PLNT64_2010

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Volume 5, No. 03 >> Supplement, Canadian PLANT >> September/October 2010

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EFFICIENCY DEFICIENCY

Alberta helps manufacturers fill in their productivity gap HIGHLIGHTS Be part of the clean tech revolution Keeping your pumps in prime shape How KUDU came back from the brink Make green part of the business model

6 7 8 10

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an engineering and service staff across Canada to assist customers

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• Preparation or review of maintenance schedules and procedures • End user in-house training seminars

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• Accurate part number crossover to one of NTN’s complete range of products

Editorial

Dirty energy isn’t going away

5

COVER PHOTO: iSTOCKPHOTO

T

here was entertainment at the recent World Energy Congress in Montreal. About 60 Greenpeace protesters put on bathing suits and oiled themselves up with fake petroleum for a “Black Tide Beach Party” to tell us that the world must move away from “dirty energy.” The Greenpeacers are against all forms of dirty energy, from coal to natural gas, but they, and many of their environmentalist friends, have a particular dislike for what comes out of Alberta’s oil sands.

Folks in Washington are also highly critical of the heavy petroleum. So much so, there is a movement afoot to restrict its flow. Indeed, US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi met with premiers, environmental activists, energy industry executives and First Nations representatives to “listen and learn.”

The critics note that mining or sucking the gunk out of the earth generates huge amounts of greenhouse gases, destroys habitats, scars the landscape, and creates huge, toxic tailings ponds that kill ducks.

Well, duh. Let us concede that fossil fuels are dirty, hard on the environment and nonrenewable, so it behoves us to find other ways to generate electricity and fuel our cars, jets and spacecraft. How do we shake ourselves loose from our dependency?

Not a problem, according to a recently released Greenpeace report. Prepared with the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), and a host of experts, it lays out a scenario that will allow us to clean up our dirty energy habit by 2050.

The report contends Canada can create tens of thousands of green jobs and generate 90% of our electricity and heating needs from renewable sources by simply making the same, massive investments in renewable energy as we have made in fossil fuels.

If only it were that straightforward. The economics of energy are complicated.

Canada, for example, derives $3.5 trillion in GDP growth from all the impacts related to petroleum development, according to a 2009 Canadian Energy Research Institute report. That’s a huge fossil fuel infrastructure in need of re-jigging.

Incidentally, how many wind turbines and solar panels will it take to replace fossilpower generation plants and the increased demand that will surely come when we are all driving electric cars that have to be recharged?

Canada is also joining the renewable energy parade a little late. We are but the 14th largest clean tech exporter, with only $4 billion in global sales. A Conference Board of Canada report says venture capital and private equity financing in renewable energy projects grew by almost 70% compounded annually from 2002 to 2008. Looking ahead, the indications are that investments will continue to grow as governments push for more renewable energy alternatives, but that’s not shaping up to be the kind massive investment needed to fulfil a Greenpeace vision of the future.

Outside the “what if” world of studies, the reality is petroleum, including that dirty stuff from the oil sands, will continue to be in demand for some time to come.

Pelosi was tight-lipped about whether or not the visit to Ottawa allayed her concerns, but energy producers needn’t be too concerned. Canada represents a secure supply in an increasingly insecure world. Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach indicated that Pelosi didn’t consider Canada to be one of the foreign oil-supplying nations from which the US is trying to wean itself.

Evidently she has learned something.

Joe Terrett, Editor Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant.rogers.com.

Editorial Advisory Board: Robert Hattin, Edson Packaging Machinery • Ron Harper, Cogent Power • Greg MacDonald, Wentworth International Services • Roy Verstraete, Anchor Danly

Production Manager: Adrian Valks 416-764-3852 adrian.valks@rci.rogers.com Circulation Manager: Celia Ramnarine 416-764-1451 deokie.ramnarine@rci.rogers.com

Vol. 5, No. 03, September/October, 2010 • A supplement to Canadian PLANT Publisher: Tim Dimopoulos 416 764-1499 tim.dimopoulos@rci.rogers.com Group Editorial Director: Lisa Wichmann 416 764-1491 lisa.wichmann@rci.rogers.com Editor: Joe Terrett 416-764-1546 joe.terrett@plant.rogers.com Features Editor: Noelle Stapinsky 416-764-1449 noelle.stapinsky@rci.rogers.com Contributing Editors: Ron Richardson, Steve Gahbauer Art Director: Kathy Smith 416-764-1542 kathy.smith@rci.rogers.com Junior Web Producer: Jessica Mirabelli 416-764-1316 jessica.mirabelli@rci.rogers.com Director of Sales, Marketing and Customer Service: Laura Goodwin 416-764-1492 laura.goodwin@rci.rogers.com

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ROGERS BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHING Senior Vice-President: John Milne Vice-President, Financial Publishing, Brand Extensions & Online Services: Paul Williams Director of Audience Development: Keith Fulford 416 764-3878, keith.fulford@rci.rogers.com Executive Publisher, Industrial Group: Tim Dimopoulos, CORPORATE SALES General Manager, Corporate Sales: Sandra Parente 416 764-3818, sandra.parente@rci.rogers.com WEB General Manager, Online Operations: David Carmichael 416 764-3820, david.carmichael@rci.rogers.com RESEARCH Senior Director, Rogers Connect Market Research: Tricia Benn 416 764-3856, tricia.benn@rci.rogers.com EVENTS General Manager, Conferences & Events: Stephen T. Dempsey 416 764-1635, steve.dempsey@mtg.rogers.com

6 Features

>> MANAGEMENT

5 Productivity. Alberta manufacturers are the least productive in Canada, but Productivity Alberta is helping them fill the efficiency gap.

>> SUSTAINABILITY

6 New markets. Clean tech markets are heating up globally and Canadian manufacturers are in a good position to get in on the action.

>> OPERATIONS

7 Maintenance. Tips and some nuggets of wisdom that will help you keep your pumps and components in prime working order.

>> INDUSTRY

8 Energy. A near death experience forces KUDU Industries to adopt a leaner, more efficient way of doing business.

7 8

Departments 4 Industry View 4 Events 4 PLANT Pulse

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9 Product Showcase 10 Postscript

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ISSN 1923-6646

Canadian PLANT WEST 3

Departments

>> Industry View Cleave gets FIT with SUNERGY inventers

Economic developments and trendS LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY 2.1 1.8 1.5 1.2 0.9 0.6 0.3 -0.0 -0.3 -0.6 -0.9 -1.2 -1.5 -1.8 -2.1 -2.4 -2.7

quarterly % change

Labour productivity Hours worked Real gross domestic product II 2008

III

IV

I

II 2009

III

IV

I

II 2010

Source: Statistics Canada

Real output of Canadian businesses grows less than hours worked.

Labour productivity slips in Q2

C

anadian businesses were a little less productive during the year’s second quarter, slipping 0.8% following gains of 0.5% in the first quarter and 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a Statistics Canada report.

Only manufacturing appeared on the upside, barely, with a 0.1% improvement that follows increases in the previous four quarters. Services was the big loser, down 1% after five positive quarters.

Statistics Canada said declining productivity reflected a slowdown in business output, combined with a rise in hours worked.

The growth of business GDP was 0.5% compared to 1.7% in the previous quarter with output “moderated” by a decline in the services sector. Goods producing industries continued to grow with 1.9% performance, but at a slower pace.

Looking ahead, TD Economics in one of its economic bulletins predicted a shift from job growth as an economic driver to capital spending and business investment, which is expected to boost productivity.

Economist Francis Fong wrote conditions for investment will be favourable in coming quarters, noting improved profitability, low interest rates, the loonie is at a sustained, elevated level and the HST in BC and Ontario allows businesses to hang on to more of their money. Add to these factors the federal government’s 100% capital cost allowance for ICT investment and 50% capital cost allowance for investment by manufacturing and processing industries, the lowering of the general corporate income tax rate, and the elimination of capital taxes.

Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector technology.

TORONTO: Cleave Energy Inc. will use Sustainable Energy Technology’s outdoor rated SUNERGY inverters for ground-mount trackerbased solar PV projects under Ontario's micro-FIT program.

Calgary-based Sustainable Energy, a designer and manufacturer of power inverters for grid-connected solar PV systems, said initial orders will be for 160 kilowatts.

Cleave Energy, a Picton, Ont.-based solar installation firm, is preparing for clearance of up to 19,000 microFIT (less than 10-kilowatt) projects of which a majority is believed to be for ground based systems. It wants to secure its supply of the SUNERGY inverters “into 2011.”

Solar trackers increase energy yield by tracking the course of the sun throughout the day. They typically need inverters that are outdoorrated for temperatures down to ­‑40 degrees C. Sustainable Energy said its inverter is the only CSA-listed device in its class that is rated for outdoor operation in Canada.

based Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc., the technology takes sewage sludge and uses a fluidized bed chemical reactor to crystallize the phosphorus and ammonia and convert them into struvite. A reactor crystallizes the nutrients, and as chemicals are added, crystal particles build layers, growing into larger spherical pellets, which then settle to the bottom.

When the material comes out of the reactor, the water is removed and it’s run through a fluid-bed dryer for 10 to 15 minutes, emerging as a pellet-sized fertilizer.

Mavinic worked out the chemistry and engineering for a phosphorus recovery system with research associate Frederic Koch and graduate, students at UBC.

Phosphorus recovery wins Manning award

Cantronic scores $600,000 South Korean deal

CALGARY: The man who developed the technology commercialized by a Vancouver water treatment company to turn phosphorus in wastewater into fertilizer has won a $25,000 innovation award.

Dr. Donald Mavinic, a University of British Columbia (UBC) researcher and civil engineering professor who also is a globally recognized expert in wastewater treatment, received the Dave Mitchell Award of Distinction from the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation.

Mavinic’s innovation converts the phosphorus that builds up in wastewater pipes into a fertilizer.

Commercialized by Vancouver-

VANCOUVER: Cantronic Systems Inc. has landed a US$600,000 deal to supply five sets of high-end thermal imaging camera systems to a South Korean defence integrator.

The cameras are to be delivered within the next four months.

Cantronic is a Vancouver-based manufacturer and provider of training services in the fields of infrared vision and video security surveillance technologies.

It holds (through its US subsidiary QWIP Technologies Inc.) a worldwide, exclusive license from the California Institute of Technology to produce and sell infrared detectors and sensors based on Caltech’s

LCFS could increase global emissions Dr. Donald Mavinic, UBC professor and expert in wastewater treatment.

PHOTO: UBC

MINNEAPOLIS: The implementation of a nationwide low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) in the US would not reduce global greenhouse gas emissions: it would increase them, according to a new study.

The research, conducted by Barr Engineering Co. of Minneapolis for the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) in Washington, DC, challenges the notion there is an environmental benefit to be derived from not importing Western Canadian oil sands petroleum.

It assumes that because an LCFS would prevent US refineries from importing oil sands petroleum from its next-door neighbour, the US would instead have to import more oil in tankers from the Middle East and elsewhere. At the same time, the Canadian oil would be shipped in tankers across the Pacific to China and other Asian locations.

The study calls this long-distance logistics a “shuffle” that would result in higher carbon dioxide emissions. It found that LCFS would actually cause greenhouse gas emissions to increase by 7.1 million tonnes to 19 million tonnes per year, depending on the displacement of Canadian crude imports.

Canada is currently the largest supplier of petroleum imported into the US, says the study, but other nations are looking to the Canadian oil sands as a potential energy source.

Indeed, China alone has already invested more than $6 billion in Canadian oil sands projects as it increases its presence in overseas energy production.

Check for regular news updates at www.plant.ca.

>> Events How to Maintain & Troubleshoot Hydraulic Systems CD Industrial Group Inc. Oct. 13-14, Medicine Hat, Alta. Oct. 20-21, Saskatoon Oct. 25-26, Kamloops, BC Nov. 3-4, Edmonton The ‘Ten Step Troubleshooting Process’ eliminates hit and miss methods. Safety is stressed along with sound maintenance practices. The course is taught with circuit simulation software and through an instructor guided hands-on study of individual hydraulic components. Visit www.carldyke.com.

Picquic Tool Co. Inc. Plant Tour Innovation Insights/CME Nov. 2, Vancouver An Innovations Insights plant tour at Picquic Tool Co. Inc. where you will learn about: continuous improvement in workflow; Lean-5S implementation value stream analysis; plant lay-out for improved material flow; and culture change.

Presented by Innovation Insights through Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME). Visit www.tvp-ii.org.

For a complete list of events visit www.plant.ca, Community/Events.

1 47PLNT15928.indd Canadian PLANT WEST

3/20/07 12:32:48 PM

September/October 2010

Productivity << Management Alberta manufacturers‘ productivity growth is the lowest in Canada.

PHOTO: iSTOCKPHOTO

Alberta tackles its

productivity

gap

Manufacturers get help to improve efficiency

By Robert Robertson

W

ith the price of crude in the neighbourhood of $77 to $80 a barrel, Alberta’s oil industry is enjoying renewed prosperity, but the province’s manufacturing sector needs to do something about its productivity performance, which is why the Edmonton-based Productivity Alberta was formed in 2008.

Despite the province’s success in the energy sector this specialized unit of the Alberta government says the province’s productivity growth, over the longer run, has been the lowest in Canada and lags most developed economies.

Not that Canada’s performance has been all that hot. Between 2005 and 2009, Canada’s total labour productivity growth advanced just 0.1% per year, the second worst among G-7 countries after Italy, according the New York-based Conference Board.

There are several factors contributing to Alberta’s poor performance: • slow or no adoption of new processes and technologies to enhance efficiency; • inadequate investment in machinery, equipment and technology; • lack of innovation to enable the creation of new products and technologies; and • lagging workplace re-organization and worker training.

“Before the economic dip, we found many Alberta businesses didn’t have the time to poke their heads up and look at the efficiencies of their operations,” says

www.plant.ca

Lori Schmidt, senior director of Productivity Alberta. “Even though Alberta companies were at capacity, their bottom lines were shrinking, but they were also seeing more domestic and global competition moving into their markets.”

The unit began with the input of more than 200 of the province’s businesses, which helped craft the menu of resources and services available to companies, including a useful online benchmarking assessment tool (www.productivityalberta.ca).

“We became the connection point to help Alberta companies help them-

selves,” says Schmidt. “This involves assessing their productivity within their organizations and connecting them to information and tools. We collaborate with private and public sector companies, organizations and the federal government to drive manufacturing productivity.”

To improve innovation and competitiveness, Schmidt recommends Alberta manufacturers implement lean strategies that include the use of new automation and technology. Productivity Alberta helps firms get started on the “lean journey” with its Process Improvement Services Unit, a productivity enhancement program with

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and through pilot projects.

“We’re encouraging more businesses to adopt lean principles. Once you have looked at processes within your operation, how do you then form stronger alliances and work up and down your supply chain? This is where you will see new innovation, automation and technologies,” says Schmidt. “You also must continue to look at processes. Even the Chinese are implementing lean principles. This will prove to be a challenge for us. There’s global competition coming in all the time.”

Productivity Alberta has firm goals to ensure manufacturers are able to innovate and improve their productivity, and the adoption of lean drivers, technology and automation will remain at the top of the list. But another goal is to take technology and automation to the next level.

“We’re working on an energy efficiency project, too. We call it an audit-to-action program. We’ll also add new benchmarking tools for industry.”

Lean focus Larry Kaumeyer, president of Ponoka, Alta.-based Almita Manufacturing Ltd., agrees Alberta manufacturers must get leaner, but he also urges businesses to focus on new markets outside the province while investing in research and development (R&D). It’s sure working for Almita. The company, which employs 100 people, has doubled annual sales in two years as a designer, fabricator and installer of screw piles (steel shafts screwed into the ground for foundations) for a wide variety of industries in Canada and the US. “We had to get lean and maximize our work in progress. You have to see the world globally, as we’re not just competing against the guy down the street.

We established an engineering group Continued on page 6

Canadian labour productivity needs a boost

I

n a speech to the Ottawa Economics Association on March 24, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney cited Canada’s “abysmal” productivity record and said over the past decade, its growth has averaged a paltry 0.7%, about half the rate recorded over the 1980 to 2000 period.

And our ranking has dropped from third of 20 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1960 to 15th out of the current 30 members.

Last year authors John Baldwin and Wulong Gu from the Economic Analysis Division with Statistics Canada released a Canadian Productivity Review research paper, Productivity Performance in Canada, 1961 to 2008: An Update on Long-term Trends. It found that during 2000 to 2008, Canada’s labour productivity growth was much lower than growth in the US, creating a 1.9% gap per year.

Why is Canada an underachiever? According to Jon Wylie, Torontobased director of Alexander Proudfoot’s global resources practice, unproductive time continues to be a factor for Canadian manufacturers and workers. This trend was identified in the research company’s most recent Global Productivity Report.

Based on a survey of 1,276 mid-level managers in 12 countries, including Canada, the report identified the following top barriers to improved productivity:

• staff shortages and labour pool issues; • internal communication problems; • legislation and regulation; low employee motivation and morale; and • high staff turnover; and quality of supervisors.

“We would prefer to talk about the barriers to productivity. This includes opportunities to improve. It’s kind of scary, as almost 40% of our [Canada] workweek was considered unproductive time,” says Wylie.

“Productivity is a critical issue for all of us. Our jobs, economy and standard of living all depend on higher rates of productivity.”

He says companies must work differently and emphasize training.

“Productivity isn’t about restructuring and having fewer people do more; it’s about work being done more efficiently. Productivity saves money and creates more jobs than it ever eliminates. So, it’s really about job growth.”

Canadian workers receive an average of eight days of training per year. He notes this is the second lowest level of the 12 study countries.

Also, 55% of the Canadian managers further question the relevance of the eight days worth of training.

“The training we have isn’t directly related to workforce efficiencies and productivity,” says Wylie. “Even if we maintain the common rates of training, let’s transfer them into performance improvements.”

Canadian PLANT WEST 5

Sustainability >>New Markets

Lean improvements Continued from page 5

that’s now global with two other screw pile companies,” says Kaumeyer. “One is in the UK and the other is in New Zealand/Australia. We now have 40 to 50 engineers working on specifications of helical screw piles globally. This is attracting business for us in a way that I never would’ve expected. We made a substantial investment in R&D and we’re now seeing that pay off.”

The company is also expanding its horizons with a new, state-of-the-art automated fabrication facility that will have both solar and wind turbines as power options.

Of course, the foundation of this 40,000 square-foot plant is on screw piles.

Jeff Clark, president and COO of Edmonton-based Kitchen Partners Ltd., a custom food manufacturer, is another supporter of lean practices. He says Alberta manufacturers need a clear objective and engage employees to improve productivity.

With 75 employees and a goal of becoming a $50-million company, Kitchen Partners specializes in sauce and soup production for a range of customers including food service chain restaurants, industrial customers and retail markets.

Clean up in

CLEAN TECH PHOTO: iSTOCKPHOTO

EXCITING, NEW EXPORT MARKETS FOR MANUFACTURERS

BY KIM LAUDRUM

C Almita screw piles supporting power transmission towers.

PHOTO: ALMITA MANUFACTURING LTD.

“A lot of our improvements have come from using lean practices. We get employees talking about processes and how we can make things work better,” says Clark. “We started with a blank piece of paper and asked ourselves what we needed to do to become successful. We then created a template and asked these questions: Do we have the best people?

Have we the right processes and metrics? Do we have a clear and well-understood strategy and is it competitive? We have one team with one objective and we’re pointed in the same direction.”

Alberta manufacturers and their peers in the rest of Canada have some work to do before their productivity numbers point in a more upward direction. At least those looking to expand their businesses as Almita and Kitchen Partners are doing, have access to help from Productivity Alberta that will make them stronger, especially on the global stage.

Rob Robertson is a freelance business writer and editor based in Burlington, Ont. E-mail three_r_media@cogeco.ca.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant. rogers.com.

6 Canadian PLANT WEST

anadian manufacturers seeking opportunities for growth in a pokey economy would do well to consider the burgeoning clean technology industry. In 2008, global revenues in clean tech were a whopping US$148.4 billion.

According to the Conference Board of Canada’s report: Global Climate-Friendly Trade: Canada’s Chance to Clean Up, venture capital and private equity financing in renewable energy projects grew by almost 70% compounded annually from 2002 to 2008.

Also spurring growth now are government stimulus programs worldwide amounting to US$430 billion: money that should help reduce the environmental impact of climate change, improve energy efficiency and create jobs.

Celine Bak, partner with consulting firm Russell Mitchell Group and author of The 2010 SDTC Clean Tech Growth and Go-To-Market Report, says that on average the clean technology sector in Canada is expected to grow an astonishing 117% this year.

That’s on average. Some sectors could grow substantially more than that. Alternative power generation, for example, is expected to see a 149% increase. Energy efficiency could grow 129%, while process efficiency and abatement is expected to grow 147 per cent.

Western Canadian firms are helping to power the innovation and growth in clean tech. Like Westport Innovations of Vancouver and Kraus Global of Winnipeg, IMW Industries Ltd. is a sterling example of Canadian manufacturing and engineering know-how operating in a burgeoning global market.

Brad Miller purchased 50% of Chilliwack, BC-based IMW in 2004, built it into a global clean tech exporter of compressed natural gas dispensing systems, then bought out the partners in 2006. An-

nual revenues jumped from $8 million in 2006 to $52 million in 2008—an astounding 700% increase in just two years.

IMW is a successful case study in Canada’s emerging $4-billion clean tech industry. With more than 1,000 installations in 20-plus countries (mainly throughout China and Latin America), the transportation company recognized—and met—a worldwide demand for increased energy security, reduced transportation costs, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved air quality.

And just as the company was hitting its stride, it became an attractive target for acquisition. On July 8, IMW was sold to Clean Energy Fuels Corp. of California for $125 million. It’s expected to continue to operate in Canada as a subsidiary of Clean Energy.

Emerging technologies Despite the most challenging economic environment in decades, Bak contends this emerging clean technology industry promises prosperity. And nowhere is that more significant than in BC, which has the highest ratio of clean tech companies to percentage of Canada’s GDP—175%, according to Statistics Canada. And close to 100 of those companies operating in Western Canada have the potential to grow 117% this year, says Bak. There are certainly plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue.

She suggests Canadian manufacturers and clean tech firms take advantage of emerging export market opportunities. One is energy efficiency. “There is a massive amount of work in the BRIC countries [Brazil, Russia, India and China], especially China. They are writing new building codes that will include new standards and that will definitely have an impact on manufacturers exporting materials within the commercial and residential building sector.”

In the biofuels sector, governments

in the UK have introduced directives to convert some of their traditional fossilfuel usage into biofuels.

Fuel efficiency standards continue to drive the transportation market. Vehicle manufacturers in Japan, Europe and North America have specific carbonreduction per kilometre targets, with Japan’s targets being the most stringent.

Countries such as Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, where foreign currency reserves are held at a premium, want alternatives to foreign oil. So compressed natural gas is an interesting strategic option for them.

There is growing worldwide demand to address municipal waste issues, especially reducing landfill. The UK is interested in biodigesters as an alternative to incineration. Poland seems to be moving toward plasmagasification.

Renewable fuel standards are the main drivers in power generation. Canadian clean technology companies have identified Europe as their number one market, followed by the US and Asia, then Canada.

In process efficiencies and abatement, environmental regulations are driving innovation. Bak admits it’s a very tough market to be in, “but there are indications the sector will see very aggressive growth.”

There are also opportunities for growth in water and wastewater, especially in China. Even in Europe, where you would think the market is more mature, there are opportunities. And there are opportunities for manufacturers to partner with clean tech firms with proprietary patents and technology secured on a North American or international basis.

Clean tech has global appeal and application. Those who are innovative, and act fast when opportunities present themselves are going to clean up.

Kim Laudrum is a Toronto-based business writer who specializes in manufacturing issues. E-mail klaudrum@ rogers.com.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant. rogers.com.

September/October 2010

Maintenance << Operations

Go with the

FLOW

A cutaway view a Viking vane pump, used for liquid transfer applications from chemicals to liquefied gases.

PHOTO: VIKING PUMP

HOW TO GET OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE FROM PUMPS AND COMPONENTS

BY STEVE GAHBAUER

K

nowing how to maintain pumps and their components while dealing with malfunctions effectively goes a long way to improving pump performance, increasing reliability and saving some money.

Here are some nuggets of pump wisdom gleaned from presentations at a Fluid Prime Movers seminar, organized by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers.

SEVEN PUMP INSTALLATION TIPS

P

roper installation practices, with attention to foundation, piping arrangement and shaft alignment, mean the difference between a pump that gives many years of trouble-free service and one that requires frequent and repetitive maintenance. Follow these tips: 1. Select the right pump for the job. Consider variable speed technology for multiple operating conditions, instead of throttling.

Trim the impeller to about 75 per cent.

2. Balance the impeller after trimming.

Couplings should be the elastomer type for soft start and balanced to the AGMA 8 standard, or AGMA 10 for pumps over 75 hp.

Offset the pump and motor shaft/coupling hub keyways 180 degrees and cut keys to one-half unfilled keyway length.

3. Install the pump, base and motor level and free of soft foot. Provide 10 diameters of straight pipe suction inlet. Grout the baseplate with low-shrink cement or, better still, epoxy grout. Ensure pipe fasteners don’t exert a force on the piping.

4. Use a laser or reverse dial indicator technology for correct alignment. Align before and after the pipe/pump bolt-up. Keep tolerances as small as practicable.

5. Change the lubricant at recommended intervals, protect lubricant from contamination, use synthetic lubes and sealed or vapour-block bearings, and maintain a mechanical seal flush environment.

6. For safe and reliable operation, develop suitable start-up procedures and checklists, avoid rapid closing of process valves, and use a power monitor for minimum/maximum flow protection. Never run a pump dry.

Operate spare pumps every three months.

7. Use cartridge seals designed to reduce fretting corrosion and maintain critical impeller setting tolerances.

www.plant.ca

Pump failure modes. When a centrifugal pump does not reach design flow rate or design head, or operates for a short period but then loses prime, it probably has insufficient net positive suction head or entrained air.

The likely cause of a pump exhibiting similar symptoms but also showing decreased power consumption with no discharge or flow while running, is a greater than anticipated system head.

Other causes include the direction of rotation is reversed, the pump speed is too low, or the impeller is too small. Also check for a plugged impeller, suction line or casing. Improper priming could be the cause of decreased power consumption.

There could be damaged bushings, thrust bearings or impeller rubbing when a pump runs with excessive noise from the wet end and exhibits an increase in power consumption. For noise in magnetic drive pumps, check for rubbing of the inner magnet against the shell. Excessive noise could also be caused by abnormal fluid rotation due to complex suction piping, which should always be straight.

There are several possible causes for increased power consumption and excessive noise from the power end, including: bearing contamination appearing on the raceways as scoring, scratching or rusting; brinelling of bearing caused by incorrectly applied forces during assembly, identifiable by indentation on the raceway; thrust overload on bearings; misalignment; bearing out of square with the centreline; or a bent shaft.

Pump selection criteria. When selecting positive displacement pumps, look at the following criteria: • capacity (constant or variable) • viscosity (high or low) • pressure (discharge and suction) • solids and abrasives (size, hardness and amount) • air and/or gas (volume, entrained, or slugs) • shearing properties (shear thinning, Newtonian, etc.)

• temperature (high, low, ambient) • whether a variable speed drive pump is necessary for total process control.

Also consider pump material (soft, hard, coated, corrosion resistant); proper sealing (packing, seal type, magnetic drive); lubrication (product, grease, oil, oil mist or external system); relief valves in the system; and instrumentation for monitoring what’s going on inside the

pump (pressure, speed, temperature, vibration).

Care for pump components. Bearings and seals need special attention.

Pump bearings support the shaft, permit the shaft to rotate freely, keep lateral deflections to a minimum and maintain proper clearances between impeller and housing. Bearing types are either fixed side or free side. Bearing cages keep rolling elements evenly spaced around the bearing and reduce friction by preventing rolling elements from coming into contact with each other. Cage materials can be steel or brass. Metallic cages are

most popular, but polyamide cages are quieter; however, they’re more sensitive to poor lubrication or excessive temperatures.

Mechanical seals keep the fluid contained and prevent it from leaking along the rotating pump shaft. The seal faces, which rotate or are stationary and are angular to the shaft, are pressed onto the seat by axial forces. The main components of a seal arrangement are a rotating or stationary seal face, a dynamic or stationary O-ring, and a spring. Static or hydraulic forces close the seal and the product or barrier medium serves as a lubricating and cooling agent.

Seals must operate within their design specifications, but leakage may occur before or after the seal’s designed life expectancy. Seal performance can be improved by changing the design and type, or the material it’s made of. It’s also possible to improve installation, operating procedures and maintenance activities. But when seals fail—and they often do—look for and remedy the causes immediately.

Continued on page 8

Industry

When seals fail Continued from page 7

Reasons for failures include: the wrong seal type for the application; wrong handling, installation or storage, which may cause a loss of elasticity; improper start-up or shutdown; improper operation of the pump; media contamination; shaft deflection or run-out; or worn seal faces.

Uneven wear patterns mean that the shaft is out of alignment or the seal face was not properly aligned. Out of alignment shafts also cause an eccentric wear pattern. Radial cracks and heat checking indicate poor lubrication and overheating of contact faces. These conditions also cause blistering and pitting at the carbon faces. Edge chipping on the contact face is a sign of incorrect handling, or shaft deflections beyond manufacturer’s specification, and possibly of bearing damage.

All mechanical seal faces leak, albeit at a very slow rate. For some high temperature products such leakage oxidizes or hangs up the seal face, while dissolved solids crystallize on the atmospheric side.

A frequent liquid or gas quench is a very effective remedy for these conditions.

Steve Gahbauer is an engineer, a Toronto-based freelance writer and the former engineering editor of PLANT. E-mail gahbauer@rogers.com.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant. rogers.com.

>> Energy

Pumped and

primed How KUDU came back from the brink

By Nordahl Flakstad

F

acing eight-dollar-a-barrel oil and heavy debt, Calgary oilfield-equipment manufacturer KUDU Industries Inc. was, by March 1998, like a smoker warned by a doctor to quit and shed some weight, or suffer the consequences.

CEO Ray Mills admits it took a “neardeath experience” for the producer of progressive cavity pumps (PCP) and related oilfield products to take lean manufacturing to heart, which allowed KUDU to survive and succeed at home and abroad.

The company traces its origins to the

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A KUDU progressing cavity pump installation. The systems are engineered to handle heavy, medium or light oil; coal bed methane; and dewatering applications.

PHOTO: KUDU

1970s when Ray’s father, (and now company chairman) Robert Mills hit upon using PCPs (already employed to move oil on the surface) to assist underground recovery of viscous, heavy oil. Traditionally, once natural well pressure proved insufficient to bring oil to the surface, artificial lift was supplied by sucker-rod pumps; however, these iconic nodding horse-heads had a tendency to plug up.

By 1989, Mills Sr. had formed KUDU and was manufacturing PCPs in his Calgary garage. R&D has always been central to company success and KUDU has gone on to hold more than 20 patents.

Innovation—increasingly gained from clients’ suggestions and joint research with majors such as Husky Energy— remains a KUDU cornerstone.

In the early 1990s, with oil prices high, the PCPs found added applications in medium- and light-grade crude recovery (and later in coalbed methane production and gas-well dewatering). Like its African antelope namesake, KUDU bounded along before getting snagged in 1998. As sales plummeted by 50% within months, KUDU halved staff (to 55 from 110) and closed half its distribution and servicing outlets.

“The roots of our problem lay there before the crash,” Ray Mills concedes.

“We grew rapidly and beyond our ability to manage a company of the size it had become. We realized we had to manage the company differently and we discovered the Toyota Production System (TPS). It turned just about everything we understood about managing on its head in terms of what drove quality, cost and reduction of inventory.”

Until then, KUDU had followed the prevailing wisdom by outsourcing to specialty shops that could push out volume, while purportedly pushing down costs.

KUDU had for the most part transformed into an assembly plant beholden to thirdparty suppliers and cushioned by a large parts inventory. In a business ruled by the oil patch’s vicissitudes and volatility,

8 Canadian PLANT WEST

guessed forecasts more than actual demand tended to dictate the size of these debt-financed inventories.

Turning things on their head—partly with Industrial Research Assistance Program help—required buy-in by the remaining employees of a leaner, more efficient future. While still keeping up with ongoing customer demand, for 18 months it meant bringing staff up to speed on TPS and shifting the corporate culture.

Prior to 1998, observes Ray Mills: “We had lots of people who were very proud firefighters, who would handle several crises every day to get product to customers. We wanted to preserve that care while giving ourselves tools to do our job better.”

Reassuring staff meant convincing them that with a more efficient company, their jobs would be safeguarded through retraining and by bringing more production in-house. It meant adopting key elements of TPS and lean manufacturing.

For instance, once headed down the TPS path and toward continuous improvement, the layout of the Calgary plant was changed three times in 18 months.

The company was organized along product rather than functional lines. Processes were documented and put into an ISO framework (another commitment of the recovery plan) while enterprise resource planning made processes as visual as possible. And work cells with easy access to parts and kanban ensured workers had a constant supply of crucial parts.

A simpler and more efficient system produced huge dividends. Within four years, a previously near-insolvent company had eliminated its debt. And says Mills: “From 250 lost sales in 1998 due to stock-out, we had five lost sales in 2003 due to stock-out, while carrying a third of the inventory.”

Money freed up by slashing inventories provided capital for new manufacturing equipment and acquisitions, as KUDU did with the 2002 purchase of Dynamic Pump and Chriscor Downhole Tools in 1999. TPS principles were applied as

September/October 2010

Product Showcase << Departments Butterfly valve improves service life

the company expanded and added products. Progressive cavity pumps remain central to the business but there are also several complementary products. They include remote power units and related downhole tools as well as computerized systems to mange them, plus other proprietary products. An example is Tough Coat, a spray metal coating introduced in 2007 to better resist corrosion and abrasion than typically using chrome rotors.

By 2000, with finances improved, privately held KUDU was investing in new production equipment that allowed it to machine and turn out more components in-house.

New equipment, when combined with TPS, made the company leaner and greener by reducing waste. It lessened energy needs for heating floorspace, and for storing and moving supplies.

“A lot more manufacturing has happened within our plant—particularly in the last 10 years,” explains Mills. He estimates that about 95% of the manufacturing (including Tough Coat) now is done in-house at the Calgary plant that’s been home since 1993. A leaner approach freed up space but as output increased KUDU also absorbed space from neighbouring tenants. The Calgary operation—including offices, production and warehousing—covers 70,000 square feet and has about 110 employees. A further 100 work at 13 Canadian sales and service outlets (including Lloydminster, Alta., which does some manufacturing) and at its international offices in the US, Russia, Kazakhstan, Oman, Australia and Romania.

Growing export markets KUDU distributes products in 32 countries. Exports are rising and now generate about a third of the company’s revenues. Leaner manufacturing has contributed to this growth but so has geology. About 40% of Canadian oilwells now rely on PCPs for artificial lift and Canada currently represents about 80% of world markets for such pumps. That’s partly because of our mature fields and heavy oil production where PCPs especially facilitate and extend production. Many foreign fields may not have reached comparable maturity but they too are aging and with that comes opportunity for PCP sales.

Export success led the Alberta division of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to recognize KUDU with a 2009 Alberta Export Award in the oil and gas manufacturing category and another kudo came as an Innovation Insights Award for Manufacturing Practices from the National Research Council of Canada. In 2008, it received the Calgary Manufacturing Industry’s Best Employer (for medium-sized manufacturers) Award.

Continuous improvement means there always are lessons to learn—even for KUDU where lean manufacturing has proven critical to its turnaround and survival.

“When a company is growing rapidly, you sometimes lose sight of what made it successful.” So, Mills concludes: “It’s important to maintain a critical mass of lean knowledge in a company by making sure that new people joining the company have lean training.

We make sure that everyone on our executive team is educated in lean at least to the green belt (mid-range) level.”

Clearly more than just pump priming has resuscitated KUDU. Now the challenge is to stay pumped up and ready to optimize the opportunities presented by aging petroleum fields at home and abroad as they lose their vitality.

Nordahl Flakstad is an Edmonton-based freelance writer. E-mail nordahl@flakstad.edmonton.ab.ca.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant.rogers.com.

www.plant.ca

Canadian PLANT WEST 9

The patented tapered-seat design of Sure Seal Inc.’s LBF Series lined butterfly valves requires lower torque in all services, improves seat integrity and the service life of the valve.

The spherically moulded and machined valves, in 12 sizes from 2 to 24-in.—are engineered for demanding applications in corrosive, sanitary and ultra-pure processes, especially the handling of products native to the chlorine gas, chlor alkali, petrochemical, textile, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, mining, pulp and paper, wastewater and agriculture industries.

Wide-liner sealing surfaces are securely anchored within the faces of the valve body by a series of conTapered seat LBF lined centric serrations, resulting in the reduction of radial cold flow. This robust body construction meets ANSI butterfly valve.

125/150 or PN10/16 standards.

Additionally, a 360-degree, elastometric energizer ensures uniform pressure is applied to the outer circumference of the liner and disc for an absolute bubble-tight shutoff.

Sure Seal Inc., based in Mineral Point, Mo., is part of the OPW Fluid Transfer Group. www.suresealinc.com

Mobile station protects your laptop

New PACs optimize performance

Laptop computers are playing a bigger role in the manufacturing environment but they can be easily damaged in an industrial setting.

Creform Corp., a Greer, SC-based supplier of materials handling systems, has come up with device to keep your industrial laptop safe. Its Mobile Laptop Computer Station uses a system of plastic coated Computer station boosts plant efficiency. steel pipes, joints and accessories that provides a secure space for the laptop positioned at a comfortable work height.

The 42 x 38 x 26-in. station’s four large diameter swivel casters ensure easy rolling and maneuverability, and two of the casters lock when you’re in work mode. A bottom shelf provides space for a seat but one can be built into the station. www.creform.com

Rockwell Automation has made two additions to its Allen-Bradley ControlLogix family of controllers, both leveraging the single design environment and networking protocol within the company’s Integrated Architecture system.

The Milwaukee, Wis.-based global automation company says its Allen-Bradley ControlLogix L73 and L75 programmable automation controllers (PACs) provide ControlLogix L73 and L75 advanced memory, speed and controllers provide advanced processing capabilities for a wide memory, speed and processing. range of control demands, from high-performance logic and motion to information-intensive process applications.

The PACs interface seamlessly with motion drives through EtherNet/IP and SERCOS network interfaces, and are capable of supporting as many as 100 axes. www.rockwellautomation.ca

Tighten control of remote operations Honeywell’s RC500 Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) ups your level of control over remote, automated operations such as those found in oil and gas operations.

The modular and scalable controller easily integrates with SCADA technology and withstands harsh environments. It also uses minimal electricity and could draw power from solar energy.

The open communication platform integrates with Honeywell’s Experion Process Knowledge System. And when combined with Experion’s SCADA products, the RC500 manages complex remote automation and control applications such as gas flow metering, data concentrator and communications integration, well-head control, pump and compressor control, Honeywell’s RC500 remote terminal unit. block-valve automation and gas stations.

Expanding the system is easy with its embedded Linux platform, flexible communication ports and protocol options. It also supports industry standard protocols Modbus and DNP3, plus it’s capable of peer-to-peer I/O transfers.

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Honeywell Process Solutions is a division of Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions. http://www.honeywell.com/ps

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Departments

>> Postscript

Make green part of our business model

By Robert Roach

T

here are many ways to ruin a cocktail party. One tried and true way is to bring up the environment: “Are you aware that the pork in that pig-ina-blanket you are eating creates toxic runoff that contaminates our rivers?”

“No, but it sure is tasty!”

While it may be a buzz kill, addressing the environmental piece of the economic puzzle is critically important. This is especially true because we are nowhere

We need to change the basic equation of exploiting “land, labour and capital... ” near where we need to be when it comes to environmental efficiency.

We have an economy that’s really good at exploiting the environment and we are trying to stick this square peg into a round environmental hole. There has been progress: recycling is commonplace, dumping industrial waste directly into rivers is banned, and we have greatly reduced the use of ozone-depleting hairspray. Despite these and other minor

adaptations, our basic economic DNA is black and red (as in black and red ink) rather than green.

The point here is not to be ashamed of what we have accomplished as a civilization, we don’t want to become an economic dinosaur. We have to move beyond tinkering at the margins of how our economy operates and embrace a completely different approach to how we weld our economy to the short-, medium-

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and long-term health of the planet.

It won’t be easy and there will be short-term costs.

The second thing we need to understand is that one-off reactions to the crisis of the day—be it greenhouse gases, oil spills, birds getting chewed up in wind turbines or disappearing rainforests—will not get the job done. It’s like training a duck not to quack. You might have some success, but it would be better to change the duck’s genetic code so it has no need to quack.

We need to change the basic equation of exploiting land, labour and capital to a much more complex algorithm that incorporates the value of ecological goods and services, establishes the primacy of creativity and innovation and erases the notion that “protecting” the environment is either a cost or a moral obligation.

Sustainable practices must be as natural as breathing. If they are only the result of laws, guilt or religious fervour, they will always be on shaky ground and open to fierce opposition.

A massive undertaking We need business practices, investment strategies, production systems, accounting methods, entrepreneurial norms and market signals that integrate both the efficiencies that can be gained from green economics and its respect for the natural processes that sustain life.

A change of this magnitude is a massive undertaking, and for this reason alone it can’t be centrally controlled. It has to happen at ground level where individual firms, investors, entrepreneurs, workers, parents and teachers reside.

Two things make this transformation increasingly likely. First, there are many potential advantages to a greener economy, including lower production costs and higher profits; new jobs in the green services sector; a decrease in onerous government regulation and the related compliance costs; and less money spent on reacting to environmental challenges (thus leaving more money in the hands of consumers).

Second, we know more today than we used to. Some will say that we have only rediscovered what some ancient cultures already knew. Either way, the next generation of Canadian entrepreneurs, investors, managers and workers are much more savvy about the need for, and value of, greater balance between harvesting the earth’s bounty and ensuring that it continues to be bountiful.

We can take the lead. Or, we can become the dinosaur while Germany, the US, and yes, even China, push us out of the way.

Robert Roach is the director of the West in Canada Project, Canada West Foundation, based in Calgary. E-mail roach@cwf.ca.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant. rogers.com.

10 Canadian PLANT WEST

September/October 2010

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