Author: idextest

Hundreds of valves from Alfa Valvole in Milan are part of an innovative new bio-plastics plant under construction in Bologna, Italy.

The Bio-on plant is in its first phase of construction now. It’s being designed with new technology to use CO2 freely available in the atmosphere as a carbon source to produce 100 percent natural and biodegradable bioplastic.

Bio-on plans to use “carbon dioxide as a zero cost ‘raw material,'” in addition to those already used to produce its polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) biopolymer bioplastic: sugar beet and sugar cane molasses, fruit and potato waste, carbohydrates, glycerol and waste frying oil. PHAs are used in packaging for food, cosmetics and other consumer products.

Alfa Valvole received an initial order for the first phase of the plant and expects subsequent orders for future phases.

The highly specialized valves – with distinct engineering and construction, and special actuators – will be installed in the phase involving the peroxygens bulk storage system. The Alfa Valvole solutions was right for the technical specs and ability to deliver.

To read more and see a video about the Bio-on project, click here.

Emergency crews used lifting bags manufactured by Vetter to recover a Boeing 737 that overshot the runway last weekend.

The Lion Air jet landed during heavy rains and slid off the end of the runway at Pontianak airport in the western province of West Kalimantan on Saturday, February 16. All 180 passengers and seven crew members evacuated safely.

Thanks to Vetter’s lifting bags, crews were able to extract the plane from the mud.

Airports around the world have purchased Vetter lifting bags for airplane recovery efforts. Slipped under an aircraft and then inflated, the bags slowly raise the plane.

Vetter also manufactures lifting bags used for building collapses and safety cushions for people forced to jump to escape burning buildings.

Hale Products, an IDEX company based in Ocala, Florida, recently began supporting research into ways to reduce firefighters’ exposure to harmful carcinogens.

According to FirefighterCancerSupport.org, firefighters have a 250 percent increased chance of developing cancer because of toxins in smoke.

Along with an increase in risk, firefighters also have a 14 percent higher mortality rate than the average person because of the inherent dangers of the job.

To aid the firefighter community, Hale donated $2,000 to support Gary Baum and The Fox Valley Career Center to support their research.

The Fox Valley Career Center, located in Maple Park, Illinois, is a vocational school focused on Fire Science, EMT, Criminal Justice training and more. Gary Baum, lead instructor of The Fox Valley Fire Science department, has been conducting national research to reduce carcinogenic exposure to firefighters using Compressed Air Foam Systems (CAFS).

Baum received an Award of Excellence from The International Association of Fire Chiefs in 2017 for his research. Hale’s donation will allow Baum and his Fox Valley students to test CAFS technology to further reduce risk for firefighters.

CAFS is a system used to extinguish fires more quickly, while also reducing property damage. In addition to reducing the amount of water needed to suppress a fire, CAFS mitigates firefighters’ risk to harmful toxins and carcinogens.

As consumers buy billions of dollars of Valentine’s Day candy, did you know that an estimated 70 percent of chocolate produced in the United States is pumped through a Viking Pump? And Viking, an IDEX company, improved those chocolate pumps last year based on customer feedback.

Viking introduced new positive displacement pumps for candy factories, redesigning them with double O-ring seals to eliminate leaking, which had been necessary to lubricate shaft packing in the past, but which wasted valuable chocolate and made a mess.

In its first year, the new pump design has been embraced by many major American chocolate manufacturers.

To eliminate leakage, earn hygienic certification and to reduce pump LM variation within and between plants, the Viking team designed its new chocolate pump. It includes a leak preventative seal, EC1935 compliance (an EU certification on food contact materials safety), and a single product – 224A-CHC1, which works on all chocolates thanks to flush and suckback grooves that flush chocolate behind the rotor, drilled idlers that keep the idler bushing lubricated, and steel or ductile iron rotors that can handle the range of viscosities.

Located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Viking Pump has been a trusted partner to chocolate and confectionery processors around the world for more than a century. Known for their ability to move problematic liquids, Viking’s internal gear pumps transport, recirculate and process chocolate all over a factory – from trucks to tanks to enrobers.

The internal gear pump operates with a pump rotor and an idler. The pump rotor (outer gear) is mounted to the pump’s shaft and rotates at slow speeds, turning the idler (inner) gear on the idler pin. The gears open large spaces between their teeth as they turn, creating low pressure zones that enable atmospheric pressure to flow chocolate in. As the gears close together, the spaces collapse, and chocolate flows out the discharge port.

Check out Viking Pump’s video explaining how it all works.

Connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, and Manhattan, the George Washington Bridge (GWB) is one of the world’s busiest bridges. Serving more than 50 million travelers in 2015, issues of wear-and-tear and weathering on the bridge have been of rising concern for the Port Authorities of New York and New Jersey.

BAND-IT, an IDEX company based in Denver, manufactures trusted band clamping and fastening solutions especially suited for high corrosion environments like the “Restore The George” Rehabilitation Project.

BAND-IT stainless steel bands and Ear-Lokt buckles are currently used on the bridge’s steel-braided suspension cables to maintain compression. The main cables of a suspension bridge are comprised of many smaller cables, which are bound together at regular intervals with a strip of stainless steel banding and a buckle to hold the tension like a belt. After cables are secured with BAND-IT bands, the cables are then wrapped in neoprene fabric to protect the cables from weathering and deterioration.

During recent inspection of the bridge, construction officials determined there are more than 24,000 BAND-IT bands and buckles, equating to roughly 20 miles of stainless steel banding currently installed on the bridge. Each band will be replaced as part of the rehabilitation project.

BAND-IT solutions have also been used on other suspension spans, including the Mackinaw, Newport and Tacoma Narrows bridges

With “Together, 30 Years of Excellence” as the theme, IDEX China colleagues recently held annual Chinese New Year Party with great fanfare in Suzhou.

Elaborate decorations set the scene of China in the 1930s. The festivities on January 24th included employees performing beautiful dance, singing and drama in honor of the occasion.

Employees performed charitable work on site.

The stadium where the National Football League’s Super Bowl is being played on Sunday is protected by a specialized fire suppression system that includes nozzles manufactured by an IDEX company.

Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta features a remote-controlled fire suppression system for the playing surface, which allows a command center employee to use a joystick control to focus massive streams of water on a fire. Known for their firefighting nozzles and valves, Akron Brass collaborated with a computing solutions manufacturer to create the custom fire suppression system.

While monster truck rallies hosted there may pose the greatest concern, a stadium fire could also start from pyrotechnics in a halftime show or concert.

In the past, stadium suppression systems had local controls, requiring a manual operator for every sprinkler in the stadium. Like a yard sprinkler, these systems sprayed back and forth over a defined range of the field, leaving several areas uncovered by the system.

Designed around StreamMaster II Electric Firefighting Monitor and Akromatic 2000 Nozzle products, this fire suppression system allows for a single operator to electronically control all monitors from a single control station in the security command center.

Since the development of this technology in 2017, Akron Brass installed a similar system in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

To view a video of the Atlanta system in action, click here

Firehouse Subs, a nationwide sandwich restaurant chain founded by former firefighters, features a HURST Jaws of Life eDRAULIC rescue tool in a current TV commercial . The sub sandwich chain, which has 1,100 locations across America, donates a portion of its sales to assist local fire and rescue departments.

Since 2017, the HURST team has partnered with Firehouse Subs on commercials and service projects. With similar interests in community outreach, the companies decided to activate their partnership further through the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation in 2018.

Founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged New Orleans in 2005, the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation provides funding, lifesaving equipment and educational opportunities for first responders and public safety organizations. To date, the foundation has donated over $2 million worth of HURST Jaws of Life rescue tools to fire departments across the country!

Based in Shelby, North Carolina, HURST is an IDEX company, part of IDEX Fire & Rescue.

To view the advertisement featuring the HURST Jaws of Life, Click Here.