Category Archives: Uncategorized

Launching the StaySafe™ Hold Down Screens

Johnson Screens introduces a new solution to increase safety in vessel maintenance operations by avoiding work in confined spaces.

San Antonio, USA, March 26th,2024—Johnson Screens unveils the StaySafe™ hold-down screens with the exclusive No-Entry screen extraction system at the 2024 Ethylene Producers Conference, which will be held from March 25th to 29th at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, USA, in conjunction with the 2024 Spring Meeting and 20th Global Congress on Process Safety. 

Hold-down screens are common parts of fixed-bed reactors present in chemical plants. They are used to maintain the catalyst or absorbent media bed in place when the process flows through the vessels. As the media needs to be periodically replaced, partial or complete removal of those hold-down screens is required during facility maintenance and turnarounds. Even after a vessel is purged and flooded with inert gas to mitigate toxic gases and potential explosions, workers remain exposed to many significant hazards associated with operations in confined spaces. “Implementation and compliance with regulatory and industry guidelines for entering confined spaces are critical, yet complex and expensive to execute,” says Benjamin Schmitt, Global Business Unit Director for Energy and Processing Technologies – EPT – a division of Johnson Screens. “Also, companies have already begun to mandate that employees do not enter vessels when removing media during a turnaround, which creates challenges for process engineering teams managing those operations.” 

StaySafe™ screens solve that challenge by providing a system that allows their removal without requiring workers to enter confined spaces.” “The innovative StaySafe™ design incorporates interlocking components that are assembled in the vessel without tools and secured in place with a central locking hub,” says Kevin Chase, Product Manager for the EPT Division. “By using the No-Entry screen extraction system, we can easily disassemble and remove the screens from outside the vessel, eliminating the need for workers to enter the vessel to perform that operation.” 

StaySafe™ hold-down screens are available in two designs: floating and manway. Both are compatible with the No-Entry screen extraction system. 

About Johnson Screens 

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products. 

Media 

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

Johnson Architectural Elements are All Around You!

Johnson Architectural Elements solutions are often present in iconic new buildings and structures worldwide. Metallic materials and bright finishes are often associated with futuristic designs that push the boundaries of current architecture. However, an unlikely and magical symbiosis is created when those contemporary elements are combined with centuries-old structures. An example of this magic can be found in Clifford Tower.  

Clifford Tower is part of the fortified complex in the city of York, England, consisting of a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts, and other buildings built over the last nine centuries on the south side of the River Foss. It is placed on a raised earthwork that was once the site of a timber keep built by William the Conqueror and destroyed during the worst event in the site’s history; the massacre of the Jews in 1190. A new stone tower was built in 1245 and has played an important role in turbulent national events such as the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the English Civil War.  

Because of the site’s fascinating history, the English Heritage invested in conservation and improvements to the visitor infrastructure at Clifford’s Tower. Concluded in April 2022, the renovation included a rooftop and new visitor experiences. Johnson Architectural Elements contributed to the project, providing stainless steel flat panels GP50 for suspended bridges and the stairs in the tower interior. All flat grills and stairs received an anti-slip treatment by bead blasting.  

Those bridges are an essential part of the experience, as they guide visitors in defined paths inside the tower while they listen to recordings about the historical events that took place there. The stairs lead to the brand-new rooftop, from where you can see unrivalled views over York’s historic skyline.  

So, pay attention next time you visit a museum or historic site. Among the masterpieces, you may find some Johnson Architectural Elements art hiding in plain sight! 

Media 

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

Availles to Receive Financial Support from European Funds

Le plancher filtrant est un composant essentiel au bon fonctionnement des filtres gravitaires rapides qui sont employés dans les stations de production d’eau potable ou de traitement des eaux usées. Son rôle principal consiste à collecter et distribuer les fluides de manière uniforme afin d’optimiser le rendement en eau du filtre. Cependant, les écoulements monophasiques et diphasiques à l’intérieur du plancher filtrant pendant les phases de filtration et de lavage du filtre ainsi que l’impact du plancher sur le procédé de filtration gravitaire rapide sont peu étudiés dans la littérature.

Figure 1: Méthodologie mise en œuvre pour valider les modèles numériques de fluides dans les écoulements uniquement aqueux
Figure 1: Méthodologie mise en œuvre pour valider les modèles numériques de fluides dans les écoulements uniquement aqueux

Ainsi, ce travail de thèse avait pour objectif de valider des modèles de simulations numériques fluides (CFD) dans les différentes phases de fonctionnement d’un filtre gravitaire rapide à l’aide de données expérimentales mesurées dans les écoulements à l’intérieur du plancher Triton®. Ces modèles constituent à la fois un outil pour la compréhension fine des écoulements à l’intérieur du plancher Triton® et un outil pour la conception d’un nouveau plancher plus performant. La méthodologie de validation des modèles est illustrée sur la Figure 1.

Figure 2: Photographie du banc d'essai « Triton »
Figure 2: Photographie du banc d’essai « Triton »

Un banc d’essai à l’échelle semi-industrielle (Figure 2) a été développé et construit. Celui-ci a permis d’obtenir expérimentalement des champs moyens de vitesse par des mesures PIV 2D2C (Particle Image Velocimetry 2D2C) ainsi que des mesures de différentiels moyens de pression dans différentes zones du plancher Triton®. Un second banc d’essai (Figure 3) a été réalisé afin de caractériser le média filtrant utilisé dans le banc d’essai « Triton ». Les données expérimentales ont ensuite été comparées aux résultats de simulations numériques URANS (Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes) et RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes) afin de définir le modèle de turbulence adapté au mode de fonctionnement du filtre (Figure 4). Ces simulations ont également permis de mieux comprendre l’influence du plancher filtrant sur l’écoulement à l’intérieur du média filtrant et d’identifier de possibles améliorations.

Figure 3: Photographie du banc d'essai « colonne »
Figure 3: Photographie du banc d’essai « colonne »

De plus, des mesures de taux de vide ont été effectuées à l’intérieur du drain pour différents rapports de vitesse de lavage entre l’eau et l’air. Ces mesures, ainsi que les observations visuelles des écoulements pendant les lavages diphasiques, permettront de déterminer la méthode de simulation diphasique la plus adaptée.

Figure 4: Comparaison entre le champ de vitesse moyenne obtenu expérimentalement (à gauche) et numériquement (à droite) sur une section 2D
Figure 4: Comparaison entre le champ de vitesse moyenne obtenu expérimentalement (à gauche) et numériquement (à droite) sur une section 2D

The underdrain is a critical element in rapid gravity filters utilized for drinking water production and wastewater treatment. Its principal function is to collect and distribute fluids uniformly, thereby enhancing the filter’s water production efficiency. However, the dynamics of single-phase and two-phase flows within the filter underdrain—especially during filtration and backwashing phases—and their effects on the rapid gravity filtration process are not extensively explored in the literature.

Figure 1: Methodology implemented to validate fluid numerical models in water only flows
Figure 1: Methodology implemented to validate fluid numerical models in water only flows

In response to this, the objective of this thesis was to corroborate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models across various operational phases of a rapid gravity filter with empirical data gathered from the flows within the Triton® underdrain. These models serve dual purposes: they facilitate an in-depth understanding of the flow dynamics within the Triton® underdrain and aid in the engineering of a novel, more efficacious underdrain. The methodology employed for model validation in water-only flows is depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 2: Photograph of the « Triton » test bench
Figure 2: Photograph of the « Triton » test bench

A semi-industrial “Triton” test bench was developed and constructed, enabling the acquisition of experimental average velocity fields via 2D2C Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements. This setup also permitted the collection of average pressure differentials across various zones of the Triton® underdrain (refer to Figure 2). A subsequent test bench was assembled to characterize the filter media implemented in the “Triton” test bench (refer to Figure 3). The experimental data procured were juxtaposed with the outcomes from URANS (Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) and RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) numerical simulations. This comparative analysis was instrumental in selecting the turbulence model that most accurately reflects the filter’s operational conditions (see Figure 4). Moreover, the simulations contributed to a more nuanced comprehension of the underdrain’s influence on flow within the filter media, as well as highlighting potential enhancements.

Figure 3: Photograph of the « column » test bench
Figure 3: Photograph of the « column » test bench

Additionally, void fraction evaluations were performed within the underdrain for varying air-water backwash velocity ratios. Coupled with visual inspections of the flow during two-phase backwashing cycles, these assessments will inform the selection of the most fitting two-phase simulation approach.

Figure 4: Comparison between mean velocity field obtained experimentally (left) and numerically (right) on a 2D section
Figure 4: Comparison between mean velocity field obtained experimentally (left) and numerically (right) on a 2D section

About Johnson Screens 

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products. 

Media 

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

 

Johnson Screens India Sets a Global Example Yet Again

Ahmedabad, January 18th, 2024 – Of all our locations around the world, India is perhaps the one that has most consistently had exciting news to share over the last couple of years. Whether it be the installation of solar panels on the roof of their facility or their team winning the contracts to install hundreds of thousands of water wells through the Jal Jeevan Mission, it can feel at times that not a week goes by without something noteworthy happening at our Ahmedabad location.  

As if on cue, they are back with more: 

“We are happy to announce that as of October 17th, 2023, we officially entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Gujarat to expand our facilities,” says Shiven Amin, CEO of Aqseptence Group (India) Pvt. Ltd.  

See what we mean?  

Currently, the plan is to construct the new building beside our existing factory. The land required for this expansion project has already been set aside for this use as outlined by the MOU. And yes, the new facility will continue to participate in the same “zero liquid discharge” rainwater collection/recharging and tree-planting programs in which the original plant currently participates. 

“We expect the creation of this second factory to create about 250 new job opportunities and that it will represent an investment of roughly seven million dollars,” adds Shiven, giving some context to the true scale of these plans. 

Once again, we congratulate Shiven and his team on this wonderful opportunity. We can’t wait to pay you a visit to the new place! 

About Johnson Screens 

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products. 

Media 

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

 

Johnson Screens India Pvt. Ltd. Launches the Prayaas CSR Initiative

Ahmedabad, Jan. 15th – In a noteworthy move towards fostering sustainable growth and contributing to societal well-being, Johnson Screens India Pvt. Ltd. has recently launched the Prayaas Initiative, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.   

The comprehensive initiative aims to address crucial aspects of sustainable development and make a positive impact at various levels, with a particular focus on enhancing sanitation, water facilities, and overall well-being in communities. The initiative recognizes the importance of contributing to societal health through business operations and meaningful social and environmental efforts.   

Key Activities:   

Sanitation Products and Facilities: One of the Prayaas Initiative’s core components is providing sanitation products and facilities. Recognizing the importance of hygiene and sanitation in community well-being, Johnson Screens India Pvt. Ltd. is committed to improving access to these essential resources.   

Water Facility Development: The initiative includes plans to develop water facilities in areas lacking adequate access. That involves leveraging technology and innovation to create sustainable water solutions that address the community’s needs.    

Construction of Recharge Wells: In regions prone to drought, the Prayaas Initiative focuses on constructing community water wells and recharge wells. This strategic approach aims to replenish groundwater levels, contributing to long-term water sustainability in drought-affected villages. The initiative recognizes water’s vital role in community health and agriculture and includes enhancing existing water wells to ensure improved quality and accessibility for villagers.   

As part of its commitment to supporting education and nurturing future generations, the Prayaas Initiative recently led Johnson Screens India Pvt. Ltd. to collaborate with Thori Mubarak Primary School Viramgam. The event involved the distribution of school bags and stationery to students, contributing to a conducive learning environment.    

“Enabling sustainable growth starts with our commitment to strengthening future generations”, says Shiven Amin, Managing Director of Johnson Screens (India) Pvt. Ltd. “As businesses increasingly recognize the importance of corporate social responsibility, initiatives like Prayaas set a commendable standard for ethical and impactful corporate contributions to society”. 

About Johnson Screens 

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products. 

Media 

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

Johnson Screens Introduces the Radial Spider Lateral System

Johnson Screens Introduces the Radial Spider Lateral System

Lateral distributors and collectors are vessel internals used in the processing of fluids across a variety of applications. The patent-pending design for the Spider Lateral builds on decades of success of other Johnson Screens header lateral systems and introduces angled arms that more closely match the curvature of the vessel head than prior lateral assemblies.

The distributor and collector pipes are designed by Johnson Screens engineers with a unique pipe hole pattern for every project, backed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Analysis. The pipes are engineered to maximize usable volume while ensuring an even fluid distribution across the media beds and minimizing the pressure drop of the assemblies.

The Spider Lateral reflects Johnson Screens‘ commitment to meeting the unique challenges and specifications of every customer and project. Our products are fabricated to withstand highly corrosive environments from a range of materials including 304, 316L, 2205 Duplex, 2507 Super Duplex, C276 Hatelloy®, Inconel® 625, and more. With our industrial knowledge and engineering expertise, the Spider Lateral is an optimized solution for every application.

About Johnson Screens 

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products. 

Media 

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

Johnson Screens is part of the North East Link (NEL) project in Australia

Melbourne, November 9th ,2023 – Johnson Screens is contributing to the largest road project investment in Victoria, Australia, known as the North East Link (NEL) project. As part of Victoria’s Big Build, the project consists of the construction of three major road projects, including 6.5km North East Link tunnels, which will provide an efficient link between the city’s freeway network by removing 15,000 trucks a day from local roads and reducing travel times by up to 35 minutes. 

For the construction of the tunnel, twin Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM’s), each with a 15.6m diameter, are currently being used alongside two Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) tunnels and two cut-and-cover structures, which together will require civil dewatering & recharge wells. Johnson Screens was selected by Star Drilling, a lead provider of drilling services to the Australian drilling industry and one of the companies involved in the construction, to provide approximately 1000 meters (3,280 ft) of 6’’ diameter screens made in Australia for the recharge wells. 

Star Drilling will use our stainless-steel water well screens to complete the recharge wells. Built with our proprietary Vee-Wire®, they provide the mechanical strength and resilience required to withstand the high flow rates needed for the application and ensure the longevity of a healthy water well. 

Johnson Screens is proud to have been chosen by Star Drilling as part of this important project that will change how people move around Melbourne! 

Learn more about our well screens and casing portfolio at: https://johnsonscreens.com/products/well-screens-and-casing/  

About Star Drilling 

Star Drilling offers professional drilling services on a diverse range of drilling projects across Australasia, from high-profile infrastructure to environmental, geotechnical and exploration. Large or small drilling programs. 

About Johnson Screens 

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products. 

Media 

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

 

Johnson Screens Unveils the Innovative GreenFil Activated Filtration Media

Chicago, October 3rd, 2023 – Continuing our commitment to innovation, Johnson Screens is  thrilled to unveil the all-new GreenFil Activated Filtration Media!

“Johnson Screens constantly works towards its vision of a world where protecting lives and our precious natural resources comes first by reducing harmful waste, providing clean water, and making the best use of our precious natural resources”, says Wilson Ragazzo, Director of Sales for IAS. “No other product encapsulates that motto better than the GreenFil media. Manufactured by up-cycling glass bottles, GreenFil is an inert, amorphous aluminosilicate media that provides at least double the performance of sand filter media for treatment of various water and wastewater sources without additional investments in infrastructure.”

GreenFil media is exposed to a unique three-step activation process to become self-sterilizing and acquire superior filtration properties. The result is a filtration media that inhibits bacterial growth and eliminates clumping, channelling, and passage of unfiltered water while providing a high surface area with superior mechanical filtration properties for the adsorption of fine particles. Furthermore, precise, consistent particle size distribution, shape, sphericity, and uniformity coefficient for outstanding hydraulic properties provide predictable, repeatable, and consistent nominal filtration performance.

“With all those remarkable properties, GreenFil media has a significant positive impact in operating cost by reducing the required volume for backwash water up to 50% and providing a quick Return on Investment within a two-year period on average”, adds Wilson.

GreenFil is available in two varieties – Polar and Nonpolar – that are, respectively, suited for the removal of positively charged particles such as heavy metals (e.g., Iron, Manganese and Arsenic) and superior mechanical filtration and efficient removal of hydrophobic contaminants such as hydrocarbons, organics, and microplastics in both hard and soft water.

GreenFil provides superior filtration solutions for municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatments when used with Johnson Screens’ Triton Underdrain System.

We are excited to expand our range of industrial filtration solutions! Want to learn more? View the product by clicking here.

About Johnson Screens

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products.

Media

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

Johnson Screens Introduces the New Contra-Shear Next Generation

The Contra-Shear Next Generation is Here! 

Melbourne, July 25th, 2023 - Following its predecessor’s tradition and long track record, the Contra-Shear Next Generation is here at last! With this design, Johnson Screens is proud to offer improved features and innovations that will assist every user in realizing their environmental sustainability goals.  

 “There were several goals in mind when designing the Contra-Shear Next Generation“, says Denys Visser, Global Research and Product Manager for Johnson Screens. “Our main focus was to increase solids dewatering and capture rate provided by the previous generation’s equipment. That expands the range of applications for the Contra-Shear Next Generation and makes it the ideal liquid-solid separation solution for many industries.”  

 As with the traditional Contra-Shear, the self-cleaning, internally fed rotary fine screen relies on the shear force effect created by the drum rotation to enhance the separation of solids from the effluent. Screened effluent passes through the Vee-Wire® slots into a tank from which it is pumped for further processing. Solids in the dewatering zone amalgamate and are continuously rolled thanks to the rotation of the screen drum, resulting in further reduction of liquid content.  

“We incorporated solutions to enhance the quality of the processes while reducing operating costs,” says Denys. The new design includes an external rack and pinion drive mounted on the clean side of the screen, leaving no impurities on drive elements and good accessibility during maintenance. No chains, sprockets, oilers, or other wearing parts or lubrication are required. An angled frame rail prevents the settling of solids/liquids inside the machine by removing flat surfaces. “That remarkably improves process hygiene by reducing contamination risk.” Lastly, Denys adds, “the redesigned trommel support wheels allow replacement in situ without drum removal or lifting, which significantly simplifies maintenance by reducing the associated labour and downtime costs.” 

 Maximizing process control and efficiency was another guideline while designing the Contra-Shear Next Generation. The addition of clear side view hatches enables direct process observation and improves process visibility. Johnson Screens’ knowledge of Contra-Shear technology also allows our specialists to accomplish the same level of dewatering as the previous generation Contra-Shear with fewer and/or smaller Next Generation models.  

The Contra-Shear Next Generation is available in 304 & 316 stainless steel and provides efficient solids separation, thickening, and dewatering! 

 Want to learn more? View the product by clicking here. 

About Johnson Screens

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products.

Media

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Director
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com 

Johnson Screens Launches Chlor-Safe Nu-Well 420 Chlorine Alternative

Johnson Screens Takes the Lead in Chlorine Alternatives 

New Brighton, June 15, 2023 – Johnson Screens is proud to announce an addition to the Nu-well® well cleaning and development chemical family, a staple of our historic Water Well division. How could this product line get any stronger? With Chlor-Safe, a safe and effective alternative to traditional chlorine (bleach) for disinfecting water wells. 

Like all Nu-Well products used within the well, Chlor-Safe NW-420 is NSF-certified for potable water use (certified by NSF to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60.) Used to disinfect wells without needing pH control, this dry, granular product is simple and has a long shelf life. Chlor-Safe is added to a water container at the surface and dissolved before disbursing to the entire well. This ensures that the chemical is in solution before putting it downhole, allowing the Chlor-Safe to combat bacteria throughout the entire well effectively. 

“We developed Chlor-Safe to dissolve faster than SterileneTM and other chlorine products, so it activates sooner when disinfecting wells and removing bacteria and other contaminating organisms, such as coliform, iron bacteria, E. coli, and other bacteria that cause that tiresome rotten egg smell.”, says Wayne Meyer, Product Manager for Johnson Screens’ Water Wells Business Unit. “Chlor-Safe can also be used to treat near wellbore damage and reduce congestion caused by clays or residual drilling mud.”, he adds. 

 Chlor-Safe is available now through our outstanding network of water well distributors. As with all of our Nu-Well products, please use and dispose of Chlor-Safe NW-420 in accordance with local rules, regulations, and ordinances. 

About Johnson Screens

Johnson Screens is the leading global provider of screening and auxiliary solutions. We support a wide range of industries, such as water wells, environmental, energy, chemicals, food and beverage, and mining, with our highly engineered and precisely fabricated products.

Media

Renato Barbedo – Global Marketing Manager
renato.barbedo@johnsonscreens.com