Press Release - Apr 18, 2008
Marathon Engineers Take Expertise to New Heights!
Quito, Ecuador - Marathon's engineers are good at lots of things, but problem-solving nearly always resides at the top of the list. When Product Manager James Robbins first arrived in Quito, his head was in the clouds, literally. "Standing at the site elevation, you were looking down on the city below and directly across at the clouds, which drifted only a few hundred feet over the city," says Robbins. To the 1.8 million inhabitants of the capital city of Ecuador, living at 10,000 ft above sea level is no big deal. For Marathon engineers, designing a transfer-station to efficiently operate at that elevation, however, is a big deal.
Why? Hydraulic systems depend partly on barometric pressure to function properly. When barometric pressure changes, so does the nature of operation. Normal pressure at sea level is around 15 psi. The pressure at the BlokPak 3000® site in Quito is around 9 psi, roughly two-thirds normal pressure, which affects the system considerably. Normally, on a hydraulic power unit, the pump resides over the reservoir and transports the oil through suction. In this instance, "we had to elevate the tank (above the motors) and add centrifugal pumps to boost the inlet pressure to the piston and vane pumps in order to compensate for the atmospheric conditions," said Ronnie Brown, the Electrical/Hydraulic Engineer who designed the custom power unit. Basically, "it's comparable to a supercharger."
But atmospheric pressure isn't the only obstacle here. "Power outages are pretty common," said Robbins.
And "they have frequent lightning strikes," commented Brown. "Therefore, in order to eliminate voltage spikes, we installed a surge compressor in the control system and also used sequential Wye-Delta starting motors to lessen the amp draw during start-ups." This means the BlokPak motors will start up slowly, one at a time, without overloading the local power supply.
Like many cities in developing countries, Quito is struggling to accommodate an over-sized population with an under-sized infrastructure. The BlokPak installation will not only help make Quito's waste-handling process more efficient, but also much safer. Whether it's in your neighborhood or in the clouds, Marathon is dedicated to providing effective solutions for waste-handling needs.
If you have any questions or need any technical assistance please contact us at 1-800-269-7237 or by email at marketing@marathonequipment.com
