Pump power

THE COMBINATION OF ALLIGHTSYKES’ FG WILSON GENERATORS AND SULZER SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS IS GIVING CONTRACTORS A RELIABLE SOLUTION FOR EXTRACTING AND KEEPING WATER OUT OF CONSTRUCTION SITES.

The Sulzer submersible electric pumps can be used in a variety of industrial applications, including on tunnel sites.

Despite December marking the first day of summer, Melbourne lived up to its reputation for turbulent and unpredictable weather last December when flash flooding hit the city hard in the middle of the month.

On 15 December, 41.2 millimetres of rain fell during the day, with 37.2 millimetres falling in the hour leading up to 5:45pm, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, causing a deluge of water to hit the city within a short space of time.

For construction sites, anticipating and preparing for such unexpected weather events is key to ensuring safety and productivity can be upheld and maintained on site, especially when such extreme weather can cause long and costly delays.

Garrin Angel, Product Life Cycle Manager for construction equipment distributor AllightSykes, says submersible pumps are a common solution to mitigate water ingress or remove pooling water from a road or civil construction site quickly. However, he says having the right system can be the difference between an efficient and reliable solution and a costly and unreliable one.

“There’s a really strong market for submersible pumps in the Australian civil market, although there are always inferior copycat products out there,” Mr. Angel explains.

Similarly, not every site or contractor will use electric pumps, rather opting for a physical pump alternative without realising the benefits of a more reliable and

streamlined process. “Having a submersible system makes the whole process so much easier – just the sheer volume of water it can move in a short period of time compared to physical pumps makes it great equipment to have on site,” he adds.

AllightSykes offers its high-end suite of electric Sulzer submersible pumps, which range from pumping light- and mediumduty applications on residential and commercial properties, through to heavyduty jobs in larger industrial settings.

Gert Inja, Product Lifecycle Manager for AllightSykes’ pump equipment business, says the Sulzer submersible pumps operate off of a centrifugal system and can be submerged up to 20 metres deep in water and pump the water away to a different holding area or pond.

“The beauty of it being in the submerged water means the unit isn’t sitting on the side of a pond and posing a hazard. It’s compact and makes the optimum use of resources on site.”

An electric cable connects the unit to a standard generator, and operates with a stop/start function – a simple plug-andplay setup.

One of the range’s key benefits is its automatic monitoring system. If water or earth enters the unit while submerged, the system will automatically detect the invasive material and shut down.

Mr. Inja says this kind of setup is key for construction sites in the case of severe weather events or when water ingress occurs, which can bring work to halt in many cases. “For waste management on site, in particular, it’s critical, and it’s definitely a good option to have as a back-up in case of flooding or extreme weather.”

With the right Sulzer submersible pump selected, Mr. Inja estimates users can remove anywhere from 10 litres to 300 litres per second, which he says is an optimal solution for matching the variable volume to power requirements on construction projects.

Mr. Angel adds that the pump is built to European compliance standards for electronic hydraulic systems, making it an effective consumer of power and reducing its environmental footprint.

The range can run off a standard generator, but Mr. Angel says it is the

The Sulzer pumps come in a range of sizes and variations.

combination of the Sulzer electrical submersible pumps and AllightSykes’ FG Wilson range of generators that produce a standout and reliable solution for the construction market.

“There are lots of generators available in Australia. However, many are designed to be a cheap method of powering a farm shed. For critical tasks where worker safety is involved, it is important to use the correct product,” he explains.

The FG Wilson generator range includes premium components, such as Perkins engines, which Mr. Angel says produce around 15 per cent improvements in fuel consumption compared with other products.

“It also comes down to how the engine, engine alternator and control unit package are engineered and integrated with each other. We use a Leroy Somer alternator, which is a premium product that we know won’t fluctuate,” he says. “That means there’s going to be constant power, which is significant for companies that will be running generators for a certain length of time.”

Combined with the Sulzer range of electric pumps, Mr. Angel says the power and reliability of the FG Wilson generators makes the offerings from AllightSkyes a robust and reliable solution for water extraction and prevention on a variety of small and large worksites.

“The systems are used on a lot of tunnel projects in Australia to remove water from the site. There are a lot of construction jobs out there where major digging and excavation is involved and contractors are requiring and requesting these types of pumps,” he says.

“It really comes down to reliability and having better and hardwearing products in the field. We‘re able to optimise our generators for clients to run the with the Sulzer pumps as soon as they take the generator off the trailer – it goes straight to work.”

Combined with the FG Wilson range of generators, the Sulzer pumps prove a reliable asset on site.