Conveying a message of teamwork gets the job done right!

Antwerp, Belgium – September 23, 2015: A pneumatic conveying project proposed some interesting challenges that required the teamwork of Atlas Copco Rental North America Sales and Operations to develop a solutions strategy, as well as an effective execution of the project.

23 sep 2015

Two of our customers were working on an EPA compliant hydraulic fracturing project in the Marcellus Shale gas deposit located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The project required reduced emissions due to the close proximity of the airport, and thus had a requirement of utilizing the 2015 Tier-4 Final emissions standard. The compressed air application involved pneumatically unloading and conveying hydraulic fracking sand material, from up to (6) transport trucks at one time, over to the drill rig site’s storage silos.

The pneumatic conveying process requires very large volumes of clean oil-free air and a low pressure level requirement. Knowing that this would be a unique application Jeff Wykle, Area sales manager for the territory, worked diligently with our customer’s people to review all the technical and environmental requirement details of the project and discussed it with Joel Pickering, Regional customer center manager.

To overcome emissions concerns, the low operating pressure conditions and offer a reliable system with some additional capacity / redundancy, Jeff and Joel proposed to the customer (2) trains of identical equipment consisting of (1) PTSE 1600, (1) 1,000 Gallon receiver tank, (1) Pressure reducing valve, (1) 20’ Manifold and (7) 3” x 50’ hoses to tie everything together. The electric driven compressors would negate the emissions concerns and operate at a normal pressure setting to deliver 120psi air to the storage receiver tank. The compressed air would then exit the tank and go through the pressure reducing valve to be lowered to 8psi, and proceed to a connected manifold so it could be finally distributed to several awaiting transport trucks for the unloading process.

The set-up was performed flawlessly by Jason Nemeth, field service technician, who brought the project full circle and got the designed system up and running to meet the customer’s expectations.

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Atlas Copco is a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions. The Group serves customers with innovative compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction and mining equipment, power tools and assembly systems. Atlas Copco develops products and service focused on productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergonomics. The company was founded in 1873, is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and has a global reach spanning more than 180 countries. In 2015, Atlas Copco had revenues of BSEK 102 (BEUR 11) and more than 43 000 employees.

Specialty Rental is a division within Atlas Copco’s Construction Technique business area. It serves customers in the industry segments around the world with temporary air, nitrogen, steam and power rental solutions. The specialty rental services are offered under several brands. The divisional headquarters is located in Houston, USA.