Sustainability is increasingly important to today’s water industry. With ever-rising product costs, environmental and climate concerns and lengthy lead time considerations, it is crucial to choose and apply the correct product for functionality, longevity and sustainability. The many choices range from low-cost, low-quality products that solve an immediate need to more sustainable, updated products to significant capital investments that modernize a facility as a long-term solution.
Many manufacturers are substantially changing or reinventing their products. This is highly evident in the process equipment space. These products often come into contact with liquids and solids that are eventually consumed by humans or cycled back into the environment. The items undergo extensive design review and sometimes a full overhaul to meet the sustainability requirements of an ever-changing world.
Sustainability in Components
A move toward sustainability includes applying renewable energy sources. One of these—hydropower in its traditional form—uses dams and turbines to harness the energy of flowing water to generate electricity. Most modern hydropower facilities operate with a pumped storage process, which reuses water that has already passed through a turbine. This water is collected in a reservoir after usage, pumped back to the initial source when demand is low and reinstituted when demand is high.
Many modern pumped storage systems use variable speed motors for efficiency. These motors operate effectively under varying water flows and head heights. Optimal performance and the ability of a hydropower plant to quickly respond to changing power demands are some key advantages of the variable speed motors commonly used in these systems. Additionally, condition-based monitoring and advanced drive systems contribute to the sustainability of these facilities.
Some electric motors are manufactured specifically for the water sector. These motors operate with premium efficiency, reduce energy losses and ultimately contribute to the decarbonization of industrial processes. Modern electric motors comply with efficiency standards, both in the U.S. and internationally, and are being manufactured using materials that promote efficiency, durability and waste material recyclability.
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has developed stringent standards for electric motor efficiency. Modern IE6 low-voltage motors operate at 98% efficiency, decreasing energy waste in critical applications. Additionally, permanent magnet motors are used in desalination and wastewater facilities due to their high-power density. In desalination applications with high-pressure water pumps (typically up to 120 bar or 1,740 pounds per square inch [psi]), high-voltage motors can be employed to meet the demands of precise operating parameters. These motors achieve efficiency levels above 97%, which also helps decrease energy waste. With proper cooling, these motors can achieve long life even in the most demanding applications.
Substantial efforts to enhance sustainability are also being employed in the manufacture of valves used in the water process industry. Although their functionality may seem simple, a typical automated or motorized valve may include more than 300 individual components. To assist in the sustainability of these products, many manufacturers are using combinations of materials with lower levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds are harsh to the environment and to workers, as they may contain carcinogenic and other harmful health properties.
Sustainability With Internet of Things (IoT)
In addition to lowering VOCs in materials, valve manufacturers are improving product sustainability by committing to understanding product life cycles. Condition monitoring for modern valves can provide a user with life cycle data that helps prevent downtime and improve throughput.
The advancement of IoT is transforming condition monitoring and industrial processes. Many components can provide data and frequent updates on their life cycle, which will assist the manufacturer’s sustainability efforts. By knowing when components might fail, a manufacturer can employ a proactive maintenance schedule to prevent costly downtimes. An idle plant—or process within a plant—is a detriment to sustainability efforts. Condition monitoring can help to avoid these pitfalls.
Sustainability in Systems
Beyond components, other sustainable measures are leveraged with systems such as water filtration. These ecologically friendly systems use less material, consume less water and last longer than traditional filter systems. Fresh water and its conservation are more important now than ever. The Environmental Protection Agency notes that in the United States alone, drinking water consumption has tripled in the last 50 years, although the population has only doubled.
Hydroelectric power facilities also use industrial water processes to ensure functionality and improve downtime. The purity of the water for filtration and cooling measures is a key part of this process. Many manufacturers are converting to environmentally friendly materials, optimizing internal processes by employing product life cycle management, utilizing artificial intelligence and prioritizing sustainability in their business. This supports the manufacturing and creation of products that are more circular and therefore more sustainable.
Modern industrial filtration systems offer cutting-edge technologies. The ultrafiltration process uses high pressure to force concentrated liquids through a membrane. This removes emulsified oils, high molecular weight materials such as heavy metals and other contaminants from the water. These filtration systems are highly efficient and can recycle water and soap solutions. Applying these types of systems reduces water and detergent costs by up to 75% and decreases waste disposal by up to 90%.
Additionally, industrial systems can utilize vacuum evaporation and distillation. This process uses a vacuum system to accelerate the natural evaporation process and recovers the water faster than traditional filtration systems. Water is evaporated in a vacuum chamber at a low temperature, which separates it from the contaminants that remain in the chamber. At this point, the water is quickly cooled, condensed and reused. Advanced evaporation systems can be solar powered, which eliminates energy waste and makes these filtration units highly sustainable.
Reverse osmosis systems are popular as well, and they are frequently used in all types of industry. They reduce water consumption, minimize waste and decrease the overall environmental impact of processes that use water. The reverse osmosis process forces water in the opposite direction of traditional osmosis. These systems are key in providing and treating makeup water for cooling towers, reducing scaling and corrosion and decreasing the need for chemical treatments in power generation plants.
Achieving Sustainability Goals
As one can imagine, the changes and improvements to these components and systems come with a cost before results can be realized. A qualified strategic partner can help make smart decisions and is prepared to work toward achieving the same outcomes. Understanding the return on investment (ROI) goals for the organization is an important measure of an effective strategic partner.
The next part of preparation requires the most involvement from a correctly aligned partner: establishing a preferred specification list. This list will dictate the components and materials that align best with the organization’s sustainability goals and desired outcomes. For example, many manufacturers produce valves or piping systems for use in the process industry for water. However, some of these products may be manufactured with components and materials that fail to meet environmental requirements. Common yet hazardous heavy metals that may be present in valves include lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and chromium.
An inaccurate choice of component can instantly nullify sustainability goals. The preferred partner must understand this when deliberating over the specification list and selecting the best manufacturers to support sustainability.
To properly achieve an organization’s sustainability goals, external entities or partners may be brought in to advise, assist or sometimes manage a project from conception to integration. Sustainability cannot be viewed as a single event, but a process.
For more on sustainability, visit pumpsandsystems.com/tags/sustainability.
