Overview

Loureiro has been contracted by a large manufacturer in Connecticut as an on-call professional to provide a variety of tasks on the manufacturer’s equipment. Loureiro is the custodian of the manufacturer’s aging technology, and works to maintain and bring them up to date. Loureiro maintains and repairs 40+ year-old industrial wastewater treatment equipment, which includes calibrating and repairing instrumentation probes. Loureiro works within the manufacturer’s budget to update equipment, as needed, after reviewing specifications and receiving approval prior to installation. The company also retains Loureiro to review permitting and applications prepared for the regulatory agencies. Standard Operation and Manuals work is performed, as well as emergency repairs.

Approach

The project consisted of replacing forty-year-old pump technology which had environmentally hazardous components and no machine guarding, at the client’s Waste Water Treatment Facility (WWTF). The original pump was a piston-type pump, operated by an electric motor. Parts for this pump were unavailable, and needed to be taken off other similar pumps that were kept for the purpose of providing spares.

The outdated design of the pump system posed hazards, and risk of injury to the operator during pumping activities. Some portions of the mechanism were exposed, and the pump system also had mercury switches, which presented both health and environmental risks. The piping was fixed and the valving was manually actuated, presenting an ergonomic hazard. Loureiro was tasked with coming up with an updated alternative, within the original footprint of the pump system, to reduce the risks and maintain the operating standards needed to keep the plant operations in order. With input from Loureiro’s in-house engineering staff, the team devised a plan to remove and replace the old equipment, and presented it to the client for review by his team, including facilities, environmental compliance, finance, health and safety. The plan was approved, and the timeline was established, and Loureiro executed the project.

Results

The pump system update was completed in a timely fashion and within budget, and the client was pleased with the new equipment and operation. Through close coordination of the client’s operating schedule, management and packaging of waste generated during disassembly, subcontractor production, and supplier orders, Loureiro executed the project without disrupting the plant’s operations. Risk of injury was reduced by installing a totally enclosed, air-operated diaphragm pump, reconfiguring the piping to accept electrically actuated valves with manual overrides, and removing hazardous materials. The pump’s overall operations are more user-friendly and safer for the personnel tasked with operating the equipment.