Cas d’application

New Grundfos SE pumps - a perfect solution for demanding pumps tasks

RINGERIKE, NORWAY: Ringerike is the largest forestry and agricultural municipality in Norway. The main industries are wood processing, concrete, mechanical workshops, and map production. The municipality is located in the south-eastern part of Norway, just 50 km north-west of Oslo.

The natural wealth and varied scenery spread out over an area of 1,553 km2 has given Ringerike a reputation as a “miniature Norway”. You can climb mountains, sail the fiords, fish in the torrents, go rafting in the rivers, swim in the lakes, hike in the valleys and explore the forests – all without ever leaving the municipality with only 28,000 inhabitants.

The Situation
For some years the main pumping station in Bekkegata had experienced problems with the existing five pumps. Because the pumps had to operate continuously over longer periods, poor motor cooling caused overheating, which in turn led to high maintenance costs and expensive downtime.

To solve the problem and avoid critical downtime, the local authorities in Ringerike invited four pump suppliers, including Grundfos, to suggest a new pump solution for the pumping station. However, the local authorities of Ringerike had never before worked with Grundfos and were initially somewhat hesitant about working with a completely new supplier for their main pumping station.

The Grundfos Solution
Although Grundfos was a completely new supplier to the local authorities of Ringerike, the Grundfos solution quickly caught their attention. Especially the innovative motor cooling in Grundfos’ new SE pumps appealed to the works manager. The unique liquid-less motor cooling, which efficiently transfer excess heat to pumped liquid, allows for continuous operation without overheating – even in dry installations such as the Bekkegata pumping station.

From the very beginning the works manager favoured the Grundfos solution. Not least because it turned out to be an unmatched solution to the problem of overheated pumps, but also because the unique SuperVortex impeller guarantees reliability, high performance and prevents clogging.

Consequently, Grundfos won the project and decided, in close cooperation with the works manager, to replace the existing pumps with five Grundfos SE pumps with SuperVortex impellers.

The Outcome
The new Grundfos SE pumps were installed in February 2005. As an extra service to the Ringerike municipality – and to guarantee that Grundfos’ new SE pumps meet the requirements with regards to motor cooling – Grundfos tested the new pump system in April. The purpose of the test was to measure the temperature in the motor, allowing the customers to see with their own eyes that the motor cooling concept lives up to their expectations.