Tag: pump

Eccentric Disc Pumps for Chemical Applications

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Eccentric Disc Pumps for Chemical Applications | Flowmetrics

Eccentric disc pumps work to pump liquids by spinning an off-center disc inside of a pump housing. As the disc spins around inside the housing two low pressure and two high pressure zones are formed. These opposite high and low pressure zones move fluid through the pump. Because the volumes of these pressure zones is known, a constant, regular, measured flow rate can be achieved by varying the speed of the pumps spinning. This consistent flow is necessary for accurate chemical processing or distributors.

Because eccentric disc pumps are by design seal-less, fluids that would react with or corrode common seal materials are able to be pumped through a processing line. By protecting against unintended reactions valuable chemical materials are preserved saving the processing facility in materials costs.

 

Click here for the full article by Mike Solso.

Extracting Uranium from Seawater

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Extracting Uranium from Seawater | Flowmetrics

It is estimated that the oceans hold 4 billion tons of uranium. This amount of uranium would be enough to power the world’s major cities for thousands of years, the trouble is getting it out of the water. Scientists have shown progress on using a material that binds to uranium dioxide in seawater and can later be treated to remove the uranium. This process would entail dragging braided polyethylene fibers coated with amidoxime through the oceans.

The process is still inefficient and expensive, but finding alternatives to uranium ore mining is a necessary step in planning for the future of nuclear energy.

Uranium is only found in seawater at a concentration of 3.3 micrograms per liter, that converts to 1 particle of Uranium to every 3,000,000,000,000,000 particles of the remainder of seawater. The material is inefficient in that only 6 grams of Uranium is adsorbed for every kilogram of the material, or an efficiency of .6% after 8 weeks of collection.

If constant extraction via this method were to be enacted a fleet would need roughly 693,000 kilograms of the material being dragged at all times, just to fuel a single Gigawatt nuclear power plant for the same duration.

 

Click here for the full article by Jennifer Hackett.