Ecofriendly amphibious
pumps
Brazilian pump pioneer HIGRA delivers unique amphibious pumping solutions offering high efficiency and robustness with low environmental impact.
A year ago, in April 2024, southern Brazil, particularly the State of Rio Grande do Sul, experienced devastating floods due to torrential rain that lasted several days. Considered as the worst natural disaster in the region's history, the 420-mm downpour caused 180 fatalities and widespread destruction, including landslides and a dam collapse. Cities were devastated, entire neighborhoods went under water, thousands of people became homeless.
About Higra
The company was founded 25 years ago in Southern Brazil, by industrial hydraulic engineer Silvino Geremia, with the concept of producing high efficiency, robust and low environmental impact pumping solutions. “HIGRA” stands for Hydrotechnical Geremia, the brand carrying the founder’s family name. Today, HIGRA employs 110 people spread across Brazil and is represented in 14 countries by partners and distributors in Latin America, Europe, Africa and Oceania. HIGRA serves about 200 active customers worldwide, generating a turnover of around 100 million BRL.
We have interviewed Lucas Bordigon, Electrical Engineer, about the company and its solutions.
How do your pumps work and what makes them unique?
Lucas Bordigon: Our amphibious pumps have a unique design which enables them to work both submerged and out of water, in any position or installation, even in extremely harsh environments like open pit mines. Pumped fluid is admitted by a flanged axial suction, passing through a centrifugal impeller where its entire volume moves alongside a submersible electric motor, ensuring excellent thermal exchange and noise absorption.
What other products do you offer?
With the same proven versatility and robustness as the pumps, our turbogenerators present closely the same structure, the main difference is the electric device, a generator instead of a motor and a turbine instead of an impeller. They are suitable for harnessing hydraulic potential for hydroelectric generation and renewable energy. Their electric power generator is submersible and directly water-cooled, resulting in excellent thermal and efficiency conditions.
Our aerators and mixers for effluent treatment are designed to fulfill the aeration market’s needs. The use of a submersible motor offers advantages such as low noise level, excellent oxygenation, and a wide mixture zone, saving significant energy compared to conventional equipment.
Water pumps and turbines have existed for over a century in hydroelectricity. In what ways are your solutions innovative?
Amphibiousness is the main innovative feature in HIGRA technology. The same equipment operating submerged or out of water is interesting in several aspects.
In addition to ensuring excellent thermal exchange and low noise emissions, it is a characteristic that makes the product extremely versatile. For example, if the equipment is working in a raw water pump station and it becomes flooded, there is no problem at all. In a hydro power plant project for example, there is no need any more for a major civil structure to accommodate conventional dry generators. This does not only reduce the overall costs but also environmental damage.
You are active in some very polluting markets (irrigation, industry, mining…), but the environment is central to your DNA. In what way your solutions contribute to preserving the environment?
By developing innovative and disruptive technologies for moving fluids, we seek to recover or save energy wasted throughout the water cycle. Sustainability and robustness walk side by side in every HIGRA product. Our pumps and turbogenerators are designed to achieve efficiencies up to 90%, directly impacting energy consumption and gas emissions and generate clean energy. The unique design delivers high hydropower efficiency, robustness, low noise emission and versatility due to easy and simple installation and intervention.
The amphibious technology is lubricated using water, so it doesn’t use lubricants, oils, or greases, providing an oil-free solution.
HIGRA technology enables to reduce environmental damage. The ease and simplicity of installation and handling require minimum investment in infrastructure, significantly reducing the environmental impact and the total cost of civil works.
Moreover, our products are built with 100% recyclable materials.
Who are your customers?
Most of our customers are from the segments of hydropower plants, mining and steel industry, water and sewage treatment, irrigation and agriculture.
Have you received innovation or tech awards?
FENASAN is the biggest sanitation and environment event in Latin America and HIGRA has already received several Technological Innovation Awards for Amphibious pump design and for the UCHA concept (UCHA means Compact Amphibious Hydrogeneration Power Plant).
What makes you especially proud of your company today?
Contributing to a better future by preserving the environment, manufacturing and promoting innovative equipment with reduced environmental impact and generating clean energy.
Pumps and turbogenerators can be equipped with several sensors for condition monitoring. Since early 2023, HIGRA has been using W Series LEMO Solutions, enabling quick and easy connections inside the equipment. Most importantly, they ensure perfectly watertight connections up to 30 bars in harsh environments, which is exactly what HIGRA was looking for.
Learn more about LEMO W Series for Underwater solutions
