A Year Later, Hurricane Sandy Spurs Waterproof Innovation

A year after Hurricane Sandy, engineers are rethinking designs for subterranean equipment. Preferred Utilities Manufacturing Corporation has created a solution that should limit the power outages that plagued mission critical facilities during the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. That solution is the submersible waterproof pump.

Designed for areas in flood zones, the pump attaches to back-up generator equipment. The state-of-the-art submersible pump is designed to withstand complete submergence in water and continue uninterrupted operation.

The pump and its motor assembly are securely welded within the enclosure to ensure operation during full submersion. It also features flexible stainless steel hoses for pump suction and discharge connections, a flanged access door with gasket, a sliding tray for pump removal, maintenance, or repair, all of which are encapsulated in an epoxy-enamel painted steel enclosure.

  •     More Features:

o    Discriminating type leak sensors installed inside enclosure
o    External connections seal welded to enclosure for connection of field piping.
o    External connections seal welded to enclosure for connections
o    Local non-fusible disconnect installed within the enclosure.

  •     Potential Applications:

o    Any facility where equipment is installed at or below historic flood levels and they cannot afford to lose electrical power generation.
o    Locations prone to flooding with backup power systems.
o    Hospitals, financial institutions, communication facilities, data centers.

Although Sandy weakened to a Category 1 hurricane by the time it struck New York and New Jersey, its storm surge caused massive flooding in streets, tunnels, and subway lines, resulting in lost power. While power losses were expected with a storm this large, many of the backup generator systems were not designed to operate under large amounts of water. The back-up generators failed under the immense amount of water, [leaving many important facilities without power, like the NYU Langone Medical Center.

If you need to rethink your mission critical fuel delivery strategy, don’t wait for the next storm–call Preferred today, or visit us at http://www.preferred-mfg.com

Preferred Utilities is the single-source umbrella for all mission critical needs. Services include customized engineering, consultation, installation, and scheduled maintenance.
Products include fuel oil handling systems, boiler equipment, burners, nuclear components, flow modeling services, and more. Our products can be found in commercial, institutional, industrial, and nuclear facilities.

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