v Conformity to Regulations (FDA, ANSI)
v Features to Improve MTTF
v Options for monitoring/safeguarding against upset conditions
v Performance Curve Review
v Interchangeability
The seminar is a PowerPoint® presentation with effective and thought-provoking visual graphics showing the design and layout of the components of a magnetic drive pump, and is a terrific way to fully understand this product as a tool for fluid movement. The seminar lasts 45 minutes, during lunch, compliments of our company. You simply schedule the day and time you would like the presentation, make arrangements for a local caterer to bring in lunch, and give us a list of the attendees that day. We pay for lunch and do the rest!
If you would like to schedule a seminar at your office, simply send us an email with potential dates, and we’ll call you to schedule the event.
Robert Brown Associates is pleased to offer a new Lunchtime Seminar called “Rainwater Collection/Management Pumping Systems”.
The seminar is focused on providing a continued learning experience for plumbing engineers, by teaching a detailed look at the design of new green building rainwater pumping system design, including the use/effects of:
v Gutter Diverter Valves
v Collection Tanks
v Pump Sequencing Schemes
v Variable Speed Pump Curves
v Overflow Piping
v Water Treatment Methods
v Backup City Water Piping Controls
The seminar is a PowerPoint® presentation with effective and thought-provoking visual graphics showing the relationship between each of the components of a system in operation, and is a terrific way to fully understand the dynamics of rainwater collection and pressure boosting in buildings. The seminar lasts 45 minutes, during lunch, compliments of our company. You simply schedule the day and time you would like the presentation, make arrangements for a local caterer to bring in lunch, and give us a list of the attendees that day. We pay for lunch and do the rest!
If you would like to schedule a seminar at your office, simply send us an email with potential dates, and we’ll call you to schedule the event.
Robert Brown Associates is pleased to offer a new Lunchtime Seminar called “Variable Speed Pump Systems Dynamics”.
The seminar is focused on providing a continued learning experience for plumbing and HVAC engineers, by teaching a detailed look at the design of constant speed and variable speed water booster pump design, including the effects of:
v Pressure Reducing Valvesv Centrifugal Pump Curves
v Duplex Pump Sequencing Schemes
v Variable Speed Pump Curves
v Bladder Tanks
v Pressure Transducers
v Pump Controller Design
The seminar is a PowerPoint® presentation with effective and thought-provoking visual graphics showing the relationship between each of the components of a system in operation, and is a terrific way to fully understand the dynamics of pressure boosting in buildings. The seminar lasts 45 minutes, during lunch, compliments of our company.
You simply schedule the day and time you would like the presentation, make arrangements for a local caterer to bring in lunch, and give us a list of the attendees that day.
We pay for lunch and do the rest!
If you would like to schedule a seminar at your office, simply send us an email with potential dates, and we’ll call you to schedule the event.
