Air operated double diaphragm (AODD) pump technology was invented and introduced to the market 55 years ago. That day in 1955 when the first AODD pump began operating remains a watershed moment in industrial pump history. AODD technology grew from humble beginnings, mainly as a way to pump wastewater in mining applications.

AODD pumps are reciprocating, positive displacement pumps. The wetted....

Not surprisingly, safety has always been a top concern for food and beverage companies. So, it goes without saying that this is a preCise industry, one that requires the highest standards in hygienic and sanitary production processes. Despite this emphasis on food safety, there still have been a number of scandals that have combined to give the consuming public reduced trust in the safety that....

Among isolated spots of more than 1,200 miles of the beaches of Prince William Sound, Alaska’s environment still suffers the effects of the Exxon Valdez disaster that dumped 11 million gallons of fresh crude into the sea two decades ago.

Though there have been far bigger spills, the Exxon Valdez disaster ranks as the most devastating to marine life in North America, according to a recent....

For months, the focus of the Pumps & Systems “Efficiency Matters” column has been on pump design, installation and operation, factors that directly affect the energy consumption of the pump itself. For example, the April and May 2010 articles on pump performance bands discussed how normally, when a positive displacement pump has less slip, it will more efficiently pump the fluids. The amount of....

When the traditional tally of the top news stories of the year is taken in a few months, there is one that is sure to be at the top of nearly every list: the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that put the Gulf, the area’s marine industry and the coastlines of the Gulf states in peril for nearly four months as crude oil gushed from an uncapped well several....

Webster’s Dictionary offers a number of definitions for the word harsh, including “having a coarse or uneven surface that is rough or unpleasant to the touch” and “causing a disagreeable or painful sensory reaction.” When choosing the proper pump for an industrial application, the word harsh has two meanings: the characteristics of the product that will be pumped and the environmental or....

Introduction

Imagine a major-league pitcher standing on the mound. He looks in for the signal, nods in agreement, starts his windup, rears back and propels the baseball toward home plate. The pitch’s maximum velocity is reached at the moment the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. From that point, studies have shown that the velocity decreases by one mile-per-hour for every seven feet traveled. So,....

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato is credited with coining the phrase, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” meaning that a need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or solve the problem. It is unknown whether that phrase was going through Jim Wilden’s head as he watched water from a ruptured pipe gush into a shop at a steel factory in San Bernardino County, Calif., 50....

By Curtis Dietzsch It has been several years since air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pump technology was invented and introduced to the market, and it is safe to say that the day when the first AODD pump began operating remains a watershed moment in industrial pump history.

AODD pump technology was invented by Jim Wilden in 1955. Wilden would later go on to form Wilden Pump & Engineering....

By Edison Brito Introduction

While the first “paints” came from natural substances like charcoal, blood and berry juice, paints and coatings are now made of a wide variety of highly stylized components using high-tech manufacturing processes. It has been over the past 25 years that most of the major enhancements in paint and coatings manufacturing have taken place. Spurred by these....