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    1. Equipment
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    Blackmer pump technologies reduce scale-to-scale time at 3 Rivers Terminal

    March 1, 2009
    Since founding the 3 Rivers Terminal in Joliet IL in the early 1990s as a for-hire hydrogen peroxide storage-and-distribution facility, Seeler Industries

    Since founding the 3 Rivers Terminal in Joliet IL in the early 1990s as a for-hire hydrogen peroxide storage-and-distribution facility, Seeler Industries has followed a course of steady expansion for the 100-acre site.

    That expansion has resulted in a current setup that includes a diverse product mix of caustics, amines, glycerin propylene, glycol, and chemical de-icers. This is in addition to the original hydrogen peroxide, 17 storage tanks, 15 blend tanks, 42 railcar-unloading positions, seven truck-loading racks, and more than 650,000 gallons of storage capacity.

    Hand-in-hand with the facility's growing product offering, storage capacity, and customer base, is an increasing reliance on pumping technologies offered by Blackmer, Grand Rapids MI. Seeler was introduced to Blackmer pumps though its long-time relationship with Semler Industries, Franklin Park IL, which has been distributing Blackmer products for more than 50 years. When Glenn Gibisch, 3 Rivers' executive vice president and chief operating officer, brought his knowledge of Blackmer pumps to the facility 15 years ago, the relationship was sealed.

    “We like these pumps because they move product at a very safe rate of 200 to 250 gallons per minute, they clear the lines for us when we're done unloading trucks or ISO containers, they have a wide viscosity range at many different temperatures, and they are very easy to maintain,” said Gibisch.

    While 3 Rivers incorporates several types of Blackmer pump technologies into its setup, the most prominent is Blackmer's patented sliding-vane technology. In fact, several STX and SNP Series are online at the 3 Rivers Terminal, offering the operational-efficiency advantages that Seeler insists on for its terminal operations, while also proving to be energy-efficient. Prior to committing to Blackmer pumps, a tanker truck would enter the property and from the time it rolled over the truck scale to the time it went back over the scale on its way out of the property — whether loading or unloading — 90 minutes would have elapsed. Most of that downtime was due to an inefficient pumping and loading system.

    With the Blackmer sliding vane pumps on hand, that 90-minute scale-to-scale window has been reduced to 66 minutes — and Seeler's not satisfied yet. “We hope to get our scale-to-scale time down to 60 minutes,” said Gibisch, “and with our improved setup, we're well on our way.”

    For more information about Blackmer sliding vane pumps, contact Tom Stone at (616) 248-9252 or [email protected].