파나마운하 확장프로그램(Panama Canal Expansion Program, PCEP)은 세계적인 수처리 기술 기업인 자일럼(Xylem)이 현재 진행하고 있는 프로젝트로 2016년까지 운하의 용량을 두 배로 늘릴 수 있는 대형 탈수 펌프의 설치가 있다. 이는 이전 시운전 시스템에 대한 성능 실험의 일환으로 17억 갤런의 물을 이용해 태평양 부문 유역의 third set를 채우기 위함이다.

파나마 운하 확장 프로그램은 2016년 2분기에 완료될 예정으로 새로운 차선을 만들고, 대서양과 태평양에 각각 두 개의 새로운 lock complexes를 건립할 방침이다. 이는파나맥스(Panamax) 선박의 통행이 허락된 곳이다.

The Panama Canal Expansion Program (PCEP), a project currently underway to double the capacity of the canal by 2016, is receiving heavy-duty dewatering pumps from Xylem Inc., a global water technology company, to fill the third set of basin locks on the Pacific Ocean sector with 1.7 billion gallons of water, as part of performance trials for the system prior to its commissioning.

The PCEP is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2016. It creates a new traffic lane and builds two new lock complexes -- one on the Atlantic Ocean and the other on the Pacific Ocean -- allowing for the passage of New Panamax ships. 

To support the dewatering project, Xylem installed 15 Godwin diesel-driven pumps, deployed from the United States. In June, these pumps transported up to 122 million gallons of water per day (MGD) from the Miraflores Lake to fill the third set of locks on the Pacific. Over a period of 22 days, the project consisted of pumping enough water to fill 90,000 average sized swimming pools.

Xylem is providing turnkey services and equipment for the project, with its highly-skilled engineers designing and installing the system, which also includes 13,500 feet (more than 2.5 miles) of 18-inch high-density polyethylene pipeline (HDPE) to transfer the massive amounts of water. Xylem is also supervising the performance of the 15 Godwin pumps with its remote pump monitoring system called Field Smart Technology.

The third set of basin locks includes reuse basins that will save water and also improve the Panama Canal's efficiency, using 7 percent less water compared with the amount currently used by the existing locks. In addition, in each transit operation, 60 percent of the water will be recycled.

This is the second project that the Authority of the Panama Canal (ACP) has awarded to Xylem under the program. Earlier this year, the company supplied 64 Flygt mixers to prevent the formation of corrosive deposits on the rolling gates during installation.

[출처 = Water World / 2015년 7월 29일]