|
PRO-TEC Pump Consultants -- P.O. Box 474
-- Pinch, WV 25156 May 22, 1995 Alan Roth Dear Dr. Roth: This letter is to describe the very positive results that I have had with
MILITEC-1 in pumps. Specifically, these are end-case, centrifugal ANSI pumps
made by Duriron Pump Co. handling 30 gal./min. at 60 ft. TDH (total discharge
head) pumping 20% caustic at ambient temperature. I learned about the product
from a distributor of yours who was selling MILITEC-1 to my company (one of the
top ten chemical companies in the U.S.). Before I retired from there 2 years
ago, I was a Maintenance Supervisor and an important part of my responsibility
was pump reliability. The plant at which I worked produces agricultural
chemicals. My company thought enough of my capability in pump reliability to
send me to other plants to train their operators, mechanics and engineers. We had a long history of pump failures, averaging almost one per day among
our 120 centrifugal pumps. We would pull a pump when we found a seal failure
which was due in a lot of the cases to a bearing failure. If the bearings are
well lubricated, they can last many, many years. Unfortunately, water and dirt
make their way into the oil which causes failure. Good pump life will normally
be 4-5 years, normal pump life might be 1-2 years and poor pump life only 1-2
months. About 1 1/2 years before my retirement, I developed an innovative seal
flush design and made some other changes to our pump maintenance that helped to
reduce the number of failures. At that time, the pumps were about 20 years old
and we overhauled them; adding MILITEC-1 before putting them back in service. We
found an old oven and baked the bearings and shafts at 130oF with a
film of MILITEC-1 on them. Then we installed the parts, added oil and 3%
MILITEC-1. While it is difficult to estimate how much improvement was due to MILITEC-1
versus the other changes, I would guess that MILITEC-1 was responsible for about
half our success. We went from about 20 failures per month to about one a month
for 1 1/2 years, and when I visited the plant recently after a 2-year absence, I
learned that the failure rate has not changed. The other pump improvements were
not foolproof so MILITEC-1 adds that extra protection when conditions change.
There are so many variables that can affect the pump. MILITEC-1 provides a
margin for error and off-spec conditions. One very clear result of MILITEC-1 in these pumps is the reduction of
temperature. On my recent visit to the plant, we were looking at the seal design
and just happened to measure the bearing housing temperature with a Ranger PM
Digital Thermometer Model RAYRPM 2EMLS with a laser pointer. We found the
temperature to be 94oF with the ambient temperature at
79oF. This was very impressive as the load was 30 gal./min. and I
would expect the temperature to normally be at around 140oF to
150oF. On subsequent days, I learned the housing temperature one day
was 92oF with the ambient temperature at 81oF and another day was
79oF with the ambient temperature at 68oF. This
differential of 11 degrees rather than 45 to 55 degrees means much less bearing
wear. A general engineering rule of thumb is that every 18 degree temperature
rise doubles the wear. Just on temperature alone, MILITEC-1 more than doubles
the life of the bearings. I experienced MILITEC-1 even more dramatically when I used it in my current
business training people to get more out of their pumps. During training
sessions I would drain the oil out of a pump and run it for hours to show that
with MILITEC-1 an oil loss does not adversely affect the pump (nor even allow
the bearings to heat up). Many of the trainees were skeptical and thought I had
grease on the bearings or had a hidden oil system still operating. I decided to
remove a 90o slice from the housing to expose both the shaft and the
two bearings. Instead of just draining the oil, I let the bearings dry so that
there was not even a film of oil remaining. I tested the pump at home and ran it
like this for 8 hours under full load (40 gal./min) with no problem. I then took
it to an expo where I demonstrated the pump operating absolutely dry for 2 days,
8 hours each day, again under full load. By the way, the bearing temperature was
only 101oF at the end of each 8-hour period. This demonstration helps
me sell my services as people can see that my training will make a big
difference for them. I should make it clear that I am not in the business of selling MILITEC-1.
When my trainees ask where they can get the product, I give them a telephone
number to call. I don't make any money from this. I am satisfied that MILITEC-1
helps me so much in my service business. I have learned to really appreciate
your product with the experiences I have described above. Sincerely yours, Mike Davis |