But the inner workings and components can be a thing of beauty. Industry is demanding pumps and valves that are more reliable, robust, efficient and low-maintenance. A premium also is placed on sanitary design, and the makers of pumps and valves are being nudged to meet and often exceed standards such as 3A.Sanitary clean-in-place (CIP) components help further the goals of process automation, long a priority in food processing. Regulatory hurdles such as the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) sometimes work against adoption of the technology that make CIP and automation possible, but sheer doggedness eventually carbatteryheater prevails. Such is the case with mix-proof valves, which are starting to be applied in the transfer of large-particulate dairy products.

"Even a small leak of one drop per second results in a spill of more than 600 gallons of gasoline per year," says Tom Blewett, codirector of the Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center at the University of Wisconsin.However, as dangerous as these compounds are, they pale in comparison to the environmental impact of MTBE. This controversial gasoline additive has been used since 1979 to meet reduced-emissions requirements in all or part of 17 states. Water quality surveys have recently begun finding MTBE at alarming rates.

With the advent of the CE-mark requirements in Europe, many manufacturers now design to the International Standard IEC 974-1. One of the requirements of this standard is to place an IP rating on the nameplate of the machine to indicate the degree of protection provided by the enclosure to avoid damage from water and foreign objects.Purchasers of power supplies must consider the power they will be putting into the machines which operate from line power or some other .source of electricity. Ratings list voltage, number of phases, frequency, and current level when the power source is running at rated output. Most motor-generator sets require three-phase AC power.

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