Posted by William Vander Plaats on Thu, Jan 07, 2010 @ 02:20 PM
As water supplies tighten around the world, everyone must be more creative in thinking of ways to make the most of this precious resource. The City and County water works of Santa Fe in New Mexico came up with a unique idea back in the late 1990's, and their dream finally took early steps to become a reality in 2009. Not surprisingly, a key component of the solution is an industrial water filtration system which uses centrifugal separators to efficiently remove sand from water.
The Buckman Direct Diversion Project
Due for completion in 2011, the Buckman Direct Diversion project (BDD) takes water directly from the Rio Grande River so it can be used for domestic use in Sante Fe. For years the amount of rainfall in the area has been dropping and the water table now rests hundreds of feet lower, leading Santa Fe city and county planners to consider alternate sources of water to support population growth. When completed, the BDD will include a sediment removal facility to return sand to the Rio Grande, 11 miles of underground raw water pipeline to convey the water to a lifting station with booster pumps to move the water uphill, a treatment plant with capacity to filter 15 million gallons of water per day, and two new booster stations to deliver treated water to city and county customers.
Separators Used For Filtration
To keep the other components of this elaborate water pumping system operating efficiently, a total of nine (9) LAKOS centrifugal separators are being used to remove the sand so it can be returned to the Rio Grande. LAKOS Separators were the choice because they feature:
- no moving parts to wear out or replace
- minimal water loss, and a
- low and steady pressure loss
Want to learn more? Download the complete Buckman Direct Diversion Project article.
Posted by William Vander Plaats on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 @ 12:05 PM
Sugar cane and sugar beets are the world’s two primary sources of sugar. Sugar cane is grown in over 100 countries around the world, with the top producers being Brazil and India. Sugar beets are primarily grown in the European Union, United States, and Russia. Both go through a multi-step production process of cutting, cleaning, screening and separating which is becoming increasingly more sophisticated in some countries. The Sugar Association has an informative Consumer Fact Sheet on the basic processes. Some of the same production processes are used in the production of ethanol and other biofuels as well. And the importance of effective filtration cannot be overstated, especially as these mills and refineries continue to search for ways to become more friendly to the environment and more sustainable.
And increasingly, centrifugal separators like LAKOS Separators are the perfect solution to handle some of these tasks. The main reasons include:
- Little or no water loss
- No moving parts to wear out or replace, keeping them virtually maintenance-free
- Low and steady system pressure drop
At the the Pujiltic Sugar Mill in Chiapas, Mexico, plant engineers worked with LAKOS to design a solid handling system that limits the eventual liquid loss to .08% in the pre-filtration process. 
Similar results have been experienced by many other sugar mills. With proper filtration, the main by-product of the milling process -- a fibrous material known as bagasse -- may be used for livestock feed, burned to provide heat, and is sometimes used in sugar mills to provide energy in such large amounts it can be sold to others. Bagasse may also serve as raw material for paper, cardboard, and other biodegradeable products.
By using centrifugal separators instead of some other forms of filtration, the sustainability and environmentally-friendliness of sugar mills is increased to its fullest potential. And isn’t that a goal we all want them to achieve?
Read more about recent LAKOS Filtration installations in sugar mills around the world in a NEW Application Bulletin. Download it today and see the many ways effective filtration can lead to "greener" sugar production.