As the Best Practices Magazines celebrate their twentieth anniversary, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the remarkable system efficiency gains achieved since our first issue. We also wanted to give subscribers a peek at what the next decades might bring. To do this, we asked a hand-selected list of original equipment manufacturers, independent compressed air system sales and service companies, manufacturing plants and independent system auditors to share their thoughts, highlighting the changes they’ve seen over the past 20 years, then predicting what the next 20 years will bring.
In 2019, the City of East Peoria, IL, began a comprehensive modernization of its wastewater infrastructure, including a $68 million upgrade covering two operating facilities, Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 1 and Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 3. The project addressed aging equipment, regulatory pressure and the need for improved process control.
An aging 103 acfm oil-free rotary claw vacuum system was replaced with a skid-mounted duplex configuration featuring two 5.4 hp pumps, automated lead/lag controls and an inlet purge system to handle increased laboratory demand and prevent chemical contamination. The upgraded system delivers up to 106 acfm and 28”Hg, providing higher vacuum capacity, redundancy and improved operational stability within a constrained mechanical room footprint.
The Best Practices 2025 EXPO & Conference contained plenty of sessions for industrial vacuum, blower and aeration blower professionals, including conference tracks, workshops devoted to pneumatic conveying and blower engineering and original equipment manufacturers on the EXPO floor.
The 105,000-square-foot Midland Plastics plant in New Berlin, WI, employs 100 people and manufactures a variety of custom plastic materials, including dashboard and door panels for the automotive industry, created with thermoforming. The plant has three thermoforming machines that operate nearly around the clock. Plastic comes in large sheets, which the plant heats and vacuums into a mold.
Different industries have differing levels of toxins and contaminants that need to be reduced before wastewater can be discharged. The company specializes in understanding those requirements and creating custom turbo blowers to customer specifications. Its leading industries are pulp and paper, poultry and food and beverage.
Automate 2025, showed attendees how to make their industrial plants more efficient with robotics. Throughout the conference, robotic arms shuttled packages, burgers and even macarons with speed and accuracy. Driving this new technology was a complex network of pneumatic cylinders and pick-and-place automation powered by pneumatic vacuum generation. Innovation makes these proven technologies more efficient than ever.
The wastewater treatment plant for the City of Lafayette, Colorado, is a Class B biosolids facility. It meets grid regulations for volatiles reduction with at least a 38% reduction, and has a solids retention time (SRT) of at least 15 days at 95°F (35°C). Class B biosolids can be used as fertilizer for livestock feed and other applications that don’t directly lead to food for human consumption.
