Xylem Pumps Headed for Panama Canal Project
The company has won a contract to supply 64 Flygt 4600 series compact mixers that will ensure corrosive sediments do not build up on the expansion project's massive gates.
Xylem announced it has won a contract to provide specialized mixer equipment and associated technology to the Panama Canal expansion project. The project is building a new channel and a third set of locks to complement the existing channel by allowing the transit of larger, Post Panamax ships, which can carry as many as 12,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The project includes 16 rolling gates -- eight on the Atlantic side, eight on the Pacific side -- that weigh as much as 4,000 tons each. Xylem will supply 64 Flygt 4600 series compact mixers that will ensure corrosive sediments do not build up on the gates, according to the company's announcement.
The Panama Canal Authority announced Dec. 15, 2014, that the project was 83 percent complete at that time. The work of installing the gates for the new locks began that day on the Atlantic side.
"We have significant experience developing specialized solutions for complex applications such as this. We have incorporated similar Flygt technology to what we are using here in comparably demanding applications involving drilling mud, or bentonite homogenization tanks in the oil industry," said Marco Leoncavallo, Treatment Market manager for Xylem.
The mixers' installation is expected to be operational by April 2015, according to the company, which is based in Rye Brook, N.Y., and posted 2014 revenues of $3.9 billion.