World-first technology to launch in Auckland – $50,000 challenge to other pump manufacturers

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Potential to slash world greenhouse gas emissions

The first significant change in internal pump design has been patented by New Fluid Technologies and will be on display at the SPLASH! New Zealand Trade Show on July 29 and July 30 at the Auckland Hilton.

This global launch will showcase a pump using an entirely new concept called “Solid Body Rotation.”

The first application of this ground-breaking new technology – the NFT Super-Stealth swimming pool pump – was chosen as the prototype of this technology, given the manageable volumes of liquid required to be moved in the swimming pool industry.

However the manufacturer, New Fluid Technology (NFT), believes this concept can be used for a very wide variety of pumps.

Pumps account for up to 15 per cent of all energy expended in manufacturing. Therefore, slashing the amount of energy expended by pumps could significantly affect the volume of greenhouse gasses emitted into the atmosphere. (See Notes to the Editor for more information.)

NFT is so confident of its claims to have the quietest, most efficient swimming pool pump, that it is offering $NZ50,000 to any manufacturer who can demonstrate a pump that is quieter and more efficient.

Director Brian Bambach says that NFT’s pump represents the most significant change in the internal workings of a pool pump in more than half a century.

“There have been many innovations in pumps, but they have been tinkering around the edges since the 1960s,” he says. “However, our pump operates on an entirely new principle – that of ‘Solid Body Rotation’ of fluids which we will explain fully at SPLASH! New Zealand.”

He says the Super Stealth pump differs substantially from current pumps because of its unique internal design. According to Bambach, NFT’s pump design eliminates up to four-fifths of the noise and energy loss made by pool/spa pumps. This is because most of the noise and energy loss comes from the “wake collisions” that occur as the water leaves the impeller and collides with the internal leading edges of the diffuser. Bambach says that up to ninety per cent of the lost efficiency occurs at this point.

The Super-Stealth pump is also aided by a revolutionary impeller design that dramatically reduces efficiency losses by more smoothly directing the water from the impeller eye to the outlet. The pump does not use diffusers or volutes, so there are no wake collisions – and therefore much less noise. Bambach says the trick is to eliminate the diffuser without losing efficiency.

He says that one version of the new pump was tested recently and recorded a sound pressure level (SPL) of 52.8 dBA, @ 540 L/minute compared to a variety of standard pool pumps, which measured 62 dBA to 70 dBA. As the SPL doubles with every increase of 3 dBA, this means the Stealth Pump was up to five-times quieter than other pumps at the same flow. He says the noise emitted from the pump is comparable to the noise from a laptop computer.

Bambach also says the efficiency of moving water is greatly enhanced by the new principle “Solid Body Rotation of Fluids”, and that the pump invention is subject to a recent Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application.

“The savings in potential energy are far-reaching,” he says. “They could extend far beyond the swimming pool industry, and could potentially have a significant effect on world greenhouse gas production.

“You’d be surprised how much energy around the world is expended in moving fluids. We have entered the swimming pool pump market initially, because it is a relatively easy market to get into as the pump sizes are quite small.

“But this is only the beginning, as this revolutionary way of moving water can be applied to pumps in every industry.”

NFT’s Challenge

New Fluid Technology Pty Ltd (“NFT”) of Mt Tamborine, Queensland, Australia, challenges anyone to bring them a centrifugal water pump that is both quieter and more efficient than the model they have at SPLASH! New Zealand 2009.

NFT’s Conditions:

• The pump must be in production or production-ready and genuinely intended for retail distribution for use as a swimming pool or spa pump;
• The pump must be powered by an electric motor (240-volt or 110-volt) and have the same or better flow rates than the NFT pump;
• The pump is to be of centrifugal impeller type and cannot have added sound absorbing materials or be specially adapted for the purpose of comparison.
• The NZ$50,000 reward will be paid once only and in the event of competing entries will go to the first pump presented to NFT in Australia.
• Competitors must register their intentions in writing with NFT during SPLASH! New Zealand 2009. Competitors must present their pump to NFT in Australia within six months of registration.
• Testing will be conducted by the University of New South Wales (or equivalent, by mutual agreement), using an industry-standard test rig.
• The offer is made entirely by NFT. SPLASH! is not responsible in any way for the conduct of the challenge, or in determining the result.

About SPLASH! New Zealand

SPLASH! New Zealand is THE must-attend event for manufacturers, retailers, pool builders, contractors, architects, landscapers and service technicians to stay ahead of market directions, trends and new technology. The exhibition in conjunction with SPLASH! magazine is committed to grow the industry into the future.

The exhibition provides the opportunity to launch new products, network and build existing relationships, come face to face with residential and commercial professionals, meet the press and build brand awareness.

Attendees include residential and commercial builders, retailers, distributors, installers, subcontractors, service technicians and professionals involved in the wet industry.

For more information contact:

Melanie Robertson
Marketing Manager
SPLASH! New Zealand Phone: 612_8586 115 Email: melanie@intermedia.com.au

Brian Bambach
New Fluid Technolog Email: bgbambach1@gotalk.net.au