February 2007
Volume XII, Number 2
Pick-A-Pump

6 Keys to Specifying the RIGHT Pump
Rethink the Bid Process to Ensure Application Success
As a specifying engineer challenged with the task of drawing up the specifications for wastewater management within a growing municipality, your name is on the line. Each piece of equipment you spec carries with it a piece of your reputation. Therefore, your recommendations must be solid — based on experience and facts. But when it comes to wastewater pump specifications, the answers aren’t always black and white.

From the Glass Thermometer to Fiber Optics
An Overview of Leading Sensor Technologies & Applications
While glass thermometers are sufficiently precise to handle many of the temperature measurement needs of daily life, they are not suited to the needs of most industrial environments. For industrial environments, there are five main types of temperature sensors prevalent in today’s marketplace. These include thermocouples, resistance temperature detectors (RTDs), thermistors, infrared thermometers, and fiber-optic temperature sensors.

Automated Valve Makes Waves
City of Long Beach Turns to High-Technology for New Fountain Attraction
The initial design for the City of Long Beach Wave Fountain ran into problems with water hammer. The poppet solid on-off valves installed on two manifolds caused destructive harmonic vibrations in the equipment when they were opened and closed in different sequences. Looking for a solution, engineers turned to a unique valve design.

Part II: Measuring Gravity-Fed Flow
Key Considerations Gleaned from a Real-Life Application
Last month we examined a tank operated as a binary separator that was fed in the middle where the feed flow contained heavy liquid that drained out the bottom while the light liquid overflowed at the top. Sizing and installation issues involved with the feed and bottom flowmeters were discussed. Now let’s take a look at the overflow flowmeter.

Filters vs. Strainers
Please Tell Me What’s the Difference
Help!! I want to know the difference between a filter and a strainer. I admit I don’t know the difference. I thought I knew the difference, but I realize now that I don’t. I admit the difference may not be that important, or bring about world peace, or solve the energy crisis. Nevertheless, I am on a quest, and I’m asking for your assistance.

Quiz Corner: Troubleshooting Low-Flow Conditions
How to Diagnose a Slow-Filling Tank
Sometimes simple rules of thumb are good enough to solve the problem at hand. Suppose that an installed system consists of a water tank, a pump, and discharge piping to an atmospheric vessel located 60 feet above the pump. The pump is operating and all valves in the piping are completely open. The flowmeter installed between the pump and tank indicates a low flow and the tank fills slowly. What potential problems could exist and how would you address them?

Lessons Learned From a Tragedy
BP Acts on Recommendations of Review Panel
Responding to an urgent safety recommendation issued by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board in August 2005, BP commissioned an independent group, called the BP U.S. Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel, to assess and report on the effectiveness of BP North America’s corporate oversight of safety management systems at its refineries and its corporate safety culture. According to BP, it is already working to implement the panel’s recommendations, and it says it will continue to work with the review panel in a more thorough analysis of its overall safety culture.