Pump provides clean-up act

For nearly three decades Pro Chem has been producing commercial detergents, degreasers and custom cleaning products for car washes and pressure washers.

The company produces around 30 product lines – such as Grease Away – and each line involves different formulations with varying properties, viscosities and hazard risks.

Production involves blending, batching and packaging the products quickly enough to meet customer demand, while maintaining product quality and avoiding risk of leakage or worker injury.

Making the cleaners, involves formulating hundreds of combinations of ingredients, such as solvents, surfactants, thickeners, additives and fragrances.

Raw materials are combined in underground blending tanks, which hold 3,000 gallons, pumped into bulk tanks, which can hold up to 18,000 gallons, and then transferred to batch tanks.

From there, the product is pumped into large commercial dispensers or into individual packages, like gallon jugs.

However, outdated processing equipment limited the plant’s performance and profitability.

When Greg and Jaimie Blanchard took over the company in 2014 and decided to install new processing equipment and technology, they turned to Ingersoll Rand and its ARO brand for a pumping solution that could meet the high demands of a plant that produces dozens of hazardous and non-hazardous soaps, detergents and degreasers.

The proposed solution included replacing an outdated manual pumping system with an ARO EXP Series Air- Operated Diaphragm Pump and closedloop controller.

Prior to the improvements, the plant was relying on a subpar manual pumping system, which made filling tanks time consuming, inefficient and required constant operator attention.

Pro Chem replaced the manual pumping system with a new 1-1/2-inch ARO EXP Series Metallic Air-Operated Diaphragm Pump and closed-loop controller.

The company now has a fully automated system for batching and tank filling.

The controller’s remote operating capabilities provide a user-friendly touch-and-go system that allows operators to perform other tasks while the tanks are filling.

The owners say that this has significantly increased processing productivity.

“The new setup has cut down our pumping and bottling time tremendously,” says co-owner Greg Blanchard.

In fact, it has reduced the time to pump product from the blending tank to bulk tanks from several hours to less than an hour, and bulk tank to batch from 45 minutes to 13 minutes.

“Previously the operators had to eyeball the tanks to see if they were full - now they can set it to 55 gallons, for example, and it dispenses just the right amount into the tank,” adds Blanchard.

The new pumping system also controls the pressure, increasing efficiency and diminishing foaming, which was a problem in the old system.

The plant’s operators agree that the controller’s remote feature increases their ability to do more tasks as they no longer have to watch the tanks.

If the controller senses a problem in pressure or process, it sounds an alarm.

Other improvements also include wider piping and a manifold connected to the pumping system, enabling easy flow management between multiple tanks.

ARO experts worked closely with Pro Chem to configure and install just the right pump and control system to meet the company’s needs.

The new setup, with smoother pumping and wider piping, also prevents foaming, which was problematic with the old equipment.

“We’re extremely pleased with the results - and we’re prepared to grow in the coming years,” says Blanchard