Volume I, Issue 26 - SPCO Newsletter - January 6, 2012

What is in store for Smith Pump in 2012? Well, we are not exactly sure, but...

by L. G. Smith, p.e.-President/C.E.O.

Big Picture Stuff ... we turn 50 ...we plan to open a Houston branch in 2012 ... we will finish equipping the new repair shop in our Fort Worth branch in 2012, and, we will become ISO 9001 certified next year. A busy year indeed, but one about which to worry next year. For now, it is time to enjoy the holiday season. So on behalf of all at Smith Pump, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

December 26-January 2nd Christmas and New Year’s Holidays Skeleton Crew 12/27-12/30

February 6-9 Texas Water Utilities Association Far West Texas Regional School Pecos County Civic Center Fort Stockton, Texas

March 5-7 Texas Water Utilities Association 94th Annual Convention American Bank Convention Center Corpus Christi, Texas

Project Calendar by Josh Jurgensen, p.e. Service Engineer

Case Study: Eliminating High Vibration Due to Natural Frequency Smith Pump Company recently was called to a pump station to solve a problem with high vibration on three 350 HP vertical turbine pumps. The pump station was fairly new and had only been in operation for a year or two. Two of the three pumps were operated on a variable frequency drive (VFD). The first step we performed in the field was a bump test. A bump test measures the unit’s natural frequency and is very important on a vertical turbine. The unit, mainly the vertical motor, will vibrate the most when it runs at its natural frequency. For example, if you measure the unit’s natural frequency to be 1800 cpm

(Continued on page 4)

Inside this issue:

Big Picture Stuff 1 Project Calendar 1

Employee of the Quarter 2 Shocking Truth 2 Vendor News 3

New Employees 6 Points to Ponder 7

Smith Pump Company

Volume 1, Issue 26

THE SMITH PRIMER

December 2011

The year is almost over, and what a year it was. It is time to take stock in our past, and look toward the future.

Year 2011 will finish up being a record drought year in Texas. The year also was one of the hottest years on record. This was also a record year for Smith Pump in terms of revenue. Our fiscal year ended October 31, and the Company has roughly doubled sales volume in eight short years. Our current backlog isn’t at the level it was this time last year, but it isn’t bad. Not to worry, as our Sales Department will bring in enough business; in this I am confident.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

March 14-16 Texas Rural Water Association Omni Hotel-1300 Houston Street Fort Worth, Texas

March 20-22 Texas Water Utilities Association Panhandle Regional School Amarillo Civic Center

April 10-13 Texas Water Conference Henry Gonzales Convention Center San Antonio, Texas

THE Page 2

SMITH PRIMER Smith Pump Company

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Growing Up or How Far We Have Come

It wasn’t that long ago that Smith Pump only built a few small control panels for two horsepower grinder pumps. Back in early 2005, you had your choice of just one pump at one voltage and options included seal failure and horn. Of course you could get a control panel to run either one or two pumps. Wow, you could spend all day selecting options!

Since those days Granger Smith decided to go after more control panel business and rely less on sometimes unreliable control panel vendors. We have greater control over quality and schedule when we do things in- house . In addition, we have greater expertise to help our customers when problems crop up in the field . Our growth has been slow and steady, mastering one step before taking on another. This has proven to be a wise path.

Early on we recognized the necessity of becoming certified to build panels to UL508A specifications. Obtaining that certification opened many doors and showed that Smith Pump was serious about building quality control panels. At the same time we also did a LOT of work finding better parts for our panels. Those who were around back then can recall how the GE starters we used had high failure rates with lots of service calls but the starters we use today are nearly 100% perfect.

Continued on page 5

The Employee Of The Quarter is Larry Chandler. Larry’s supervisor, Neal McCaig had this to say about Larry... “Larry has been with Smith Pump for almost 18 years. He is leadman in the Smith Prime and light fab area of the fab shop. Larry is very dependable and an excellent worker. He is like a one-man band. He has many skill sets that we take advantage of. Larry has recently passed his ASME welder certification. Larry is very deserving of this award.” Congratulations Larry, and thanks for all the hard work. Enjoy your extra day off.

Shocking Truth By Larry S. Wingo, Texas A&M ‘77

Volume 1, Issue 26 Page 3 Big Picture Stuff . . . continued from page 1

This year we spent much of our time trying to get things shipped that were sold the year before, a daunting task that remains unfinished. As an industry, why is it so hard for the pumping industry to ship their product on time? To answer would take too long for this article.

As I look forward to 2012, I can see us commissioning much of the equipment that shipped in 2011. There will be a fair share of startup problems, but our Service Department will resolve all the issues.

In 2012, Smith Pump will turn 50 years old. Quite a milestone, and one that deserves a little celebration.

They say we are in a 1st or 2nd year of a ten year drought. If that is so, how many of the state reservoirs will drop below the pump intakes next summer? There is a lot of preparation this coming year if it continues not to rain enough.

What is in store for Smith Pump in 2012? Well, we are not exactly sure, but...

... we turn 50, ... we plan to open a Houston branch in 2012, ... we will finish equipping the new repair shop in our Fort Worth branch in 2012, ... and, we will become ISO 9001 certified next year.

A busy year indeed, but one about which to worry next year. For now, it is time to enjoy the holiday season. So on behalf of all at Smith Pump, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We here at Smith Pump continue to be impressed with the Liberty grinder pumps. With the patented “V-Slice® Technology and a new three-year out of the box warranty, Liberty has wowed employees and customers alike.

Albert Ruiz, Wastewater superintendent with Military Highway Supply Corporation related his experience with a Liberty grinder in a difficult school application. Located outside of Progresso, Texas, Albert had a competing grinder in the application that had to be pulled approximately once per week to be manually unclogged. Walter Williams, our South Texas Outside Sales representative in our McAllen, TX branch office recommended a Liberty Grinder pump as a solution. After the change-out, Albert reports that the Liberty has been running successfully without a clogging issue for over one year. In our Waco office, the Waco Cam-

eron Park Zoo’s American Bison Exhibit was another difficult pumping application. The American bison, some weighing in at over 2000 lbs, with hair so thick snow can land on their coat without melting, were causing problems for the maintenance crew at the Zoo. The tough hair from the buffalo along with sand and grit caused clogging issues for other grinder pumps in the bison wallow. Following Smith Pump Central Texas Outside Sales representative Chris Browder’s recommendation to change over to a Liberty grinder, the bison are happy

Continued on page 7

Vendor News by Jeff Boon

Page 4

Project Calendar—Continued from page 1

and the pump’s speed is 1800 rpm, you will have high vibration. To save time, we will only present the data for Pump #2. The bump test for Pump #2 meas- ured in line with discharge was 1500 cpm. Pump #2 operates on a VFD and has a full speed of 1800 rpm. The 1500 cpm corresponds to running the pump at 50 HZ. The owner of the pump station wanted to operate the pumps between 50 and 60 HZ. After performing the bump test, we ran the pumps and measured vibration. On Pump #2 at 50 HZ, we measured 0.47 in/sec rms at the top of the motor. To compare, the Hydraulic Institute allows 0.17 in/sec rms for vertical turbine pump of this size. We knew high vibration was caused by the natural frequency of the unit based on the bump test data. On vertical turbine pumps, you can move the natural frequency up and down by making modifications to the discharge head. These particular discharge heads were built very stiff with a total of eight 1” thick stiffeners on the outside of the head body and four 3⁄4” thick stiffeners on the inside of the head body.

Existing Discharge Head Solidworks Model of Existing Smith Pump modeled the discharge head in Solidworks. Since the measured natural frequency was 1500 cpm, and the pump operating range was 1500 to 1800 rpm, we wanted to lower the natural frequency below 1500 cpm. We knew by removing stiffeners from the discharge head we would lower the unit’s natural frequency. We removed stiffeners and ran a finite element analysis to determine how much we would lower the natural frequency. Our model study showed that by removing all the external stiffeners and half of all the internal stiffeners we would lower the natural frequency by 30%. Pump #2 was removed and its discharge head modified by removing stiffeners.

Smith Pump Company

THE SMITH PRIMER

Shocking Truth ... continued from page 2

As the panel shop grew, our early panels were just modifications of previous panels. Slowly we added panels for larger horsepower pumps, more voltages, and options that include everything but a shoe shine station. Don’t laugh, compared to some of the options we’ve put in a control panel a shoe shine station isn’t that odd. Hmm, I’ll bet we’d have to make that shoe shine station in stainless steel...

Anyway, every year our capabilities grow. As this is being written, Smith Pump is building their largest pan- el. This bad boy runs two 125 hp pumps, includes soft starts, dozens of control relays, a PLC, UPS, MCPs, GFI outlet, custom ABS doors, all installed in a custom built stainless steel enclosure. Part of our greater capabilities was learning the meaning of this alphabet soup of letters. And it means we can do lots of impressive things we only dreamed about six years ago.

Page 5 Project Calendar—Continued from page 4

Solidworks Proposed Model Discharge Head Installed Stiffeners Removed

Pump #2 was put back into service with its modified discharge head and vibration testing was performed. The new bump test data gave a measurement of 86 cpm in line with discharge. The vibration measured at 50 HZ at the top of the motor was 0.05 in/sec rms. The vibration dropped from 0.47 to 0.05 in/sec rms.

In conclusion, determining a unit’s natural frequency is very important when designing a vertical turbine pump. Every fabricated steel discharge head that Smith Pump makes is modeled in Solidworks and goes through a finite element analysis to make sure the unit’s natural frequency (mainly discharge head and vertical motor) is 25% away from any running speeds. In this example, the discharge head (built by others) was too stiff and had a natural frequency at the pump operating speed causing high vibration. Since Pump #2 was so successful, we are currently modifying Pumps #1 and #3 the same way. Common sense tells us that the stiffer and stronger the discharge head the better, but this case study clearly shows us that is not the case!

Volume 1, Issue 26

Page 6

Jessie Serrano became a part of the Waco Warehouse team September 23rd. He is a native Texan who grew up in Waco and graduated from A.J. Moore Academy. In High School, he was enrolled in R.O.T.C. and was a member of the rifle team and color guard. Jessie also has a certificate in automotive collision technology from T.S.T.C. He is an automotive enthusiast and enjoys working on restoration and customization of all types of vehicles. He will frequent car shows and drag races. His other passion is his two children, ages 7 and 3. Jessie looks forward to a long lasting career with Smith Pump Company.

Please welcome Norman Koenig to the Fort Worth pump shop. Before coming to work for Smith Pump Company, Norm worked for an electrical contractor for 26 years. Norm was born and raised in Fort Worth. He is married to wife, Lisa, and has a daughter and two grandchildren. In his spare time Norm likes to hunt and fish.

Smith Pump Company

Please welcome Jim Bigelow to the Waco fab shop. Jim has been a welder for 15 years. He has a 15 year old daughter, Britany. In his spare time he likes to hunt and fish.

THE SMITH PRIMER

POINTS TO PONDER by Charlie Turner

#1. These two four-figure numbers share a feature in common with only one other four- figure number. What is the feature and what is the other number?

3600, 5776

#2. These two four-figure numbers share a feature in common with only one other four- figure number. What is the feature and what is the other number?

2025, 9801

and the Cameron Park Zoo maintenance staff is even happier. After over a year of pumping, they have not had a single clogging issue from this application.

In addition to making great, problem solving pumps, Liberty recently announced that they were offering a three year warranty on new products. This industry leading warranty is backed by a privately held, family owned company with focused direction. Liberty Pumps, located in Bergen, New York (a rural Upstate community located near Rochester) was founded in 1965. Liberty has grown to become a Rochester Top 100 Company and leading domestic manufacturer of sump, sewage and effluent pumps for the professional trade in North America. Produced in an efficient J.I.T. environment and ISO 9001 registered, Liberty's products are brought to life in a new, highly advanced facility. This facility is also home to the corporate offices, design and research labs, and manufacturing complex. With a strong team of dedicated members backing each area of the company, you can count on Liberty to bring you the best in pumping products.

Whether you are dealing with bison hair, a school, or any other problem grinder pump application, Liber- ty grinder pumps can handle your toughest jobs. Smith Pump offers a complete line of Liberty pumps and products; including retrofit units, simplex and duplex grinder pump packages, controls and accessories. These American-made products, carrying a three year warranty, are setting a new standard of excellence. If you are interested in a product demonstration or need information about these problem solvers, please contact Smith Pump Company’s sales manager Jeff Boon at 254-776-0377, or contact your territory salesman.

Volume 1, Issue 26 Page 7 Vendor News . . . continued from page 3

Last Issue Answers:

#1. Without changing the order of the digits insert four plus signs, one division sign and three minus signs between them to make the calculation correct.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 = 0

Answer: 9 + 8 + 7 + 6 -:- 5 – 4 - 3 + 2 - 1 = 0

#2. Arrange the following digits

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 to form a single fraction that equals one third.

Answer: 5832

17496

Congratulations to: Patty Symank (answered both correctly) Email answers to charliet@smithpump,com

Smith Pump Company

MAIN OFFICE AND SHOP 301 M&B Industrial Waco, Texas 76712 1.800.299.8909 Phone: 254.776.0377 Fax: 254.776.0023

FORT WORTH BRANCH 4624 Martin Luther King Frwy. Fort Worth, Texas 76119 1.888.381.3873

AUSTIN BRANCH 1900 West Howard Lane Austin, Texas 78728 1.800.967.8536

SAN ANTONIO BRANCH 13126 A Lookout Ridge San Antonio, Texas 78233 1.866.816..PUMP (7867)

MCALLEN BRANCH 1216 E. Jasmine, Suite C McAllen, Texas 78501 1.956.687.9949

The Original Smith— Tom

www.smithpump.com

In this photo our largest panel yet is hard to miss, as is Eric, one of our new employees. That little thing at bottom center is a plain simplex control

Pump & Pumping Systems Specialists since 1962. Quality equipment with on-time delivery that

Shocking Truth ... continued from page 5

panel like we built six years ago. Our panels have grown from 2 hp to 125 hp, from 1/2 cu. ft. to 40 cu. ft., from available options that could be counted on the fingers of one hand to needing a calculator BEFORE we get to custom options. Despite all this, there are still things we don’t know how will meet or exceed your

to do. We still have more to learn, and capabilities to add. expectations the first & every time.

It’s obvious our control panel shop has done a lot of growing up, but we still have plans for a lot more. Who knows what we’ll be able to do in another six years!