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Rising skills shortages and a 'brain drain' on experienced staff are a growing concern in egineering related professions and the pump industry is no exception. These challenges are the result of different factors, some specific to certain industries or regions, others more global in scope. Earlier this year, the annual report from the Global Energy Talent Index and recruiter for the energy,... process and infrastructure industries, Airswift, found that 48% of oil and gas professionals surveyed were concerned about an impending talent emergency. The research found that in the wake of the economic downturn the industry had cut graduate schemes, apprenticeships and training, and was still playing catch-up. Oil and gas are particularly suffering from a poor reputation among millennials (broadly defined as those born between 1981 and 1996). A 2016 report by McKinsey & Company found that 14% of millennials surveyed said they would not work in the oil and gas sector because it had a negative image. This was the highest percentage for any industry. Some countries are also seeing a shortage in graduates with engineering training, a fact that has seen the average age of employees in engineering professions creeping up and raising concerns about shortages in the coming years. In the UK, the British Pump Manufacturers Association (BPMA) recently launched a new Pipeline Vacancy Board in a bid to help address this problem.  It comes aspart of a wide-ranging series of initiatives by the trade association to help attract and develop more talent for the pump industry. Here, Fluid Handling International speaks to BPMA chief executive Steve Schofield about how a skills shortage has started to develop in the UK pump sector, and what BPMA is doing to help draw in new talent and fill vacancies. [read more]

A relatively new form of pipeline leak detection, trained leak detector dogs have been around for about 15 years. Will Keaton of AlphaDog Pipeline Leak Detectors, explains to Fluid Handling International why the method is innovative and effective. To train a dog in leak detection only takes a few weeks. It needs to be taught to associate a specific odour with a reward, for example a ball or a... treat. Once the dog has become successful with that association, it is a matter offine-tuning their skill. Keaton says that the company uses two Belgian Malinois for its leak detection. This breed of dog are“constantly ‘on’ and want to work, which makes them perfectly suited for pipeline leak detection.” However, training for a detection dog never really stops, as they have to be constantly tested and challenged. “As a pipeline leak detection company if our dogs make the slightest mistake it could end up costing us and our customers thousands of dollars, which is not an option.” The dogs are rigorously tested to ensure that not only can they find the odour, but that they can pinpoint it with complete accuracy. [read more]

Magnitogorsk is an industrial city on the South Eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia and is home to one of the largest steel producers in the country. The local municipality provides water and sanitation to 420,000 residents across a 600km water supply network using steel pipe with diameters between 100 and 1,000mm. In recent years, the community has been having issues with water leakage,... especially from large diameter mains. One of the biggest difficulties encountered was locating these leaks during extreme weather conditions, with temperatures dipping down to -40° Celsius. Their current leak noise correlators were insufficient, and both the municipality and steel manufacturer realised they needed to look for a more advanced leak detection solution. [read more]

Hidrostal, the original inventers of the Fish Friendly pump, has supplied pumps for Whitacre Heath P.S. to make the station fully compliant with the EU Eels Regulations. The regulation was brought into effect to tackle the rapid decline in global populations of the European eel. In order to breed, eels must return to their migration grounds, in Europe approximately 6500km away, in the Sargasso... Sea. Obstructions which impede their journey, such as pumping stations, may be a contributing factor to their fall in numbers. [read more]

It is always satisfying for a pump manufacturer to learn that its products have lived up to expectations after many years operation. For KSB Pumps Canada, this was the scenario when the City of Montreal approached them in 2013 to submit a tender for an additional pump set in order to expand its Charles-J.-Des Baillets drinking water production plant where five KSB ME type pumps had been operating... since 1978. The City of Montreal operates six water treatment plants, with two major ones, namely Charles-J.-Des Baillets and Atwater, which both supply potable water to seven subterranean reservoirs and associated pumping stations throughout Montreal island and its outlying districts. Charles-J.-Des Baillets is the second largest plant in Montreal and among the largest in Canada, having a production capacity of 1.136 million cubic metres of water per day. This accounts for 38% of the total production capacity of the city of Montreal. [read more]

Flowrox, formerly known as Larox Flowsys, has more than 40 years of experience in solid/liquid separation, flow control, elastomer technology and technical textiles. After acquiring American Spare Parts Depot and NovaTek, Swedish filtration technology company, Flowrox strengthened its filtration portfolio.

Mechanical seals first arrived on the market more than 80 years ago and, while little has changed in the design and development of pumps, sealing technology has evolved significantly over this period. Modern mechanical seals are central to reliability, cost-efficiency and sustainability, yet despite this, many companies continue to fit their pumps and other rotating equipment with outdated... sealing technology that falls short. A classic example of this is the traditional gland packed seal. This earliest recorded form of seal, probably packed with rope, helped the ancient Greeks seal their piston-type pumps around 2000BC and the basic principle of using a compressed, lubricated material continues today. [read more]

Fluid handling systems often feature regulators to help maintain consistent downstream pressure. A flow curve is a helpful tool to determine the range of outlet pressures a regulator will maintain based on various system flow rates. Optimally, the flow curve should appear as flat as possible. A flat curve demonstrates a broad operating range in which the regulator will maintain consistent... pressure even if flow changes significantly. When the flow curve slopes downward in pressure as flow rate increases, a phenomenon called “droop” occurs. Pronounced droop in the flow curve results in a narrower operating range in which the regulator will perform reliably. [read more]

Valves with motorised actuators offer multiple opportunities for improving efficiency in modern plant engineering. But where are the advantages of electrically operated valves for modern plant engineering in comparison with the pneumatic components that have traditionally been used? The continuing digitisation and the demand for increased efficiency are just two topics of interest here. New... industry 4.0 applications along with trends, such as the increasing modularity of plants, are increasingly pushing established, pneumatically operated solutions to their limits. [read more]