Many customers are becoming energy conscious and are reviewing existing production equipment to look for ways to save energy. One major item of consideration is the cost of compressed air. For fluid transfer requirements, many customers will use an Air Operated Diaphragm pump.
For a typical 2" AOD pump to transfer 50 GPM of light weight fluid with a discharge pressure requirement of between 40 to 50 psi and an inlet air pressure of 70 psi, it will require approximately 50 cfm of air (this converts to approximately 12 BHP). If the fluid is viscous and has a higher discharge pressure requirement, the inlet air pressure for the AOD pump can increase to 100+ psi and will require 25 percent+ more flow.
This was evidenced by my customer, RUSTOLEUM in Decatur GA who manufactures coatings. They were using a 3” AOD pump to transfer a viscous 1500 cps, high particulate metallic coating that is very abrasive. The AOD pump had an inlet air pressure of 120 psi and a discharge pressure of approximately 30 psi which resulted in a discharge flow of 40 GPM. The required cfm of air was approximately 60 cfm (15 BHP).
Due to the pulsation seen on piping and valves, they were also using a BLACOH 2” pulsation dampener. Because of the abrasive nature of fluid, the AOD pump required service with new wetted parts every 3 to 4 weeks which was totaling around $500 per repair.
The customer wanted to expand production with a required flow of 60 GPM and would need two 2” AOD pumps to accomplish this, which would be around 50 to 60 cfm for 30 GPM @ 120 psi (converts to 15BHP).
In an effort to reduce both the maintenance costs as well as the energy costs, a VIKING LS4124A 3” internal gear, positive displacement pump was supplied. We c-face mounted the pump to a speed reducer and drove the package with a Premium Efficiency 7.5hp 1750 rpm motor. The pump is typically supplied with carbon graphite bushings but we replaced those with hardened iron bushings; and we also converted the pump from a mechanical seal to packing, expecting a short seal life due to the abrasive nature of the fluid.
The Viking LS4124A pump is supplying a transfer rate of 65 GPM and is seeing reduced parts replacement. The transfer rate was reduced by almost 30% using the Viking PD pump compared with the AOD pumps. And the power requirement was reduced by 50 percent.
Based on this improved performance, Rustoleum has now converted their West Virginia plant from AOD pumps to VIKING positive displacement pumps for this same sand based, high viscous fluid.
RUSTOLEUM still uses various AOD pumps for their light weight water based fluids.
A few months ago I was in south Georgia with our salesman Chris Carlisle and we were visiting a bio fuel transfer facility.
Essentially, this facility unloads bio fuels from tankers and stores the fuel until it is loaded into another tanker for distribution.
This facility was having some challenges with a Viking Q4124A, which is a 4” Universal Series pump, which they had purchased from another distributor out west thru their home office. Basically, they were not seeing the flow they expected thru the pump, so it was taking longer to unload the tankers.
Upon our visit we looked over their system and they informed us it was exactly like their facility on the west coast, which was running with no problems and getting the exact flow they needed. However, we soon discovered that this was not the case.
For this facility they tried to save some money and instead of using 4” piping they went with 3” pipe. For those of you unfamiliar with basic pumping principles this means they were starving their pump.
When a Viking Internal Gear pump is sized for an application it expects to see a certain volume of liquid entering the pump at any given time. The principle of positive displacement pumps, in laymen’s terms if you will, is if you get it to one side the pump will move it to the other side.
For this application the Viking Q4124A pump was looking for a volume of liquid that would flow thru the 4” pipe and that volume wasn’t there. Subsequently, the output flow would not be the 300 GPM that the customer was looking for.
Now in the interest of full disclosure, there were also some issues with the length of pipe between the tanker and the pump, the number of 90 degree elbows, various other changes in elevation but the main issue was their system starving the pump.
We then made three recommendations. First they could come back and replace all their piping with the proper 4” size pipe. Or they could purchase a 3” Viking pump which would still provide less flow (200gpm vs 300gpm) than what their west coast facility was getting but would eliminate starving their pump as a system issue. Or they could accept what they have and continue to operate as they were doing.
This specific issue of starvation is why it is important to have efficient communication between everyone in designing any pumping system. The Viking Q4124A pump was perfect for the application on the West Coast but due to some simple design changes the desired flow rate was effected and the facility was not able to meet their transfer time requirements.
Long life is no accident. It is a result of healthy life practices and good care. The same rule applies to life of an air compressor. Good care and maintenance have a direct bearing on the length of trouble free service an air compressor can provide a customer.
Recommended maintenance intervals for an air compressor are calculations of the useful life of the oil, separator element, air filter and oil filter. These calculations are based on the air compressor running in an environment where a clean, cool and dry supply of air is available.
When the air compressor is running in an environment that is dusty or hot, or there are other considerations such as chemical vapors that shorten the life of oil, separator elements, air filters and oil filters; then the maintenance hours should be adjusted so that maintenance is performed according to the actual operating conditions. Then the life of an air compressor can be lengthened.
Air compressors that have the Gardner-Denver ES+ or AirSmart controllers have the recommended maintenance intervals set for normal conditions.
For air compressors running where dust, hot air and chemical vapors are present or other conditions exist, the maintenance hours in these controllers should be adjusted accordingly. By shortening maintenance hours we can lengthen the dependable life of your air compressor and decrease down time.
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In the world of diesel engines DEF defines the latest in reducing harmful exhaust emissions. DEF is an acronym for Diesel Exhaust Fluid, an important component that minimizes nitrogen oxides (NOx) in a technology called Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). DEF itself is a carefully blended aqueous urea solution of 32.5 percent high purity urea and 67.5 deionized water.
Small quantities of DEF, are injected into the diesel exhaust upstream of a catalytic converter where it vaporizes and decomposes to form ammonia and carbon dioxide. The catalyst them converts the nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen (N2) and water (H2O).
For industries that maintain fleets of diesel powered trucks and equipment with these systems, Finish Thompson (FTI) has just the pump to transfer DEF supplied to them in drums or totes to the truck holding tank. Finish Thompson DEF drum pumps are designed for years of reliable service while maintaining the strict purity requirements of DEF. The system, sold as a kit, includes a polypropylene pump tube to match the container size, your choice of motor (air or electric), a sealed bung adapter, eight feet of DEF dispensing hose and a stainless steel automatic shutoff nozzle. FTI also sells these components separately.
Separate kits are available with tube sizes for a five gallon bucket up to a 330 gallon tote. A choice of two pumps are available: an economical 5 GPM (EFP Series) or a high performance 10 GPM (PFM Series) version. The dispensing hose is made of EPDM elastomer and is peroxide cured and flushed with deionized water. The 19 mm shutoff nozzle is specifically designed for the on-board storage tank on the engine.
To sum it up a Finish Thompson drum pump is the most ‘def’ for DEF!
It is our hope that you will find these blog posts informative and relevant to helping you select, apply, and maintain the equipment your business needs.
Since 1936 Pye-Barker Supply Company has been serving all sorts of industries here in the great state of Georgia and we are looking forward to continuing to serve you for many years to come.
While we started as a mill supply house providing nuts, bolts, band-saw blades, paint and soap, etc. Pye-Barker has grown into the leading supplier of Pumps, Air Compressors, and Blowers in the state.
We pride ourselves on carrying only the top tier vendors in each category, something Jack Welch of GE fame was fond of espousing ("If you aren't going to be number one or two in your category then get out").
Not only do we represent the very best manufacturers in the industry but we have factory trained service personnel to support those products. Our service technicians are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help make sure your business is running smoothly and efficiently with minimum downtime.
So take a look around our website. Be sure to follow our blog. And let us know how we can help you and your business become a profitable success.
Sincerely,
Eric Lunsford
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
