1. A Liquid Handling Equipment Watson-Marlow CERTA200 Pump Success Story
A customer in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina complained that he was having problems drumming silicone in a timely manner. Seeking a solution, he carefully explained the process as he demonstrated the application.
First there was a portable open-top tank that could be moved via a forklift around the plant. The tank held silicone with a viscosity of 100,000 centipoise. One end of a hose attached to a bottom fitting on the tank and the other end of the hose attached to a piston pump. After pumping, a filter housing helped to clean up any solids, followed by a hose with a wand that a technician used to drum 55-gallon drums. It inconveniently took eight plus hours to fill 10 drums, along with the fact that the product was “shear” sensitive, constantly causing concern about unwanted air bubbles.
Liquid Handling Equipment came to the rescue with the promise of improving the fill time without shearing or adding air bubbles to the end product in doing so. Our recommendation was to use a Watson-Marlow CERTA200 Pump that ran at a lower RPM. However, the most important feature of the CERTA200 Pump was the sinusoidal rotor that easily moved the product through the pump. The rotor provided almost zero pulsation while displacing a constant flow of product through the pump.
A “trial” pump was provided to ensure that the pump would successfully perform the high-viscose application. The flow rate was 6-8 GPM running at 420 RPM. The pump worked so well that another Watson-Marlow CERTA200 pump was purchased for a different application in the plant.
When the pump arrived, the customer built a pushcart, mounted the pump to it and installed a hopper on the suction side of the pump. The pump is pushed under the tank to let the product freely flow into the suction side of the pump.
Since installing this pump for drumming, the plant has reduced the fill time from plus eight excruciating hours to less than four! The customer is delighted with the improved efficiency of the application process, as well as enjoying a very gratifying return-on-investment.
The Liquid Handling Equipment promise is to provide solutions that streamline problematic applications for gratifying ROI! Give us a call so we can get to work for you!
2. A Liquid Handling Equipment Fiberglass Tank Success Story
In April of 2019, a customer in the coatings industry contacted Liquid Handling regarding a plant project in Canada. The plant was interested in installing two carbon steel storage tanks.
A Canadian manufacturer had already provided pricing for the requested carbon steel tanks. The customer was interested in other product / pricing options while maintaining the desired tank quality. After consultation, Liquid Handling Equipment was given the opportunity to quote two fiberglass tanks because fiberglass was the customer’s preferred choice.
Liquid Handling Equipment immediately contacted our supplier / manufacturer of FRP Tanks, Allen Industries (formerly dba Edwards FRP). Located in Sedalia, Missouri, Allen Industries referenced the specific tank requirements to begin the quote process. Within a week, Allen Industries submitted a formal quote for two vertical 14,000 gallon fiberglass tanks. The quote included two handrails, a ladder, a swing gate, as well as requested pricing for hydrotesting the two fiberglass tanks.
Drawings were then submitted to the customer for approval. The customer reviewed the drawings and with a few minor changes, approved them. With approved drawings in hand, Allen Industries began fabrication.
The entire process from drawing approvals to shipment took 14 weeks. Allen Industries efficiently coordinated the shipment and delivery of the two tanks to Canada.
The coatings manufacturer is extremely pleased with the custom engineered fiberglass tanks that met both his quality standards and pricing concerns. There is possible interest in more fiberglass tanks from the partnership of Liquid Handling Equipment and Allen Industries.
Please contact your regional Liquid Handling Equipment representative to learn more about the long-term advantages of fiberglass tanks.
3. A Liquid Handling Equipment Diaphragm Pump Success Story
A customer in eastern South Carolina was in need of a pump for Aluminum Chloride. The customer is a large manufacturer of specialty chemicals and was using centrifugal pumps for numerous aluminum chloride applications critical to their manufacturing process. This was a difficult application as it was aluminum chloride hydrate with hydrochloric acid at 210F and with fine suspended solids. They were using plastic centrifugal pumps and were experiencing mechanical seal and pump failures every few weeks due to temperature and solid concentration.
After looking at the application, it was recommended that a diaphragm pump be used as there would be no need for mechanical seal and suspended solids would not be an issue. The plant is a large user of air operated double diaphragm pumps and were primarily using a competitor’s pump. They were familiar with Yamada as we supplied a successful trial several years ago on another application. The benefit of Yamada over the customer’s previously used AODD pumps is in their air valve technology. The Yamada pump is completely non-lubricated and utilizes self-lubricating seal rings on the air valve along with non-lubricated pilot valves. The benefit of this design is it eliminates the need for an oiler which can lead to stalling issues over time. After discussing this with the customer, they agreed to do a 60 day trial for a Yamada 2” Kynar (PVDF) pump model # NDP-50BVG-C-XP-HT rated for high temperature. Kynar is rated for up to 248F and was recommended due to temperature and corrosive nature of the chemical. Gore backed Neoprene diaphragms were also supplied for temperature and abrasion resistance along with PTFE coated center body and hardware. Based on discharge pressure and air inlet supply pressure, the 2” pump would be capable of providing the required flow rate as well. After a 60 day trial period, Liquid Handling Equipment did an onsite evaluation of the pump at no charge to the customer. After evaluation, it was found that virtually no wear was incurred to the liquid or air end components and the pump was in like new condition.
After a successful trial period, the customer decided to move forward with Yamada. The pump has now been in service for over 7 months with no issues and has been a great success. With Yamada’s continued support and patented air valve technology, we were able to provide a cost effective solution for a difficult application. This along with Liquid Handling Equipment’s commitment to customer service and support has allowed us to build upon a strong relationship with a valued customer.
4. A Liquid Handling Equipment Filter Problems Success Story
A recent visit to an Ink Manufacturer proved to be well timed. The plant immediately asked for help with an annoying issue with its production runs. Its ink production runs constantly required stopping multiple times to change out cartridge lters due to plugging. The manufacturer’s ltering process was to use a 1 micron lter that ‑owed into a 0.5 micron lter, ending each run with a 0.2 micron lter. The problem lay with the 1 micron and 0.5 micron filters, requiring replacement at least three times during every production run.
StrainRite, a top-notch filter manufacturer Liquid Handling Equipment represents as a Master Distributor, was introduced to the ink manufacturer. Meeting with the customer to learn about product make up and ltering procedures for a variety of inks, Liquid Handling, along with the help of StrainRite, provided the ideal solution via the Madd-Maxx Cartridge Filter product line. This filter consists of 41 square feet of filter media in a Size 2 filter. The larger area of the lter optimizes element ‑ow rate.
StainRite filters and housings were provided to the plant on a trial basis for its most prodigious production run. The recommended lters successfully completed the production run without any downtime. The run was more time efcient than previous stop-and-start production runs. Even more impressive, a lab quality check found the ink product to be above the required benchmark set by the customer.
Needless to say, the manufacturer is extremely pleased, thanks to the superior StainRite filters. Liquid Handling Equipment’s association with StainRite ensures satisfactory solutions to challenging lter problems.
Contact your Liquid Handling Equipment representative to learn more about the StainRite product line to eliminate demanding filter problems.
5. A Liquid Handling Equipment HMD Kontro Sealless GT Pump Success Story
A fibers (Monofilament) manufacturer experienced ongoing issues with a Goulds 3196 mechanically-sealed pump employed for unloading chemicals from a tanker truck. There were repeated mechanical seal failures, along with the occasional annoying hassle of product leakage.
The cost of labor hours to rebuild the pump with a new mechanical seal, as well as the cost of the seal itself, was straining the plant’s maintenance budget. The customer was in urgent need of a solution with a guarantee of a reliable pump to eliminate downtime and to lower equipment and maintenance costs.
Once the application was explored and the challenges were established, Liquid Handling Equipment recommended the HMD Kontro Mag-Drive Sealless Pump as the indispensable solution. As a certified Master Sundyne Distributor of the Mag-Drive, Liquid Handling maintains HMD Kontro inventory at our facility in Charlotte, NC.
The customer provided the conditions of service in order to successfully replace the Goulds mechanically-sealed pump. As such, we were able to match the specifics of the existing problematic pump to the recommended HMD Kontro GT-model pump. The dependable GT employs the famous HMD Kontro sealless technology, completely eliminating the problem-ridden mechanical sealing.
When there is a seal failure, sealless technology ensures that there will be no product leakage. It also spares fluid-handling companies the expense and inconvenience of replacing mechanical seals.
Liquid Handling Equipment in partnership with the HMD Kontro representative tested the GT pump for proper sealing without leaks and to ensure discharge pressure was equal to that of the Goulds 3196 mechanically-sealed pump.
The HMD Kontro G18 pump is successfully performing without any issues to date. The GT sealless pump solved the plant’s safety concerns, reduced maintenance costs, and eliminated the need for seal support accessories. Most important, the plant’s maintenance budget now easily allows for other pressing plant issues to be more readily addressed.
Liquid Handling Equipment now has a customer with ongoing needs. Plant management is developing a program to replace all of its Mechanically-Sealed Pumps with the HMD Kontro Magnetically-Driven Pumps.
Give your local Liquid Handling Equipment representative a call to explore the reliability, long-term affordability, and overall convenience of an HMD Kontro Sealless GT Pump!