Flowserve Corporation, a leading provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, has signed a license agreement with New Way Air Bearings to develop externally pressurized solutions for its seal and pump operations. As a leading innovator in the development and application of air bearings for rotating equipment and linear sliding surfaces, New Way's technology offers tremendous opportunity to improve equipment reliability and reduce maintenance and operating expenses compared to classical techniques.
By adapting New Way's technology through Flowserve's application experience in fluid motion control, a new generation of rotating equipment becomes possible. With fewer parts, better internal sealing, and improved load-handling capabilities, this next evolution of fluid pumping and sealing solutions promises a significant step forward for the end user in terms of:
- Improved reliability and process uptime - allowing plant operators to increase asset utilization
- Lower maintenance costs - leading to better operating margins for plant owners
- Lower energy consumption - enabling customers to further increase profitability while lowering environmental impact
- Waste reduction - by eliminating lubricating oil, customers save money on waste oil disposal and further reduce their environmental footprint
Flowserve's next generation of fluid motion control equipment will be able to tolerate heat much better than traditional designs, which means they can be applied in a very wide range of applications. Target implementations range from retrofit packages to holistic new solutions.
"One of the long-term trends in the process industry is that electric motors and drives continue getting closer to the work being done," said Drew Devitt, chairman and CTO of New Way Air Bearings. "Our technology enables novel ways to take that trend to the next level, leading to shorter, lighter, more efficient, and less complex pumps and compressors."
"Flowserve is very impressed with the New Way products and technology and the broad IP protection they have been able to establish," said Ken Lavelle, President, Flowserve Seal Operations. "We are very pleased to be working with the clear industry leader in this revolutionary technology."
"Flowserve is excited about the development work that is underway with New Way for the incorporation of reliability-enhancing solutions into our product offerings," said Lavelle. "We believe that New Way's technology holds the promise of significant breakthroughs in the future of rotating equipment performance and ultimately the design of rotating equipment itself."
