It is a technology that has already transformed our world. The oil-rich nations of the Persian Gulf already have giant desalination plants that supply their kingdoms and emirates with vast quantities of drinking-water straight from the ocean. It makes perfect sense that oil-rich desert states are the first major birthplaces for the desalinization industry: for now, the energy consumption that goes into most of today’s desalination plants is simply too costly for most countries to entertain on a large scale. But all that is already changing. As desertification becomes ever more present across the planet, the need for cheaper desalination technology is becoming increasingly apparent. Read more...
Like traffic in Los Angeles or frostbite in Antarctica, water-parks are simply a fact of life in North America. Of the 1,600 estimated water-parks that are extant in the world, over 1,000 of them can be found in North America, principally in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. With an estimated attendance of over 80 million in North America alone last year (and with a steady 3-5% rise in attendance each year), it’s a fun-loving, lucrative industry to find yourself involved in. But all water-sliding and wave machining aside, it can be a lot of hard work implementing the ideal park that suits both the needs of your budget and your customers’ sense of adventure. You need to build attractions that stand out from the rest of the pack, ones that are fun and easy to use; but which are also cost-effective to build and maintain for the long-term. Read more...
Whether you’re the owner of deepwater oil rigs embedded in the Gulf of Mexico or off the Saudi Arabian coast, or whether you manage a water treatment plant servicing the needs of a coastal town or city somewhere in the world, it’s likely you’re aware of just how invasive and corrosive seawater can become towards your equipment functioning properly. If you’re a savvy business operator, you doubtless know about the cost-effectiveness of letting seawater cool off the heat exchangers, etc., that are part of your drilling or water treatment operation. Read more...
If you ever want to discover just how corrosive saltwater can get, try this little experiment for yourself: fill up a sand pail with water from the beach, dunk a standard metal dinner-fork in the pail, and then wait overnight. In the morning, you’re more than liable to see a fine coating of rust up and down the fork’s surface. In short, it doesn’t take an advanced degree in chemical engineering to realize that saltwater is a whole lot more corrosive than freshwater. Read more...
Hair and lint strainers used in commercial pools are a very important part of the filtration system of the pool. This simple devise is used to remove large objects, like jewelry, adhesive bandages, hair, lint and almost anything that can come out of a bathing suit pocket or even things that are thrown in the pool. The damaging materials aren’t always from the swimmers; leaves, stems, and rocks often make their way into pools. After a few years of cleaning filter baskets, it’s hard to be surprised at what you find. Removing these objects from the line will protect the pump and downstream filtration equipment. Read more...
This year there has been an increase in demand for construction of new homes and renovation of old homes in the U.S. Americans are finally willing to spend after years of economic woes, but should buyers be as eager to invest in luxury items like a pool? Read more...
Hair and lint strainers used in commercial pools are a very important part of the filtration system of the pool. This simple devise is used to remove large objects, like jewelry, adhesive bandages, hair, lint and almost anything that can come out of a bathing suit pocket or even things that are thrown in the pool. The damaging materials aren’t always from the swimmers; leaves, stems, and rocks often make their way into pools. After a few years of cleaning filter baskets, it’s hard to be surprised at what you find. Removing these objects from the line will protect the pump and downstream filtration equipment. Read more...
Although Manufacturing Month officially wrapped up in October, we’re working toward raising awareness for U.S. manufacturing year-round. It seems that, more than ever, companies are embracing the “Made in the USA” mentality, which is excellent for the industry and the economy. While news stories seem to change their tune every week on how U.S. manufacturing is faring, statistics and initiatives are heavily weighted toward the positives. Read more...
Basket strainers for commercial aquatic facilities, including aquariums, municipal pools, and zoos, are important parts of the suction sides of the pool recirculation systems used in those installations.
Selecting the right aquatic basket strainer when building a new facility or replacing existing equipment are important choices that should be based in a solid understanding of how aquatic basket strainers work and the options available. To aid in this decision-making process, we’ve outlined the anatomy of a commercial aquatic basket strainer. Read more...
Industrial basket strainers — which are used in heavy industrial applications such as mining operations, power generation facilities, and chemical and metal refineries — are subjected to some of the harshest working conditions.
The fluids that pass through industrial strainers are some of the most corrosive liquids out there, such as seawater, pickle solutions, scrubbers, and various chemicals. This means they have to be built tough to resist their environments and remain operational. Read more...
Pool recirculation suction systems are important parts of any commercial pool installation. They remove debris and impurities from the pool water and keep it moving. If set up and maintained properly, a pool recirculation system will guarantee a clean pool and happy swimmers.
While regular maintenance is crucial to maintaining your pool recirculation suction system, selecting the right equipment is also important for ensuring that your system works correctly and remains fully functional. Read more...
Fluidtrol is periodically asked for strainers for more controlled environments. While we have designed all of our strainers using the design philosophy laid out in the Recommended Design Equations for ASME BPVC X, there are areas where those standard equations fall short. These areas include nozzle loads, large port to shell ratios, shear bonding of fiberglass to fiberglass joints, and super imposing external loads with pressure loads. Read more...
Huntsville, Ala., Oct 26, 2015 — Fluidtrol has launched the GX Series, a non-metallic inline basket strainer designed to prevent lid cracks and fitting cracks by reducing stress concentration points up to 50% over previous generations of corrosion-resistant aquatic and industrial strainers. Read more...
