FEATURE: Primed for pumping

Mark Page, managing director of pump sales at Selwood, said the company had seen a surge in demand for pump rental in the UK, but this was also evident around the globe.

“As the market grows, Selwood, with its extensive and expanding pump range and a long established distributor network, significantly strengthens its presence worldwide. Contractors’ need for operational efficiencies increasingly drives them to choose rental as a more attractive option than capital purchase,” he explained.

“This works in tandem with Selwood’s pump sales business; the durability and longevity of its products – and the fact that they are designed with strong input from colleagues in the company’s pump rental division – make them ideally suited for the rental market.”

Mr Page said Selwood had plans to expand in the next 12 months with a specific focus on France and Spain where there are many opportunities for growth, working with distributors DMTP in France – Selwood partners since 1998 – and ABIN in Spain, who’ve worked with the company for more than 20 years.

“The increased network across both countries plus new branches in the South of France and Madrid will allow increased national coverage in the pump rental market.

“DMTP’s new branch in Marseille has been a hive of activity thanks to the region’s high concentration of industrial, petro-chemical and infrastructure demand.

“DMTP also recently opened a branch in Angers in western France and plans to relocate its current Paris branch to larger premises in early 2017. These developments are part of a strategic growth plan to provide a network of pump rental branches across France,” he said.

“ABIN’s main office is based in A Coruna and the additional new branch opening soon in Arganda Del Rey, close to Madrid, is welcomed by its key customers where the majority of head offices are located. Many of these customers already own Selwood pumps, creating a regular stream of service and repair works for ABIN.

Both DMTP and ABIN have placed significant orders that include Selwood’s highly regarded super silent pumps, which are the quietest on the market, making them particularly suited to work in urban areas.”

Range for rent

Mr Page said Selwood also continued to invest heavily in its Super Silent range and offers its entire pump range for rent – either directly from its distributors’ own fleet or rapidly supplied from the UK fleet of more than 3000 units. Outside Europe, Selwood drives rental forward with strategic partners in major overseas markets, notably Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

“Continuing to expand our rental offering is a key element of Selwood’s strategy for the coming year – and its position as one of the few British pump companies to design, manufacture, rent and sell its own range of surface diesel and hydraulic pumps is a major strength,” he said.

“This year saw the launch of a new pump, the S150M, a medium head addition to Selwood’s solids handling range which is to be introduced for rental worldwide, allowing new pump applications to be targeted.

As the global pump rental market continues to develop Selwood relishes the opportunities and challenges of a very competitive market. “

Full flow

Meanwhile, Atlas Copco has launched 18 new additions to its open frame diesel-driven centrifugal dewatering pump range. The PAS range of pumps focus on high fuel efficiency and cover a full spectrum of sizes from 105m3/h to 630m3/h, and discharge size ranging from 3in (76mm) to 8in (203mm).

Designed for multiple applications, from dewatering on construction and mining sites to solids removal, drainage and even emergency situations involving flooding and shipping, the company said the PAS open-frame system included both wet and dry prime options, and the modular design allowed many different configurations.

“The new PAS dewatering pumps meet the five key criteria that Atlas Copco sets for the development of new machines: compactness, versatility, durability, efficiency and simple service,” said Wim Moors, vice president of Pumps within Atlas Copco’s Portable Energy division.

“They are easy to transport to wherever you need them, tested in the toughest conditions, efficient in fuel consumption and able to cover multiple applications with a focus on modular design.”

The wide range of sizes in the new PAS portfolio starts with the 6.4kW PAS3, a wet prime pump offering a maximum flow capacity of 120m³/h, a discharge size of 3in (76mm) and a maximum head of 24.5m. It is able to handle solids of up to 40mm and benefits from an air cooling system and 4.5 hours of fuel autonomy.

At the other end of the spectrum, the dry-prime PAS8 operates at a head of up to 30m, offers a discharge size of 8in (203mm) and handles solids of up to 76mm with a maximum flow of 630m³/h

Atlas Copco also offers a range of portable electrical submersible pumps. The WEDA range can manage flows from 225 to 16.500 litres per minute with a maximum head of 85m.

Pioneer Pump has also launched a new hydraulic submersible range in the form of the fully bunded, sound attenuated HYPP30 Hydraulic Power Pack, together with the 150HSS and the 100HSS solid handling submersible pumps.

Available for rental or purchase worldwide, the company said the new range featured a Perkins 404D-22T engine and delivered hydraulic flow up to 60lt/min and hydraulic pressure up to 200 bar, the new HYPP30 can be coupled with solid handling, chopper and heavy sludge submersible pump ends.

Commercial sales director Paul Skippins said the new range was designed for those applications where suction lift is greater than 8.5m, making them the preferred choice for quarry dewatering, sludge and slurry transfer.

“The hydraulic hoses can be extended up to 80m, making those difficult to get to applications possible,” he added.

And the company also introduced its new 150 Hydredge, which Mr Skippins, “Our new Pioneer 150 Hydredge incorporates a 6" screw type pump and a single rotor agitator unit, designed for desilting and sludge removal applications with stubborn sediments. The 150 Hydredge can be operated using a single HYPP30 powerpack and Hydredge control panel. The controller gives the operator flexibility to choose between pumping and agitating, which ensures efficient sediment and sludge removal.”

Business expansion

Another manufacturer busy expanding its business and its product range is Tsurumi, which moved into its new 800m2 European headquarters in Düsseldorf, Germany, earlier this year, and doubled its supply depot – claiming that most of its pumps could be on their way to customers within 24 hours of ordering.

As well as a new electric contactor’s pump, the LH4110W, with 110kW power and ability to pump waste water with 8mm particles up to 216m vertically, Tsurumi has also embarked on a large waste water product expansion campaign, starting with the 50GY series.

The manufacturer said its delivery programme was planned to double to around 500 pump types by the start of 2017. It explained that the smallest of the new pumps has a motor output of 150W, the largest more than 160kW. This is the first step by Tsurumi in its goal to become the market leader in the waste water sector.

The 50GY is a series comprising 12 electrical waste water submersion pumps made of sturdy grey cast iron that can be installed in a free-standing position. With a motor output varying between 1.1 and 9.5kW, they can pump up to 510l/min to pumping heights of 68m.

To ensure that the waste water can flow without blockages, Tsurumi uses an open multi-vane impeller that turns at a speed of 2850rpm. The grinder mechanism with its stationary cutting ring and rotating blade, chops the solids in the waste water in fractions of a second.

This development works so efficiently that the manufacturer said it was able to make the outlet diameter just 50mm to allow pipe cross-sections down to DN50, which in turn keeps materials and installation costs low. The cutting mechanism itself is a solid design made of just two parts, and is therefore very maintenance-friendly, according to Tsurumi.

Technology focus

Elsewhere, Xylem has also been busy expanding its business – it inked a deal to buy smart meters, network technologies and advanced data specialist Sensus for US$1.7 billion (€1.5 billion) earlier this year.

The deal isn't directly relevant to the rental industry, but expands Xyelm’s technological capabilities into a new sector – it will be interesting to see what the company does with this new tech.
Xylem said Sensus had more than 80 million metering devices installed globally, while its FlexNet communications network technology uses licensed spectrum in the US and other geographies to provide secure connectivity.

Xylem said FlexNet network technology provided a platform for its future growth. It is acquiring Sensus from investment funds affiliated with The Jordan Company and GS Capital Partners 2000.
Patrick Decker, Xylem president and CEO, said the deal represented an important milestone for the company’s strategy to move forward with technology.

“The combination of Xylem’s world-class brands and products with Sensus’ leading-edge smart technologies will create a differentiated offering that will better meet our customers’ evolving needs, including greater energy efficiency, water conservation, and improved life-cycle costs.

“Combining the advanced technology and R&D expertise and capabilities of both companies, we anticipate accelerating our delivery of innovative solutions to our customers, particularly in the area of advanced analytics across the water, wastewater and outdoor water sectors.

“Sensus’ network platform, FlexNet, can support many of Xylem’s connected product offerings and enable expansion into adjacent Internet of Things markets.

“We also see natural opportunities to extend the company’s advanced data analytics platform, which provides actionable insights for customers, to Xylem products. Both platforms provide a powerful foundationfor future organic and inorganic growth opportunities.”

And Xylem has also added to its rental offering in Latin America as well as North America in a series of growth initiatives. In Latin America, Xylem expanded its dewatering pump rental and services with the opening of three new hubs – in Barranquilla, Colombia; Pará, Brazil; and Chiclayo, Peru.

These new hubs are in addition to six dewatering pump rental hubs that Xylem has opened in the region over the past six years as part of a multi-million dollar (USD) investment in Latin America.

“We continue to experience increased rental demand in Latin America as more and more customers recognize the value of our rental capabilities – a quick and cost-effective way to tackle water removal challenges supported by Xylem’s deep water transfer expertise,” said David Flinton, senior vice president and president of Xylem Dewatering.

“This significant investment will expand our footprint to a total of 17 dewatering rental locations across the region, enabling us to better meet local customers’ needs with timely, turn-key solutions from a single source.”

Meanwhile, in the US, Xylem opened a new rental, sales and service location in Little Rock, Arkansas, adding to its network of over 40 branch and rental hubs in the country.

This is a feature from the September/October 2016 issue of IRN. To read the full article, with extra images and information, subscribe to the magazine: http://www.khl.com/subscriptions/magazines/international-rental-news/