Amarinth improves collaborative working with
detailed 3-Dimensional CAD models of pumps

Amarinth, a leading company specialising in the design, application and manufacture of centrifugal pumps and associated equipment to the industrial, chemical and petrochemical industries has recently launched an innovative new on-line service that gives access to detailed 3-Dimensional CAD models of its pumps that are assisting understanding, communication and collaborative working across organisations.

When an organisation is specifying pumps, designing new systems or developing other processes such as maintenance schedules, there are numerous other people in addition to the engineers involved, many of whom don't have direct access to engineering models or drawings, or indeed are not in a position to understand or work with these if they did. In many cases it can be extremely difficult for these people to understand the various components within a pump and how they all fit together and so can prove frustrating for them when trying to have a meaningful conversation with engineers or pump suppliers.

In a first for the industry, Amarinth is rolling out an innovative new service that delivers through any web browser detailed models of its pumps to any person working in any organisation. This new service will help address the communication and understanding issues, making the purchasing process smoother and ensuring that general communication about the pumps is more meaningful for all concerned.

Pictured top right: Amarinth A-series OH2 3-Dimensional Model, and below: Amarinth A-series OH2 3-Dimensional Model - Internals.

The advantages of having these models available across the organisation has been underlined in the demanding environment of a major worldwide contractor headquartered in the USA where the company has installed the Amarinth models on it's own intranet and has been utilising them for training new employees and existing staff across 30 different sites. So valuable have they proven that the company has requested additional pump models to help their staff identify the differences between different types of pumps.

The on-line models enable both engineers and other staff to explore a pump in three dimensions. The detailed models can be rotated to see all aspects and features and zoomed into for closer inspection. The model is built as a full assembly and so selected parts can be made transparent or hidden in order to see internal components. More advanced features are also available such as measuring, sectioning and mass properties. Finally a mark-up feature allows sharing of information and comments between people and organisations. Importantly, no special software, platform or licensing is needed to view and manipulate these models. When the downloaded file is opened all of the software features are available immediately to the user to start work with.

Oliver Brigginshaw, Managing Director of Amarinth commented: "We have taken this initiative to openly provide detailed 3-Dimensional CAD models of our pumps as we have seen so many issues within organisations, particularly as engineers and non-engineers try to communicate about aspects of pump design, maintenance and procurement. Although many pump suppliers would be extremely cautious about releasing this level of detail into the public domain we believe that the benefits that this will deliver, both for organisations using our pumps and in communications between Amarinth and our customers, far outweigh any perceived risk."

The first of the Amarinth pump models to be released are the API 610 A-series OH2 and V-series VS4 pumps. Other pumps along with Amarinth Protect System seal support systems will follow in due course over the year.

The on-line 3D pumps can be viewed by visiting: www.amarinth.com/downloads/CAD-models

Amarinth bucks the recession and opens new pump
assembly and test facilities increasing capacity by 150%

Amarinth bucked the recession recently and opened a new pump assembly and test facility, increasing capacity by 150%.

Amarinth, a leading company specialising in the design, application and manufacture of centrifugal pumps and associated equipment to the industrial, chemical and petrochemical industries has made a major investment in new state-of-the-art assembly and test facilities to handle current orders and predicted growth.

With its increasing order book, Amarinth has undertaken a major investment in new facilities that will enable the company to meet anticipated demand and needs of customers over the next few years. The company has just completed a new building that will house its state-of-the-art assembly facilities and provide an additional capacity of 150% over and above its existing facilities.

The building has been configured with numerous workstations in a 'cell' manufacturing layout enabling staff to move pumps of any size through their various assembly phases. A fully integrated 5 tonne crane ensures that large assemblies can be moved anywhere within the building with ease. Fitters will work in industry leading 'clean room' conditions when fitting seals and bearings to reduce the risk of potential contaminants.

A new test facility, (pictured above), has also been completed where assembled pumps are fully tested to the relevant specification. The new test rig offers multiple connections to the main test tank which can cope with flows of up to 1650m3/hr. The multiple connections allow pumps to be prepared for test or disassembled after tests whilst another pump is undergoing testing, saving hours of idle test time and increasing throughput significantly.

The new rig is fully automated, being fitted with electronic valve actuators enabling the whole rig to be controlled via a single push button master test desk. All test telemetry is captured electronically using state-of-the-art digital test instrumentation and delivered to the testing desk, again improving efficiencies.

In addition, two 5 metre deep sumps have been constructed allowing for full length testing of vertical sump pumps up to 7 metres. The same thought process allowing one pump to be prepared whilst the other pump is operating and being tested has been used for these vertical pits, which once again allows increased throughput for vertical sump pump testing. An innovative hydraulic system has also been designed to lower the pumps into position at the push of a button, eradicating the need to use multiple cranes ensuring the job can be completed safely by just one operator.

Oliver Brigginshaw, Managing Director of Amarinth commented: "Our new assembly and test facilities reflect our drive to remain one of the quickest companies in the industry to deliver bespoke API 610 pumps whilst continuing with our significant growth. We can now assemble and test a greater volume of units without having to extend our leadtimes ensuring that we are well positioned to undertake an increased number of prestigious contracts, particularly those with tight deadlines. We have seen our order book continue to grow over the past year, despite the difficult economic conditions, and this significant investment reflects our confidence in the expected growth of Amarinth."

For further information, e-mail: Steve.Buckley@Amarinth.com or view website: www.amarinth.com   Refer to pagte 10

acs Cleans Up at Saw Blade Manufacturer

When Whitehill Spindle Tools Ltd operated out of its relatively small manufacturing facility, the company's managing director noted an increasing concentration of dust and coolant mist from its machine tools.

With a machine shop densely populated with machine tools; dust and fume extraction equipment was a necessity to protect the health of the shopfloor staff. As Whitehill Spindle Tools, Managing Director, Mr David Hudson recalls: "Back in 2004 we were getting dust from our belt linisher that was in constant use. We needed a solution and when I reviewed the market, acs delivered the best fit solution with a downdraught bench and a bespoke guarding system. Another attraction for me was the selection of a British manufacturer with a UK support network."

The OMF 1000 acs media filtration system, fitted to a machining centre at Whitehill.

Founded in 1930, the manufacturer of tooling for the woodworking and plastics industries produces HSS & carbide knives and the respective aluminium and steel bodies that accommodate the knives. The Luton based company has produced over 45,000 types of knives/blades in the last ten years with hundreds of body types for machining wood and plastic, door and window frames, skirting boards and picture frames to name a few examples.

With an ever increasing product range and workload, Whitehill then installed an acs AC1 dust extraction unit on its Jones & Shipman manual surface grinding machine to eradicate an escalating dust problem whilst polishing blades. However, the company eventually outgrew its facility and moved to a new site in 2008. This expansion brought with it the demand for additional machine tools and with each machine came an extraction unit. "We had an issue with airborne particulate at our previous facility. Moving to a new factory, I was intent upon maintaining a clean and healthy working environment as well as a clean shop floor that portrays an excellent company image," continues Mr Hudson. 

In 2008, the company continued its expansion strategy and this noted the arrival of a Mazak Variaxis 500-5X. However, the machining conducted by the Variaxis prevented the operator opening the doors to the work envelope due to coolant mist and hot fumes generated from high speed machining. The solution arrived in the form of an acs OMF2500 free standing media filtration unit with individual enclosed filters to serve each machine. As Mr Hudson continues: "With the OMF, we managed to resolve the issue on three machines, by linking the OMF2500 to the Variaxis as well as the two Cincinnati Arrows machining centres alongside. The OMF had an immediate impact on productivity by enabling operators to access the work envelope as soon as a part is machined. Minutes in lost production could be reclaimed on three machines, not just one. Besides reclaiming lost production times, our new machine shop has remained remarkably clean by resolving the particulate issue on three machines."

Picture shows the OMF 1000 ace media filtration system fitted to the rear of a Cincinnati Hawk turning centre.

The successful implementation of the OMF 2500 unit soon noted the arrival of a smaller OMF1000 filtration unit that was attached to a Cincinnati Hawk turning centre.

As Mr Hudson states: "The free standing unit is designed for direct attachment to most machines and machining centres, so implementing the easy-to-fit system on the Hawk was a no brainer." …../Continued on the next page