With 34 years of experience in mobile water transport, Hytrans explains the benefits of hydraulically driven submersible pumps.

Since 1988, Hytrans has developed, manufactured, and supplied mobile water transport systems with hydraulically driven submersible pumps. Overt the last 34 years, Hytrans has supplied more than 1200 of its HydroSub systems across the globe, establishing itself with a reputation of good quality, proven performance, and innovation.

The biggest advantages of using hydraulically driven submersible pumps versus conventional suction pumps are, according to Hytrans, the vertical pump lift without draft loss and the deployment time. With a conventional system, the required priming consumes valuable time, especially in situations where time is of the essence.

In addition, when drafting from seven meters down the capacity of a pump reduces by approximately 70%. By using a submersible pump, such as Hytrans’ hydraulically driven offer, this is no longer a problem as the hydraulically driven pump is floating, an as a result priming is not needed and there is no draft loss. This means pumping water from 60 meters vertically down from any open water source can be achieved easily without capacity loss.

In its efforts to develop mobile and easy-to-handle water transport systems, Hytrans has built its systems as containerized modules. With this, each container can be handled using a truck with a hook arm lift-off system. In case of a large-scale incident, systems can be combined as complementary modules to increase capacity and pumping distance with a minimum time and manpower. When all this is combined, it is a perfect tool for situations where water is a key necessity.

INTERSCHUTZ 2022

As INTERSCHUTZ returns to Hannover from the 20-25 of June, Hytrans will be in attendance to display its latest developments, including its the new HydroSub 1200F. The new unit features two hydraulically-driven submersible pumps in combination with a built-in booster pump with a total capacity of 30.000 lpm @ 12 bar. The system is driven by two diesel engines with a total power of 1200 KW (over 1600 HP). One engine drives the hydraulic system for the submersible pumps and the booster pump is driven by a second engine assisted by the other.

The HydroSub device can be controlled using a Human Machine Interface alongside an advanced monitoring system called CANbus. The operator can choose the setup, such as water intake from open water or a hydrant, and the unit will automatically select the right program to start. Depending on the program one or both engines start automatically.

The operator can concentrate on the flow and pressure and the control system takes care of controlling the engines automatically. Depending on the deployment country the unit will be equipped with diesel engines following the latest emissions rules applicable.

Another patented system on this unit is the satellite PowerFoam. This system consists of a hydraulically driven foam gear pump driven by two hydraulic lines – pressure and return – of 30 metres. The foam pump is built in a small, stainless steel frame on wheels which can be brought to the foam supply and can be a set of combined IBCs or a foam tank. Having the foam pump as close as possible to the supply, the supply line is very short and allows high viscous foam to be used.

From the satellite foam pump, a flexible pressure hose is connected to the booster pump, inside the container frame of HydroSub where the foam is injected into the water. By knowing the water flow and measuring the foam flow the exact percentage of foam – as set by the operator – is injected. The whole system is automatically controlled and completely independent of flow and pressure.

All PowerFoam solutions from Hytrans use hydraulics to drive the foam gear pump, and in combination with accurate water flow measuring/calculation the exact amount of foam concentrate is added to the water flow. Foam settings can be input from 0-6% with increments of 0.1%. The system works in such a way that it is fully independent of pressure and water flow and adapts automatically if there is fluctuation, ensuring accurate foam mixing.

It also features a return line which allows users to return the foam concentrate to the container during training sessions. This has the advantage that both the foam settings on the pump unit as well as the foam logistics can be trained without wasting precious foam.

FloodModule

Because of climate change, flooding is becoming more prevalent all over the world. In anticipation of this, Hytrans developed an add-on system for flood fighting for the HydroSub 150 unit, called the FloodModule. This module is equipped with specially designed flood pumps that can replace the standard submersible pump.

With the add-on system, the capacity of the HydroSub unit is multiplied by six to achieve a capacity of 50.000 lpm (13.200 GPM). New developments have also made the pumps lighter and as a result even easier to deploy. The FloodModule with all its features will also be shown at Hytrans stand at INTERSCHUTZ.

Hytrans StrateLine Large diameter hose

To transport large volumes of water over long distances it is necessary to use a large diameter hose to reduce the friction loss. Depending on the distance, elevation and required end-pressure, Hytrans can make the calculations and determine the most suitable diameter and the number of parallel lines needed. Large diameter hoses, which range from 6” up to 12”, behave differently than smaller diameters and therefore have specific requirements to guarantee a safe and quick deployment.

With this in mind, Hytrans has developed the StrateLine hose which will be on show at INTERSCHUTZ. This through-the-weave extruded rubber hose is characterized by a low elongation (<1.5%), low weight, and high flexibility.

Working in emergency situations a fast deployment of the system is key. For the fast deployment of the large diameter hoses, it is important that couplings can withstand the ground impact at speed. Hytrans’ couplings are designed to be low weight to reduce the force of the impact, which has the added benefit of increases the total length of hoses that can be stored inside the Hose Layer Container as a result of the volume decrease of the coupling. Hytrans can supply Multi Lug couplings as a standard for the StrateLine hoses – high-grade aluminum couplings which need only a 5-degree twist to lock and are low weight and have a high impact resistance. Due to the patented chamfered lugs, the couplings open easily, once uncoupled, and allow quick relief of the water.

The mobile systems made by Hytrans Systems are a complete solution and designed to be used in extreme circumstances. In these circumstances, the system must be deployed in minutes using minimum manpower which is why the engineers at Hytrans are constantly working on making things easier and lighter without affecting performance, strength, reliability, and mobility.

Mobile high-volume pumping was, is, and will be a constant development to get bigger, better, faster, and lighter equipment to help firefighters to assist them to fulfil their tough job. Hytrans is using its 34-years of experience to make the best system worldwide available.

This article was originally published in the June edition of IFSJ. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.