Chevron Lubricants, Portland, OR

Chevron’s lubricant plant in Portland, Oregon has installed a PULSAIR VTS-1/12 for Tank 188, an 11,000-gallon, cone bottom tank. This system is used to familiarize the operators with the PULSAIR system. PULSAIR sold the VTS as a training unit and in the anticipation that Chevron would purchase a PULSAIR PPC-20 system for the remaining production tanks. There is an existing sparge mixing system, pipes that blow air into the tank, in each tank. Often, sparge systems simplify PULSAIR installations, and Chevron, Portland was no exception. The installation required attaching the injection valve to the existing sparge pipe and installing one accumulator plate at the bottom of the cone. The pulse floats up through the drain/fill line and accumulates around the plate.

Having successful results with the VTS, Chevron purchased the PPC-20 later in 1998. The VTS controller is easily replaced by an EPI, which in turn connects to the PPC. Because the FT and VTS systems are easily converted to PPC, a single tank purchase is an excellent way to test and learn about PULSAIR, yet have the flexibility of converting to a system that manages the entire tank farm.