Water technology provider Xylem Water Solutions South Africa’s range of Lowara e-NSC heavy-duty end-suction pumps are designed to deal with the most challenging water-related applications at the lowest costs, says growth centre manager: applied water systems Ernst Viljoen.

He tells Engineering News that the international soft launch of the range started in June and the company has several pending installations and tenders for the pumps, which it hopes to conclude by the end of this year.

Viljoen says combining the high efficiency of the Lowara e-NSC pump with its high flexibility in terms of installation, material options and temperature, makes it suitable for several industrial and building applications such as water transport, heating and chiller systems as well as fire systems.

“The robust design, different bearing-frame sizes and stainless steel replaceable wear-rings ensure a long service life. The pump’s easy maintenance will also reduce downtime.”

Further, Viljoen states that the Lowara e-NSC series has been designed to offer end-users the most energy efficient solution possible.

He highlights that the pump range’s Minimum Efficiency Index rating frequently exceeds the level required by the European Commission Directive (required for products sold and exported to the European Union) and the Energy related Products (ErP) Directive’s 2015 update of 0.4. The pump also uses IE3 premium efficiency standard motors, which require very low operation costs.

“This offers long-term economic benefits to clients. The ErP Ecodesign Directive 2009/2015/CE supports the sustainable and economic use of available energy resources. Its main goals are to encourage ecological design and mitigate climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions,” explains Viljoen.

When combined with Xylem Water Solution South Africa’s Hydrovar pump controller, the Lowara e-NSC’s pump speed can be reduced by 50% to save as much as 82.5% on power consumption, compared with a traditional pump, he adds.

The controller is a variable speed-control system that can be mounted and installed on any standard three-phase asynchronous motor ranging from 1.5 kW to 22 kW.

The Hydrovar represents an intelligent control system which accurately adapts to power demands, and the unique modular design eliminates the need for additional master control, which subsequently enables virtually any pump configuration of up to eight drives, adds Viljoen.

“This configuration provides the long-awaited solution for high-level installations requiring failsafe systems with an improved range of features, while its modularity also provides a cost-effective solution for low-level, reduced-feature demands.”

Viljoen says the system’s simple mounting method of using four mounting clamps allows for fast and easy mounting on existing pumpstations – a major advantage in case of retrofit.

“The Hydrovar control system enables a reduction of speed, thereby also lowering flow rates and significantly lowering power consumption, when compared with other common control systems like bypass valves, reduction valves or interrupted operation,” he explains.

Product Range

Viljoen says that, to cater best for the changing needs of the industrial building services market, the Lowara e-NSC end-suction pump is available in six sizes ranging from DN100 to DN300 and can reach pump flows of up to
1 800 m³/h.

“With a head of up to 120 m, the e-NSC series can perform up to a maximum system pressure of 16 bar and pumped water temperatures ranging from -20 °C to 140 °C. An extended temperature version is also available which can transport water ranging from -40 °C to 180 °C.”

Further, he says the Lowara e-NSC range also incorporates several innovative features such as mechanical seal options to eliminate leakages. These options are available in different materials, starting from the standard mechanical seal configuration of silicon, carbon and ethylene propylene i-ene Monomer.

Casing and impeller material options range from cast iron to duplex stainless steel, to cater for different liquid requirements that may have to be pumped.