“We were struggling to fabricate a fairly complicated plastic part. I had toured a manufacturing facility in Riverton, Wyoming, and remembered they did 3-D printing. I called my friend Kevin at Manufacturing Works to see if they could help with this part. They made a prototype that was beautiful the first try, then they researched to get the correct plastic resin that was durable and fire resistant.
Within two weeks, they were able to start producing our orders with a very professional-looking part and, best of all, at a reasonable price point. I cannot thank Manufacturing Works enough, and we are looking forward to growing our business with their help.”
Lewis Titus
CEO, Titus Wastewater Solutions
As a leader in the wastewater industry, TITUS Wastewater Solutions, Inc., of Casper, Wyoming, is committed to providing innovative, effective solutions for the wastewater industry. Their products are made in America, highly engineered, cost effective, and integrate the latest mixing and aeration technologies to address wastewater challenges such as F.O.G., odors, corrosion, ragging, sludge, and algae. An experienced team and network of distributors provides support, service, and solutions for wastewater projects.
Through comprehensive planning, engineering, construction and implementation, TITUS supplies customers and end users quality products and systems.
THE CHALLENGE
A few of TITUS’ wastewater aerator systems deployed across the USA were experiencing shorter life than designed. Upon gathering and analyzing the field data, the TITUS technical team determined that, under certain design and environmental conditions, the housing for the Cree—an enzyme necessary to the system’s functions, and part of a diverse enzyme family known as “flavin-dependent monooxygenases”—was not sufficient, allowing intermittent electrical shorting from the housing to the Cree that was, in turn, shortening the lifespan of the product.
In response, TITUS designed a double Cree insulator. While this resolved this situation and extended the life of their systems, the cost of machining these double Cree via subtractive manufacturing was expensive, outside of their internal expertise, and could require a secondary operation.
MEP CENTER’S ROLE
TITUS reached out to Manufacturing Works and, after discussing the field conditions, design requirements, and the double-insulated design for the Cree housing, Manufacturing Works and TITUS agreed to try 3-D printing and additive manufacturing to produce the double Cree.
Initial prototypes were printed using FDM machines at MakerSpace307 in Riverton, Wyoming. Once the form, fit and function were verified, the materials were optimized, and small pilot production runs were completed by MakerSpace307 and Pertech Industries Inc. (PII) in Riverton, Wyoming.
Once the first article was completed and approved by TITUS, PII commenced 3-D printing production quantities so TITUS could field upgrade and incorporate into new production systems.