Green desert city gets energy-efficient water pumps 21 August 2014

Amarinth, which specialises in centrifugal pumps for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, is using its carbon reduction pump project expertise to supply equipment into Masdar City, in Abu Dhabi.

Said to be the world's most sustainable eco-city, Masdar claims to be pioneering a 'greenprint' for how towns should handle rapid urbanisation – reducing energy and water consumption, as well as waste.

It is also seen as key to transforming Abu Dhabi from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-and-innovation based one, serving as a test bed for renewable-energy and technology firms.

So when Masdar City required pumps for its water recirculation system, the thinking was to optimise clean energy generated onsite from roof-top solar panels and one of the largest photovoltaic installations in the Middle East.

That, in turn, meant using energy efficient pumps, and hence, says Oliver Brigginshaw, managing director of Amarinth, the approach from Masdar – based on its Technology Strategy Board-funded low-carbon pumps project.

Brigginshaw explains that Amarinth has been developing a cost effective and rapid process for designing and manufacturing bespoke best efficiency point (BEP) optimised impellers – as opposed to the conventional best fit using off-the-shelf pumps.

"Masdar City has provided us with a unique opportunity to showcase the work we have been doing to provide energy-efficient pumps at a commercially acceptable cost and timescale," states Brigginshaw.

"We are looking forward to working closely with Masdar City on the project and learning further from it so that we can bring this technology to all businesses around the world," he continues.

"Studies we have undertaken have shown that being able to provide optimised impellers for a specific duty will reduce annual CO2 emissions in our target markets by 17,000 tonnes by 2020 and 110,000 tonnes by 2050."

He justifies those figures by explaining that pumps not running at their BEP frequently display energy inefficiencies of up to 25%. Given that 95% of pump lifecycle costs are energy costs, the savings – both financial and carbon – are huge.

In the cases of Masdar City, Amarinth is using its C-Series pump as a base unit and then working with the project team to design the best solution while still delivering within the required 18 week lead time.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Amarinth Ltd
Innovate UK

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