The Pneumatic Tanker Thread

Rock salt was the worst I've seen for plugging. It's worse than popcorn lime.

 

I went to one of our power plants we service this morning. We use a stainless steel hose to unload at that place, and it stays hooked to the silo all the time. They get worn after a while, and this one had worn out about a week ago. And i noticed one of our drivers had a stainless hose on his trailer on Monday. So I go in there this morning to find a new hose hooked to the silo. But I noticed a bunch of duct tape around the coupler on the silo end, and the hose was hooked up backwards ( they're directional, if you have them backwards they wear out much faster). I've seen this all before, and didn't think much of it. Figured I'd unload, and switch the hose around after I was done.

I pressured up, opened the hopper valve and it started blowing lime everywhere. So I shut down, spend ten minutes cutting the half roll of tape off the coupler, unhook the hose to find there's no gasket in it. To say I was a little agitated would be an understatement. What really gets me is they clown that hooked it up is probably the same person who wrapped it with tape, and figured screw it, let the next guy deal with it.

You know what they say about karma...

 

For me, bottom ash is the worst. We blow that into the boiler at power plants. Usually up five or six stories, then horizontal to the other side of the plant, then down into the boiler. Takes about 2 hours, and it will block up really easy.

 

Im jealous of all you guys with less then 2 hour unloads. But Im also unloading 64,000 pounds of flour thru 1/4" holes.

 

Most of mine are 45 minute unloads. But I'm typically running three a day, which makes a two hour unload really tough to like.

Last place I worked it was usually 1.5 hours to unload. But I was only delivering one a day most days.

 

Loading takes 2 hours and unloading takes 2-4 hours then 5-14 hours of drive time for each of our loads so its only 1 a day.

 

Lately I've only been running one a night. Deadhead 4 1/2 hours, fifteen minutes to load, then 5 hours back to a 45 minute unload. 45 minutes home. Pure gravy!

 

Because he was trained by someone who did not know how to clear lines, cant teach what you dont know. I never ever disconnect or open up a line that has product in it. I've only been doing pneumatics since 1997 or so. Your right on one thing easier to not let it plug to start with. Hot summer day with lime will teach you to never open a line to clear it.

 

On 3 hopper trailers I generally load thru the rear hole, on four hopper thru the 3rd hole, almost never into the fron holes, unless you have a product thats super fluffy for lack of a better word.

 

That's easier on the brakes than doing it the old-fashioned way.