PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES PUMPING SOLUTIONS
KECOL
If It Ain ’ t Broke - Just Improve It !
When something has worked for many years it is often the tendency to allow it to continue i . e . if it ain ’ t broke don ’ t fix it . Until recently this was the case for a company when it came to maintaining the levels of coating material in the trough of wallpaper coating machines . However , the company also realised that the manual filling and topping up of the trough meant two operators were required to keep the machine running and the management decided to investigate how this could be improved .
The company contacted Kecol , explained the problem and their requirements , at which point a site meeting was arranged to enable Kecol Engineers to evaluate the project and consider potential solutions .
The application was quite straight forward , coating level within the trough feeding the coating machine must be maintained . The coating was a relatively low viscosity material from Kecol ’ s perspective and pumping it from the drums was not an issue , however , the pump had to be mobile and easily cleaned . It was decided to create a bracket to attach to the drums , which would support the pump . An ultrasonic sensor was selected to control a solenoid valve within the air supply line to the pump .
Following trials at Kecol the pump , sensor and manifold were installed at the customer ’ s premises by Kecol Engineers . The system worked well and enabled one operator to run the machine rather than the two operators previously required .
The management and operators were very pleased with the system and they are now considering further systems on other coating machines .
A video of the installation is available at https :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v = FaIkRcAjl5w
Kecol Pumping Systems Ltd Faraday Drive Bridgnorth Shropshire WV15 5BJ sales @ kecol . co . uk 01746 764311
For further information , please visit www . kecol . co . uk
90 PECM Issue 50