BELLEVUE, Wash. - Technology once used to brine salmon eggs for a Japanese culinary delicacy is now saving lube compounders and blenders worldwide big bucks in energy bills. Pulsair Systems Inc., a small company based here, has been custom designing and manufacturing compressed air operated pneumatic blending systems since 1983. Company president Dick Parks originally conceived of the system as a means of brining salmon eggs using air, rather than a mixture of metal, electricity and salt brine. Parks, a mechanical engineer, who at the time was working in building fish processing equipment, however, had some background in the oil industry.

Having heard that some companies use air to "roll" their tanks, Parks decided to ask a friend at Chevron about the process. "Well, he explained that at night they simply turned on their system and in the morning it was finished. Their system was just an airline into a tank. They had a 75 horse power compressor running continually to make enough air to supply the pipeline. This was very, very inefficient use of air," explains Parks.

So Parks talked his friend at Chevron into trying one of his compressed air operated blending systems in an effort to improve efficiency. "I designed the prototype and we installed it. Experience with the prototype enabled Chevron to predict when the blending of a batch would be completed," states Parks. About three years later in September 1983 when the system was installed at the Texaco lube facility in Seattle, Wash., "business began to take off," says Parks.

Today, Pulsair Systems have been installed in about 200 tanks, notes Parks. Pulsair, which has thus far been largely dependent on word of mouth, however, believes their time is coming. "We had a good year last year, and we're looking forward to a good one this year," asserts Parks. "We're in the Far East now. We're in France, Germany, England and South America."

In addition to the convenience of a single power source, this patented system offers several very basic advantages. "Well, for one thing, it's quicker," comments Parks. "We've had a case where people have actually doubled throughput in tanks in a day without adding any tanks. Texaco in Seattle went from blending time of 12 hours to 30 minutes. Most of our customers would say that when a tank is full the batch is ready." This is possible because with the Pulsair system blending begins while the tanks is still being filled. "You pump it all in there and start running the Pulsair as soon as the plates at the bottom are covered," explains Parks.

Product heating requirements have also been reduced with Pulsair systems. Some Pulsair users have been able to eliminate heating coils in their tanks altogether, comments Parks. These lower blending temperatures yield lower energy costs. Time is also saved on the packaging line because cool down periods are shorter, resulting in more effective production scheduling.

"There are no moving parts on the system," states Parks. According to one promotional piece the Pulsair system can run literally millions of consecutive cycles without appreciable wear, breakdown or supervision. Beyond periodic filter changes, the company estimates reliability at almost 100 million cycles, or 10 years of constant service at 20 pulses per minute. "All of which relate to saving money," asserts Parks.

How it Works

The system consists of a Pulsair controller, "accumulator plates" at the tank bottom and tubing connecting the two. The Pulsair controller regulates the amount of air, pressure and timing, depending on type of material, viscosity and temperature requirements.

The "accumulator plates" are circular steel discs mounted 1/4 inch above the bottom of the tank. Air released at the underside of the accumulator plate pushes heavier liquids out and away.

Then the air pulse quickly wraps itself around the accumulator plate as the heavier particles rush back to fill the void. This process also scrubs the tank bottom in the vicinity of the plates.

The bubble that forms is large, flat and oval-shaped, forming directly above the plate and displacing liquids above it as it rises to the surface, meanwhile pulling heavier bottom liquids up. Consecutively timed pulses create a vertical flow pattern mixing materials of different viscosities from top to bottom, rapidly involving the entire contents of the tank. Pulse size is dependent upon the size of the accumulator plate and the distance traveled. Pulses become larger as they reach the surface.

The Pulsair design is fairly simple, admits Parks, which makes it very versatile. The system can be designed for installment in any tank configuration. However, despite the simplicity of its energy efficient design, the Pulsair System still suffers from the mystique of a new idea in an old industry. "People have all the basic resistance to change," states Parks.

Marketing

Assisting Pulsair in expanding its markets will largely be the role of Jim Langley, Pulsair's newly hired director of marketing. Langley has long been involved in marketing and trading in the oil industry. He has held several notable positions such as senior government sales representative for Exxon International, vice president of Texaco Energy Reserve Corp., and senior vice president of Avant Petroleum. Langley will offer a more comprehensive approach.

"We're very confident about the new year," states Parks. "We think we've just begun to scratch the surface of the market. There are a whole lot more tanks out there that need to be rolled."

- By Heather Hydrick