Study Proves P.E. Savings of AODD Pump Controls
Air Operated Double Diaphragm Pump is common to several manufacturing facilities. As estimated by veteran compressed gas auditor Hank van Ormer of aviation USA, approximately 85 to 90 percent of plants within us have an AODD pump. they're used for all types of liquid transfer applications, like those found in chemical manufacturing, wastewater removal, and pumping viscous food products.
As ubiquitous as they're, AODD pumps also are commonly misused. Per van Ormer, “No air-operated equipment should run uncontrolled.” However, an honest number of producing facilities still run AODD pumps without controllers.
“The typical situation we see [with AODD pumps] is there's no controller attached,” explained Dr. David Goodman, Ph.D., C.E.A., Assistant Director of the Indiana Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) and professor at IUPUI. “The pump has internal controls that cause the diaphragms to slam back and forth continuously. [Factory personnel] then turn the air off once they don’t need the pump.”
Goodman and his colleagues at the IAC help small and mid-sized manufacturing companies become more competitive by saving on energy costs. They work with several second- and third-tier automotive facilities whose AODD pump applications include chemical cleaning and paint removal.
AODD pump has several advantages: they will handle aggressive chemical or physical product throughputs; they will run empty without catastrophic failure; and that they are often repaired quickly. However, uncontrolled AODD pumps are often absolute energy hogs, so Goodman and his team evaluated the viability of electronic controls for saving energy. In their study, they ran comprehensive pump tests using Antliaworks, an electronic controller manufactured by Proportion-Air, Inc.
Presented by Goodman at the planet Energy Engineering Conference (WEEC) 2015, the study tested four different AODD pumps — running them with and without an electronic controller. The results were promising and showed a possible reduction in compressed gas consumption of 20 to 50 percent when the Antliaworks was applied to an unregulated AODD pump.
To learn more about the project, compressed gas Best Practices® Magazine spoke with Dr. Goodman of the Indiana IAC, alongside Jon Lister, engineer, and Larry Brown, Sales Manager, from Proportion-Air, Inc. We also spoke with Hank van Ormer, President of aviation USA, to urge insight on the real-life application of Antliaworks electronic controllers on AODD pumps.
Compressed Air Logic: Air-Operated Double Diaphragm Pumps
Air-operated double diaphragm pumps use compressed gas pressure to get diaphragm force and move a liquid medium. the 2 diaphragms operate in parallel oscillation — together diaphragm is pushed by compressed gas far away from the middle section, it forces liquid out of the pump. At an equivalent time, the opposite diaphragm moves toward the middle, creating a low-pressure zone and pulling liquid into the vacated chamber with air pressure . Once the pressurized diaphragm is fully extended, it activates a poppet. The poppet then triggers the inlet air valve to direct incoming compressed gas to the suction-side of the diaphragm pump, reversing the entire process. compressed gas is wasted during the transition between diaphragms.
Figure 1: On a typical AODD pump, compressed gas pushes the diaphragm (blue), which then forces the liquid up and out of the chamber (bypassing a ball valve). Image courtesy of Graco.
“Whenever the compressed gas fills all the way in one among the diaphragms, the valve switches the air so it goes into the other diaphragm,” Jon Lister, an engineer at Proportion-Air, explained. “But, while it's switching, it's constantly blowing out compressed gas. In some cases, a particular amount of compressed gas goes straight through the pump and out the exhaust. That’s obviously pretty bad for shop air and for the people paying the facility bills.”
Each full extension of a diaphragm is named a press stroke. The speed of the strokes impacts what proportion of compressed gas flow (in cfm) the AODD pump consumes. They typically run at 85 to 95 psi, counting on the appliance. The more viscous a cloth is, the upper the pressure needed to push the diaphragm and move the medium. the upper the pressure, the slower the stroke frequency.
Adapting to AODD Pump Process Changes
The Antliaworks is programmed to a selected model of the AODD pump. Therefore, it can adapt to outside influences, because it understands how the pump operates. Its microprocessor monitors how quickly the pump strokes, and what pressure is required for every stroke. It can then adapt to process changes.
“If you were unloading a rail car of fluid, pumping it to holding tanks on the primary floor of your factory, and you've got to shift the valve and send it up 20 feet to the second floor, it requires more energy to maneuver the fluid,” Larry Brown, Sales Manager, Proportion-Air, said. “You have 20 feet more head pressure. Antliaworks sees that and holds the valve open a touch longer, allowing a much bigger slug of air to travel into that diaphragm cavity in order that you continue to have similar throughput.”
Fluids with differing viscosities could also affect head pressure. The Antliaworks controller adjusts thereto sort of process change also.
“The neat part about the Antliaworks is it’s a microprocessor, so if the viscosity changes it automatically resets itself,” Hank van Ormer explained. “The biggest opportunity in savings is lighter weights — in other words, with water and similar liquids, because your stroke speeds are higher. Therefore, your air usage (cfm) is higher. If you've got a pump with a reasonably high head and low strokes per minute, then there’s not getting to have a really high demand.”
Air Operated Double Diaphragm Pump is common to several manufacturing facilities. As estimated by veteran compressed gas auditor Hank van Ormer of aviation USA, approximately 85 to 90 percent of plants within us have an AODD pump. they're used for all types of liquid transfer applications, like those found in chemical manufacturing, wastewater removal, and pumping viscous food products.
As ubiquitous as they're, AODD pumps also are commonly misused. Per van Ormer, “No air-operated equipment should run uncontrolled.” However, an honest number of producing facilities still run AODD pumps without controllers.
“The typical situation we see [with AODD pumps] is there's no controller attached,” explained Dr. David Goodman, Ph.D., C.E.A., Assistant Director of the Indiana Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) and professor at IUPUI. “The pump has internal controls that cause the diaphragms to slam back and forth continuously. [Factory personnel] then turn the air off once they don’t need the pump.”
Goodman and his colleagues at the IAC help small and mid-sized manufacturing companies become more competitive by saving on energy costs. They work with several second- and third-tier automotive facilities whose AODD pump applications include chemical cleaning and paint removal.
AODD pump has several advantages: they will handle aggressive chemical or physical product throughputs; they will run empty without catastrophic failure; and that they are often repaired quickly. However, uncontrolled AODD pumps are often absolute energy hogs, so Goodman and his team evaluated the viability of electronic controls for saving energy. In their study, they ran comprehensive pump tests using Antliaworks, an electronic controller manufactured by Proportion-Air, Inc.
Presented by Goodman at the planet Energy Engineering Conference (WEEC) 2015, the study tested four different AODD pumps — running them with and without an electronic controller. The results were promising and showed a possible reduction in compressed gas consumption of 20 to 50 percent when the Antliaworks was applied to an unregulated AODD pump.
To learn more about the project, compressed gas Best Practices® Magazine spoke with Dr. Goodman of the Indiana IAC, alongside Jon Lister, engineer, and Larry Brown, Sales Manager, from Proportion-Air, Inc. We also spoke with Hank van Ormer, President of aviation USA, to urge insight on the real-life application of Antliaworks electronic controllers on AODD pumps.
Compressed Air Logic: Air-Operated Double Diaphragm Pumps
Air-operated double diaphragm pumps use compressed gas pressure to get diaphragm force and move a liquid medium. the 2 diaphragms operate in parallel oscillation — together diaphragm is pushed by compressed gas far away from the middle section, it forces liquid out of the pump. At an equivalent time, the opposite diaphragm moves toward the middle, creating a low-pressure zone and pulling liquid into the vacated chamber with air pressure . Once the pressurized diaphragm is fully extended, it activates a poppet. The poppet then triggers the inlet air valve to direct incoming compressed gas to the suction-side of the diaphragm pump, reversing the entire process. compressed gas is wasted during the transition between diaphragms.
Figure 1: On a typical AODD pump, compressed gas pushes the diaphragm (blue), which then forces the liquid up and out of the chamber (bypassing a ball valve). Image courtesy of Graco.
“Whenever the compressed gas fills all the way in one among the diaphragms, the valve switches the air so it goes into the other diaphragm,” Jon Lister, an engineer at Proportion-Air, explained. “But, while it's switching, it's constantly blowing out compressed gas. In some cases, a particular amount of compressed gas goes straight through the pump and out the exhaust. That’s obviously pretty bad for shop air and for the people paying the facility bills.”
Each full extension of a diaphragm is named a press stroke. The speed of the strokes impacts what proportion of compressed gas flow (in cfm) the AODD pump consumes. They typically run at 85 to 95 psi, counting on the appliance. The more viscous a cloth is, the upper the pressure needed to push the diaphragm and move the medium. the upper the pressure, the slower the stroke frequency.
Adapting to AODD Pump Process Changes
The Antliaworks is programmed to a selected model of the AODD pump. Therefore, it can adapt to outside influences, because it understands how the pump operates. Its microprocessor monitors how quickly the pump strokes, and what pressure is required for every stroke. It can then adapt to process changes.
“If you were unloading a rail car of fluid, pumping it to holding tanks on the primary floor of your factory, and you've got to shift the valve and send it up 20 feet to the second floor, it requires more energy to maneuver the fluid,” Larry Brown, Sales Manager, Proportion-Air, said. “You have 20 feet more head pressure. Antliaworks sees that and holds the valve open a touch longer, allowing a much bigger slug of air to travel into that diaphragm cavity in order that you continue to have similar throughput.”
Fluids with differing viscosities could also affect head pressure. The Antliaworks controller adjusts thereto sort of process change also.
“The neat part about the Antliaworks is it’s a microprocessor, so if the viscosity changes it automatically resets itself,” Hank van Ormer explained. “The biggest opportunity in savings is lighter weights — in other words, with water and similar liquids, because your stroke speeds are higher. Therefore, your air usage (cfm) is higher. If you've got a pump with a reasonably high head and low strokes per minute, then there’s not getting to have a really high demand.”
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