Sulzer Collaborate on Submersible Pump Design

A collaboration between two IRDG members Sulzer Pumps Ireland and SEAM at WIT. Read their story below.

Sulzer Pumps Ireland is based in Wexford since 1973 and employs 270 people. Sulzer has a wide range of pump manufacturing capabilities, including machining, assembly, testing, packaging and shipping of submersible pumps and mixers for the submersible wastewater segment. A product R&D team is located on site and the plant in Wexford is home to a state-of-the-art product testing facility.

The Sulzer Pumps & SEAM partnership

Sulzer Pumps Ireland have collaborated with the SEAM Gateway in WIT on a number of notable projects, such as the redesign of the impeller and shaft section for their range of submersible pumping systems. SEAM undertook FEA analysis on the current design before proceeding to investigate a number of design options and then selecting the most suitable solution to provide improved lifetime of the shaft component.

“Sulzer’s contact with SEAM began in September 2015, with the redesign of a rotorshaft on a submersible, solids-handling sewage pump. This is the second largest pump built at the Sulzer plant with a maximum power of 30kW. Each report from SEAM contained analysis, inferences and recommendations, which is a great benefit to ourselves and truly collaborative. Throughout the process, there have been helpful discussions and exchanges of information as required, avoiding delay.” Ben Breen – Technology Centre Manager, Sulzer

Validation of the final design has been concluded at Sulzer. The partnership provided Sulzer with access and expertise to expensive computer simulation software, which is greatly more cost effective than having such facilities in-house. The collaboration with SEAM has provided Sulzer the opportunity to refine and fully explore design concepts without the cost of building full-scale prototypes.