4 April 2004 www.filtsep.com

industrialnews

Stability in manufacturing businesses in the UK willcontinue according to the latest quarterly manufacturingsurvey from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers(IMechE).

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003, 37% of thosequestioned indicated improvement in their company’sperformance — up 3% from the third quarter, and 8% fromthe second quarter. Expected sales performance over thenext three months also rose, from 34% in the third quarterto 42% in the fourth. Confidence in the manufacturingindustry’s performance in the next 12 months rose by 8% to37%.

This buoyant outlook is reflected across the UK. In theMidlands, 81% of those questioned expect their companiesmanufacturing capacity for the next three months to remainconstant or increase, as do 77% of those surveyed in theNorth of England. Confidence levels are high across allareas for manufacturing performance, with 81% ofrespondents in the South East expecting consistency or animprovement.

These results are comparable with the Confederation ofBritish Industry’s latest quarterly industrial trends survey,which shows manufacturing output increasing for the firsttime in three years and the strongest in eight. DuringJanuary, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supplyalso reported that manufacturers expect growth in businessactivity for the first time in two years.

John Ling, IMechE Technical Manager, said: “Engineersand all those involved in manufacturing will be encouragedby these results. However, this is not a time to becomplacent. The increasing cost of manufacturing in theUK is driving companies to consider moving theirproduction overseas, which will take with it all theassociated benefits.”

The results of the quarterly survey were gathered inFebruary 2004 from 967 senior IMechE members workingwithin the manufacturing industry. The next survey will becarried out in May 2004.

Contact: IMechE, 1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London, SW1H9JJ, UK. Tel+ +44 20 7222 7899; Fax: +44 20 7222 4557;Website: www.imeche.org.uk

UK manufacturing sectorremains buoyant

In the USA, filtration systems provider Donaldson Co Incand Polymer Group Inc (PGI), a producer of nonwovens,have formed a strategic relationship to produce filter bagmedia for the bag-house industry.

Donaldson Torit will incorporate PGI’s Durapexnonwoven fabrics, used for filtration media, in its first fitand replacement bag-house product line.

PGI designed Durapex fabric specifically to meet the USEnvironmental Protection Agency’s National Ambient AirQuality Standard that sets a limit for particulate matter of2.5 µm.

Durapex is made with PGI’s proprietary APEX technology.This uses web forming and ‘hydro-entangling’ techniques tocreate a tightly controlled pore-size distribution. Donaldsonsays that the resulting fabric possesses high filtration efficiencyand greater strength than traditional needlefelt materials.

Contact: Donaldson Co Inc, PO Box 1299, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1299, USA. Tel: +1 952 887 3131; Fax: +1 952 8873155; Website: www.donaldson.com; or

PGI, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC29405, USA. Tel: +1 843 566 7293; Fax: +1 843 747 4092;Website: www.polymergroupinc.com

Donaldson and PGI jointly develop industrial filtration media

F B Leopold Co Inc has won a contract to upgrade awastewater treatment plant in the US capital,Washington.

The contract was awarded by the District of ColumbiaWater & Sewer Authority for the Blue Plains AdvancedWastewater Treatment Plant. It involves installing andstarting up the complete filtration system for phase 1 of thefilter upgrade.

The project will provide the plant with a system thatincorporates air-water backwash. Leopold willrehabilitate 40 dual-bay filters, totalling 80 filter cellsand providing a total filter area of over 7700 m2 (83 200ft2). The plant’s average flow capacity exceeds 1470million litres (390 million gallons) per day, with a peakcapacity of over 3200 million litres (850 million gallons)per day.

The job includes demolishing existing filter equipment;repairing concrete; installing the company’s Universal TypeS Underdrain with Integral Media Support (IMS) Cap,media and an air header piping system; and removingexisting wash-water troughs and replacing these with fibre-glass reinforced plastic ones.

The Underdrain with attached IMS Cap takes theplace of gravel in the filter media configuration. Thefilter rehabilitation will replace existing media with over4300 tonnes of anthracite and in excess of 4500 tonnes ofsilica sand. Modelling, using computational fluiddynamics (CFD), will be used to verify proper flowcharacteristics within the filter system beforerehabilitation is begun.

Leopold, along with its contracting partners ArcherWestern Contractors Ltd, C&E Services Inc, Langley TrafficServices Inc and Duffield Hauling is scheduled to completethe project by mid-2007. Once completed, the Blue Plainswastewater facility will be able to better serve the needs oflocal residents and ensure that the surrounding environmentis as clean as possible for local wildlife, plants, and people toenjoy.

Contact: FB Leopold Co Inc, 227 South Division Street, Zelienople,PA 16063, USA. Tel: +1 724 452 6300; Fax: +1 724 452 1377; E-mail: sales@fbleopold.com; Website: www.fbleopold.com

Leopold rebuilds tertiary filtrationplant in Washington DC