Pump maker dares others to be quiet
October 20th, 2010
Revolutionary pump innovator, New Fluid Technology (NFT), is so confident of its Super-Stealth pump, it is offering a whopping $50,000 to any manufacturer who can demonstrate a pump that is quieter and more efficient.
The Super-Stealth pump will have its global launch at SPLASH! New Zealand in Auckland on July 29 and 30. NFT Director Brian Bambach says that NFT’s pump represents the most significant change in the internal workings of a pool pump in more than half a century.
“There have been many innovations in pumps since then, but they have been tinkering around the edges since the 1960s,” he says. “However, our pump operates on an entirely new principle – that of ‘Solid Body Rotation’ of fluids which we will explain fully at SPLASH! New Zealand.”
He says the Super Stealth pump differs substantially from current pumps because of its unique internal design. According to Bambach, NFT’s pump design eliminates up to four-fifths of the noise made by pool/spa pumps. This is because most of the noise comes from the “wake collisions” that occur as the water leaves the impeller and collides with the internal leading edges of the diffuser.
Bambach says that up to ninety per cent of the lost efficiency occurs at this point. The Super-Stealth pump is also aided by a revolutionary impeller design that dramatically reduces efficiency losses by more smoothly directing the water from the impeller eye to the outlet.
The pump does not use diffusers or volutes, so there are no wake collisions – and therefore much less noise. Bambach says the trick is to eliminate the diffuser without losing efficiency.
He says that one version of the new pump was tested recently and recorded a sound pressure level (SPL) of 52.8 dBA, @ 540 L/minute compared to a variety of standard pool pumps, which measured 62 dBA to 70 dBA. As the SPL doubles with every increase of 3 dBA, this means the Stealth Pump was up to five-times quieter than other pumps at the same flow. He says the noise emitted from the pump is comparable to the noise from a laptop computer.
Bambach also says the efficiency of moving water is greatly enhanced by the new principle “Solid Body Rotation of Fluids”, and that the pump invention is subject to a recent Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application. “The savings in potential energy are far-reaching,” he says. “They could extend far beyond the swimming pool industry, and could potentially have a significant effect on world greenhouse gas production.
“You’d be surprised how much energy around the world is expended in moving fluids. We have entered the swimming pool pump market initially, because it is a relatively easy market to get into as the pump sizes are quite small. “But this is only the beginning, as this revolutionary way of moving water can be applied to pumps in every industry.”
NFT’s Challenge
New Fluid Technology Pty Ltd (“NFT”) of Mt Tamborine, Queensland, Australia, challenges anyone to bring them a centrifugal water pump that is both quieter and more efficient than the model they have at SPLASH! New Zealand 2009.
NFT’s Conditions:
• The pump must be in production or production-ready and genuinely intended for retail distribution for use as a swimming pool or spa pump;
• The pump must be powered by an electric motor (240-volt or 110-volt) and have the same or better flow rates than the NFT pump;
• The pump is to be of centrifugal impeller type and cannot have added sound absorbing materials or be specially adapted for the purpose of comparison.
The NZ$50,000 reward will be paid once only and in the event of competing entries will go to the first pump presented to NFT in Australia.
Competitors must register their intentions in writing with NFT during SPLASH! New Zealand 2009. Competitors must present their pump to NFT in Australia within six months of registration. Testing will be conducted by the University of New South Wales (or equivalent, by mutual agreement), using an industry-standard test rig.
The offer is made entirely by NFT. SPLASH! is not responsible in any way for the conduct of the challenge, or in determining the result.
The Super-Stealth pump will have its global launch at SPLASH! New Zealand in Auckland on July 29 and 30. NFT Director Brian Bambach says that NFT’s pump represents the most significant change in the internal workings of a pool pump in more than half a century.
“There have been many innovations in pumps since then, but they have been tinkering around the edges since the 1960s,” he says. “However, our pump operates on an entirely new principle – that of ‘Solid Body Rotation’ of fluids which we will explain fully at SPLASH! New Zealand.”
He says the Super Stealth pump differs substantially from current pumps because of its unique internal design. According to Bambach, NFT’s pump design eliminates up to four-fifths of the noise made by pool/spa pumps. This is because most of the noise comes from the “wake collisions” that occur as the water leaves the impeller and collides with the internal leading edges of the diffuser.
Bambach says that up to ninety per cent of the lost efficiency occurs at this point. The Super-Stealth pump is also aided by a revolutionary impeller design that dramatically reduces efficiency losses by more smoothly directing the water from the impeller eye to the outlet.
The pump does not use diffusers or volutes, so there are no wake collisions – and therefore much less noise. Bambach says the trick is to eliminate the diffuser without losing efficiency.
He says that one version of the new pump was tested recently and recorded a sound pressure level (SPL) of 52.8 dBA, @ 540 L/minute compared to a variety of standard pool pumps, which measured 62 dBA to 70 dBA. As the SPL doubles with every increase of 3 dBA, this means the Stealth Pump was up to five-times quieter than other pumps at the same flow. He says the noise emitted from the pump is comparable to the noise from a laptop computer.
Bambach also says the efficiency of moving water is greatly enhanced by the new principle “Solid Body Rotation of Fluids”, and that the pump invention is subject to a recent Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application. “The savings in potential energy are far-reaching,” he says. “They could extend far beyond the swimming pool industry, and could potentially have a significant effect on world greenhouse gas production.
“You’d be surprised how much energy around the world is expended in moving fluids. We have entered the swimming pool pump market initially, because it is a relatively easy market to get into as the pump sizes are quite small. “But this is only the beginning, as this revolutionary way of moving water can be applied to pumps in every industry.”
NFT’s Challenge
New Fluid Technology Pty Ltd (“NFT”) of Mt Tamborine, Queensland, Australia, challenges anyone to bring them a centrifugal water pump that is both quieter and more efficient than the model they have at SPLASH! New Zealand 2009.
NFT’s Conditions:
• The pump must be in production or production-ready and genuinely intended for retail distribution for use as a swimming pool or spa pump;
• The pump must be powered by an electric motor (240-volt or 110-volt) and have the same or better flow rates than the NFT pump;
• The pump is to be of centrifugal impeller type and cannot have added sound absorbing materials or be specially adapted for the purpose of comparison.
The NZ$50,000 reward will be paid once only and in the event of competing entries will go to the first pump presented to NFT in Australia.
Competitors must register their intentions in writing with NFT during SPLASH! New Zealand 2009. Competitors must present their pump to NFT in Australia within six months of registration. Testing will be conducted by the University of New South Wales (or equivalent, by mutual agreement), using an industry-standard test rig.
The offer is made entirely by NFT. SPLASH! is not responsible in any way for the conduct of the challenge, or in determining the result.
By The Splash Team
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