Easy Retrofitting for Wastewater Treatment Applications

The first of 35 Sumitomo Bevel Buddyboxes (BBBs) have been installed at the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Sanitation - Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, CA.

The Tillman Plant processes wastewater from 330,000 businesses and residents who live within the San Fernando Valley and is one of four treatment plants serving four million people over a 600 square mile area in Los Angeles County.

The units are being installed on the Collector Drives for settling tanks at the plant. The collectors remove and isolate solids, which are then transported on to LADWPs Hyperion Plant.

Working closely with Pritpal Jhaj, Mechanical Supervisor of LADWPs Water Reclamation Division and Victor De La Rosa of Applied Industrial Technologies in North Hollywood, CA - Sumitomo BBB reducers were specified to replace antiquated competitive units that were in operation (Figure 1). Maintenance issues with the existing units, including high speed pinion related and other failures, pointed out the need to replace the existing units with a reliable, robust and problem-free drive. The BBB, which replaces the traditional high speed pinion input with a Cycloidal input, made Sumitomo's offering an attractive option.

Sumitomo's Engineering Department in Virginia was consulted, and after a thorough review of the dimensions and performance characteristics of the existing units, particularly the critical dimensions of the double extended output shaft, BBB model LHHJS-3B12DBTK-Y1-956:1 was selected.

In order to eliminate time-consuming motor alignment hassles encountered with their existing motor scoop arrangement, the customer opted for a self-aligning NEMA C-Face adaptor. They also provided their own transition base to adapt the unit to our standard foot dimensions. 

Sumitomo has shipped the first six units, and LADWP is now preparing to order the remaining units in the next phase of their retrofit project.