Mr. Jim Griggs founded his company in November of 1990. The Company owns the patent to the Hydrosonic Pump and all other intellectual property rights related thereto as well as the rights to any future technology that Mr. Griggs develops. The Pump technology is based on the principle of the shock wave effect on a fluid. This effect has been recognized for years as an annoying and sometimes dangerous force in fluid dynamics. The average person has probably experienced this effect if he or she has noisy or clanging water pipes in his or her home. The effect is commonly referred to as a "water hammer." Almost all information available on "water hammer" contains procedures for eliminating the destructive effect of the shock wave. Management is not aware of any published articles or reports regarding the benefits from the water hammer effect.

Mr. Griggs began his personal research on this "effect" in 1985 while working on an energy conservation project at a manufacturing plant in Missouri when he noticed that a cold feed water supply line to a heating system was warm. When he mentioned this to a maintenance person he was told that they were presently experiencing a water hammer problem on the supply line and that the cold water pipes became warm when that occurred. Mr. Griggs became intrigued with this subject and began his search for information on this effect. Mr. Griggs found very little information, but did confirm from textbooks that when a shock wave passes through liquid, a portion of the energy is converted into heat energy and is dissipated into the mass. Those same texts also refer to this thermodynamic aspect of the shock wave as being so small that for most purposes it could be disregarded.

During the next two years, Mr. Griggs experimented with the idea of producing heat by harnessing shock waves and capturing the heat energy released. In the fall of 1987, he explored the idea of spinning a rotor or solid disc inside a housing that contained water. With this prototype Mr. Griggs was able to significantly increase the temperature of the water coming from the device. This indicated that it was possible to intentionally produce heat energy by producing shock waves in a fluid. After two more years and after hundreds of rotors were designed, tested and discarded, Mr. Griggs attained his initial design objective. In 1989, the first Hydrosonic Pump was built that produced steam and hot water with high energy efficiency using shock wave technology.

In 1990, the Company was organized to manufacture and sell the Hydrosonic Pump. The first patent was issued to the Company for the Hydrosonic Pump in 1993 (U.S. Patent No. 5188090). The Company has received notice it's Canadian Patent has been assigned and has 15 years to pay the patent fee and receive it's Canadian patent. Patents in Japan are pending. The company has been notified that patents in the EEC have been granted. There are presently 3 additional U.S. Patents pending as of this date. To the company’s knowledge there are no patents issued for commercial processes using shock wave technology as the heating source other than those owned by his company.

Our technology uses shock waves to heat the liquid. There is no combustion in the process. The heat is actually generated "inside the liquid" where it is needed. A hot metal surface or flame imparts none of the heat generated by the Hydrosonic Pump. In actuality, our surrounding metal rotor and housing are cooler than the liquid. Because there is no large temperature differential in our system between metal and liquid, there is no propensity for the scale to build up on a cooler metal surface. We offer our customers a ‘lifetime guarantee" against "scaling".

With all other heating systems, the heating surface is always hotter than the liquid in order to create heat transfer. That scenario will always cause scale to build up on the metal surface over a period of time—it is just a question of how quick!

When our technology is used to heat, distill, or produce steam from relatively pure liquids such as common tap water we are normally at a capital cost disadvantage in the residential market place. Conventional technology does a good job in this area because scaling is not a major problem. If it was decided to manufacture the Hydrosonic Pump in "mass", the economics could become more favorable for market penetration. Big players such as Clever Brooks, Fulton, Teledyne Laars, etc also dominate this market. The competition is formidable.

In the commercial market place, we are more competitively priced and offer some unique benefits to the customer that conventional technology cannot offer. There is no need for a boiler operator with the Hydrosonic Pump. The feed water does not have to be chemically treated. There is no need for a boiler room or a fire wall between the Hydrosonic Pump and the work place in some instances. The Hydrosonic Pump has a smaller footprint compared to conventional technology. It can be made portable. We view these markets, however, as a low priority because it is highly competitive with relatively low margins.

In thousands of industries around the world, it is necessary to heat or distill liquids other than clean water as a normal part of their manufacturing process. In all cases, the equipment will eventually have to be shut down to rid the system of scale buildup. The length of time between shutdowns, the loss of efficiency while scale buildup is occurring before shutdown, etc. will vary with the industry, but the expense of dealing with "scaling problems" is staggering. These heavy industries produce a variety of products for the market place such as petroleum, paper, chemicals, steel, etc. In this arena, the average investment in plant and equipment is large— millions to billions. Shutting down a $60 million piece of equipment on a regular basis in a billion-dollar plant is costly.

Industries where scaling is a problem deal with the issue in a variety of ways. The most common way is to have excess production capacity so that when downtime for cleanup and maintenance is taken into consideration, they can still meet customer demand for their product. Having a duplicate line of equipment is also quite common. When the first line needs to be shut down and cleaned, the second line can be started and production will not be affected. Because the expense associated with scaling problems affects everyone in a related industry, this expense becomes part of the cost of doing business and no player has that much of an advantage over the other.

Suppliers of heat exchangers and/or evaporators to the individual industry (the competition) normally do not claim to sell heating devices that do not scale. Instead, these suppliers boast that their individual product will run longer between shut down and clean up than the "other" suppliers". They boast that their product is superior because of changes in design, materials, construction, etc. However, if there are any differences between one competitor’s product and another, it appears to be minor—not major. Their main goal is to show you the most economical way to operate with the scaling problem, because their technology will not eliminate it.

This is where our technology separates itself from the competition. We make the claim that a manufacturer will never have to shut down a Hydrosonic Pump for cleaning because of scale build up. We make that a "lifetime guarantee". The economic benefits to a customer are staggering. In most cases, the ROl is less than one year and in some cases less than one month. The Hydrosonic pump can offer those economic benefits to a customer while being capital cost competitive against the competition and making reasonable margins in the process.

The Hydrosonic Pump normally consists of a rugged steel rotor (designed as a sphere with numerous cavities drilled in a specific pattern), completely enclosed by a steel cylindrical housing and two circular steel plates fastened at each end. The rotor is secured to a stainless steel shaft. The rotor can be driven mechanically by an electric motor; a fossil fuel engine, wind power, or basically any power take off device. The Hydrosonic Pump converts mechanical shaft energy into heat energy at 100% efficiency.

Pumps have been built out of a variety of materials. Rotors that heat liquids very well have been built from composites, aluminum, carbon steel, and 304 or 316 stainless steel. The determining factor for material used in manufacture will relate to the customer’s end use. For example, hot water can be produced from any of the materials mentioned, but if you use an aluminum rotor to heat a caustic solution, the chemical will dissolve the aluminum. For most market applications, carbon steel or 304 stainless steel components are used.

The Hydrosonic Pump’s process consists of water (basically any aqueous solution or fluid, pure or impure) injected through an opening and traveling across the spinning rotor. Several different mini-processes are simultaneously occurring as the mechanical energy is converted into heat energy.

A shearing stress occurs as the water first enters the chamber and a small amount of heat energy is created and released into the water. Because the water enters the chamber under a specified amount of pressure, additional heat is generated and absorbed into the water. The shearing stress (dynamic viscosity) increases as the water continues its movement across the rotor to the outlet port.

As the rotor begins its rotation and reaches sufficient tip speed, liquid is drawn into the cavities or dead-ended bores by the centrifugal force created as the rotor spins. A pressure drop or vacuum is created within the bore.

When the pressure in this pocket exceeds the pressure created by this centrifugal action, the flow direction of the water is reversed and the water is forced out of the hole only to be instantly drawn into another hole. The process continually repeats itself, thereby, creating millions of shock waves per minute. As these shock waves travel through the fluid, microscopic bubbles are formed and as they implode, heat is given off and absorbed into the liquid. When the liquid passes over the lip of the rotor bore, microscopic bubbles are also formed at the boundary layer of the liquid in contact with the surface. This would be similar to water flowing around a sharp bend in a pipe, where the pressure on the outside (concave wall) of the curve is higher than the pressure on the inside (concave wall). This particular effect is commonly called "cavitation".

Years of research has produced a Pump design that forces the bubble collapse to occur within the bore of the rotor and not at the surface where standard cavitational damage could erode the metal. Therefore, all of the energy from the bubble collapse is transferred into the liquid in the form of heat. As the heated water reaches the outlet side of the Pump it will leave as 100% steam, a combination of steam and hot liquid, or 100% hot water (liquid) depending on the desired result for the commercial application.

The energy output of the Hydrosonic Pump (British Thermal Units or Btu’s) is very predictable. Although there are many physical design characteristics that must be considered, the most crucial elements for determining output is related to tip speed of the rotor, the number of cavities in the rotor, and the tolerances between the housing, endplates, and the rotor. The Drive source always has to have a Btu output equal to or larger than the Pump for it to operate.

For a given diameter rotor (D) with a given width (W) and a certain number of cavities (C) at a fixed rpm, the following occurs:

1. When cavities are added by increasing the width of the rotor, the Btu output will be increased by the percentage increase of the additional cavities. A Hydrosonic Pump 12" in diameter, 1" wide, containing 36 holes, spinning at 3600 rpm’s will produce 25,500 BTUs. If the width is increased to 2" and contains 72 holes, the production will be increased to 51,000 BTUs (an increase of 100%).
2. When increasing the diameter and/or the rpm's increases the surface speed of the rotor, the Btu output will be increased exponentially. A 12" Hydrosonic Pump, 1" wide, containing 36 cavities, spinning at 10,800 rpm’s will produce 2,680,000 BTUs Vs 25,500 BTUs at 3600 rpm’s.
3. Two rotors, with different diameters and spinning at different rpm’s with an equal number of cavities, will have identical outputs if the tip speeds are equal. A 12" Hydrosonic Pump spinning at 3600 rpm’s (180ft/sec) has the same output as a 24" Pump spinning at 1800 rpm’s (180 ft/sec).

The following depicts the various Pump sizes and Btu outputs available for sale commercially. Units can be sized to fit individual needs if necessary.

Because the Pumps are "stackable", we can supply virtually any Btu requirement that is above 250 BHP a customer may desire.

The Hydrosonic Pump is constructed to give the customer lasting satisfaction by using only quality components from proven, reliable suppliers. The company warrants all components in a system for one year and warrants the rotor for 5 years against manufacturing defects. The company warrants that the Hydrosonic Pump will never scale. The original manufacturer of the mechanical seals has estimated the run life expectancy to be approximately 3 years. The bearing manufacturer has estimated the bearing life to be greater than 5 years. The electric motor has a 5 year warranty.

There are numerous applications for the Hydrosonic Pump in today’s market place.

There are a multitude of processes that can use the Hydrosonic Pump^TM technology in the Pulp and Paper Industry. These applications have been identified as black liquor preheating, green liquor heating, white liquor heating, black liquor concentration, bleaching and fuel oil heating. In black liquor processing, production can be increased between 6% and 15% by using the Hydrosonic Pump^TM with a small capital outlay compared to the savings generated.

The Hydrosonic Pump technology appears to have great application in the petroleum industry. Because conventional technology heats the petroleum product from the outside-in, the "skin or outer surface layer" of the liquid is exposed to high temperature. Prolonged exposure to high temperature will cook the skin layer, causing an overall degradation of quality. This over cooking is called "coking". Because the Hydrosonic Pump^TM heats without combustion and the liquid never touches high temperature surfaces, any petroleum product can be heated or distilled without "coking".

There is a large need for steam at drilling sites. In some cases the steam is injected back into the ground to maintain pressure on the well and increase production. The Hydrosonic Pump can produce steam from untreated water; therefore, steam can be produced from the water separated from the oil/water emulsion coming out of the well. Steam can also be produced from seawater for use on offshore rigs.

Many caustic and acidic chemicals used in the paint, metal plating industry, etc., require heat during processing. These chemicals scale in standard heat exchangers very quickly. The exchanger has to be "rodded" out and/or replaced frequently.

Contaminants can be cleaned from beaches or landmasses using a portable Hydrosonic Pump Steam can be made from seawater or impure lake water for cleaning or heating materials. Evaporation of water from contaminated solutions can reduce volume for disposal.

Concentration of low Rad salt solutions to higher concentrations than conventional technologies without scale build up provide a better and cheaper method of disposal of this hazardous material. De-icing fluids and glycol can be reclaimed, oil and water solutions concentrated.

Heating fuel oil, thermal oil, hot water, making steam from pure water or impure water sources such as river water or sea water, homogenization or pasteurization of food products, reducing BOD’s and COD’s in waste water, removing impurities from chiller water and cooling tower water without shutting down equipment, conversion of cryogenic liquids to gases. The list goes on and on and on…..

The Hydrosonic Pump was designed to accomplish a more energy efficient way to generate heat for productive purposes by using shock waves. Users of the Hydrosonic Pump technology are favorably positioned to take advantage of the world’s needs for energy conservation, environmental protection and remediation and the general need for clean water sources. Although technological advances have been made in the heating, steam generation and heat transfer industries over the past two decades, we know of no revolutionary advances similar to the patented technology of the Hydrosonic Pump.

Heating fluids with the Hydrosonic Pump provides many unique opportunities in today’s world to improve the quality of life in the area of residential and industrial heating, cleaning up the environment, and providing safe drinking water from unclean rivers and streams.

Although there are numerous applications for this technology, the most recognizable application of the Hydrosonic Pump is the production of steam and/or hot water produced almost instantaneously from common tap water. The Hydrosonic Pump does not use electric heating elements or fossil fuel to create heat energy. The process is combustionless; therefore, the Hydrosonic Pump is considered a non-explosive device.

There are two intrinsic and distinct values in the Hydrosonic Pump technology that make it valuable in the market place and separate it from the competition.

I. The Hydrosonic Pump heats without combustion. The temperature of the rotor, the surrounding steel enclosure and the liquid remain in equilibrium as the temperature of the process is increased. This allows liquids (whether reasonably pure or impure) to be heated directly with no build up of solids to degrade the process and/or ruin the equipment. This cannot be achieved with conventional technology.

2. The Hydrosonic Pump is mechanically driven. This mechanical energy is converted into heat energy with high efficiency. The mechanical energy can be supplied by a variety of sources. This also allows the Pump to become portable if desired.

The Hydrosonic Pump is manufactured with rugged materials in a variety of configurations and can be specifically designed to operate in virtually any environment. It consists of a rotor completely enclosed by a cylindrical housing. The rotor is secured to a steel shaft. The rotor can be driven mechanically by an electric motor, a fossil fuel engine, wind power, or basically any power take off device. The Hydrosonic Pump^TM can be sized to individual needs.

Based on the system configuration, the Hydrosonic Pump can convert a fluid into 100% hot water, 100% steam, or a combination of steam and hot liquid.

HOT WATER

In the common hot water configuration, cold water enters the Hydrosonic Pump is heated with a specified temperature differential and circulated through the system until the desired temperature is reached in a storage tank. Residential heating and domestic hot water are supplied in this manner.

THERMAL OIL

Thermal oil is heated in a similar manner for industrial applications. Combustionless heating of thermal oil by the Hydrosonic Pump eliminates the common problem of ‘coking" prevalent in conventional thermal oil boiler systems because the oil is heated internally and not at the film layer. Because there is no excessive film temperature, molecular cracking does not occur. With our unique expansion loop, surface oil temperatures remain low and excessive oxidation does not occur. Therefore, in most cases a nitrogen blanket is not necessary.

The Hydrosonic Pump Thermal Oil System can be located adjacent to process equipment which improves overall efficiency, reduces the volume of thermal oil required for operation and reduces installation cost.

STEAM

In a steam configuration cold water enters the Hydrosonic Pump is instantaneously converted into steam at any temperature and/or pressure. Hydrosonic Pump^TM Systems can be assembled on site and are perfect for limited floor space applications.

Typical Steam System

STEAM AND HOT LIQUID (DISTILLATION)

In the distillation configuration, the liquid enters the Hydrosonic Pump at a flow rate that will enable a combination of steam and hot liquid to be delivered as the final product. Separation into a distillate and a liquid allows the end user many choices for industrial and environmental applications.

Typical Distillation System

The advantages of using the Hydrosonic Pump in commercial and industrial applications seem to be endless. The Hydrosonic Pump can produce steam or hot water for use in any application where conventional boiler technology is being used today. It can be especially applicable to smaller commercial situations where there is a need for a user friendly steam system and there are no boiler operators on staff. It requires no special boiler room or firewall to separate it from the work place. There are no emission problems because there are no smokestacks. There is less routine maintenance and fewer moving parts to service. It can satisfy needs for increases in steam or hot water production by supplementing existing equipment. Because the system is combustionless and therefore explosion proof, it is very desirable for schools. Nursing homes, hospitals, and other public buildings.

Combustionless Heating

The Hydrosonic Pump can apply heat directly to impure liquids; therefore, our patented process provides an effective and efficient method of distillation and fluid separation unavailable with conventional technologies. Fresh, distilled, or purified water for human or specialized consumption can be generated from salt water, dirty river water or otherwise unsafe water sources. Water can be removed from liquids such as used antifreeze produced from plane de-icing operations at airports around the world. This greatly reduces transportation and disposal costs of this hazardous product and could allow for the product to be re-sold or re-used in certain markets. Direct heating of such liquids as black liquor in the pulp and paper industry can speed up the evaporation process and reduce the associated labor and capital cost.

Mechanical Drive Source

The combination of combustionless heating and/or the need for using varied mechanical drive sources make the Hydrosonic Pump desirable in numerous applications especially at remote sites where power sources are limited.

A fossil fuel driven Pump can be ideal for environmental cleanup and site remediation when liquids are involved either as the contaminant or as the affected environment. Steam can be generated from salt water or common river water to clean oil spills on beaches or affected land areas. Water for heating or drinking can be produced for troops in the field by connecting the Hydrosonic Pump to a power take off on a jeep or other military vehicle. The mechanical energy provided by a windmill can produce fresh water in coastal or remote locations and provide heat for homes, villages, or background heating for livestock in cold agricultural regions.

A rugged and compact Hydrosonic Pump mounted under a railcar can produce heat from the mechanical energy of the turning railcar wheels. This heat energy will prevent molten cargo such as asphalt from freezing while in transit. Presently, such cargo has to be re-heated at its final destination before it can be unloaded.

Other Applications

There are many other tests being conducted that indicate the Hydrosonic Pump will replace or supplement existing technology for industrial and commercial applications in the near future.

Initial testing indicates that the Hydrosonic Pump can be used as a loading device for a dynamometer. All the heat generated by the dyno can be converted into steam. Water usage will be reduced by 92%. This will greatly reduce the need for cooling towers and large volumes of water at test facilities.

Mechanical energy created by high velocity exhausts, channeled through turbo chargers, may improve the efficiencies of power plant production.

PTOs on commercial ships can be used to power the Hydrosonic Pump for many different applications on board the ship; additional boiler capacity for hot water or steam, desalination of sea water, heated water for the kitchens, showers, laundries, etc.

When metals are phosphatized to form a base for applying paint, drawing compounds, rust inhibitors, lubricating oils or for bonding rubber to metal, the metal surface is slightly acid pickled. A change in pH results in the deposition of a phosphate conversion coating on the metal. Iron or ferric phosphate is a by-product of the process and because it is insoluble, it precipitates and forms "sludge". Since the phosphatizing bath must be heated, this sludge builds up on the hot transfer surfaces of the heating unit and will eventually "choke" the process unless the heating unit is shut down, scrubbed off or rodded out.

Scale build up on heat transfer surfaces of immersion tubes or heat exchanger surfaces during processing is an accepted, expensive burden in many industries today. If you are heating a phosphatizing bath, especially if it contains zinc, it doesn’t matter whether the energy source is natural gas, fuel oil, electricity or steam— the problem persists.

The Hydrosonic Pump will completely eliminate that expensive burden of scale buildup. The Hydrosonic Pump^TM will not and cannot scale during processing! We offer a "lifetime guarantee" to our customer to back up that claim. We do not know of any other company in the world that can make that statement.

This technology is so revolutionary it’s patented. The Hydrosonic Pump does not use electric heating elements or fossil fuel to create heat energy. The Hydrosonic Pump generates heat from "shock waves". The process is combustionless; therefore, the Hydrosonic Pump is considered a non-explosive device. Based on the system configuration the Hydrosonic Pump can heat a liquid to any desired temperature. It can convert a liquid into vapor or steam at any temperature and pressure, or produce a combination of steam and hot liquid.

With conventional technologies, heat is transferred into a liquid by a much hotter metal surface. The temperature differential between hot metal and cooler liquid forces impurities to migrate from the liquid and build up on the hotter metal surface. This buildup is called scale.

The Hydrosonic Pump heats liquids in a totally different way and creates the heat in a totally different place— "inside the liquid". The heat is created right where you need it. In the Hydrosonic Pump there are no heat transfer surfaces—the metal surfaces are actually cooler than the liquid. Impurities will not migrate from a hotter liquid and build up on cooler metal—therefore, there is no reason for our system to scale.

We warrant that you will never have scale build up inside the Hydrosonic Pump. You will never have to shut down to "rod it out" or "scrub off" the scale. That is our guarantee. We can heat phosphatizing baths, fuel oil, glycol, thermal oil, black liquor, green liquor, white liquor, sulfur, coal, tar, dairy products, banana slurries, and crude oil.

We can produce steam and re-concentrate chemicals by distilling oil and water emulsions, de-icing fluid, black liquor, river water, salt water, chiller water, and many other mixtures. The more difficult it is for other technologies to heat a liquid, the better the value we have to offer our customers.

The Hydrosonic Pump is manufactured in a variety of configurations and can be specifically designed to operate in virtually any environment. It consists of a rugged rotor, completely enclosed by a cylindrical housing and two circular plates fastened at each end. The rotor is secured to a stainless steel shaft. The Hydrosonic Pump is powered by an electric motor. Rotors can be constructed from composites, aluminum, carbon steel, and stainless steel. The determining factor for material used in manufacture will relate to the customer’s end use.

Economics

"Sludging" or "scaling" of heat exchangers or immersion tube heaters eats away at profit margins like a malignant cancer in the metal pretreatment and finishing industry, because costs are difficult to control when the process cannot run at optimum conditions. Maintaining constant specified temperatures in the phosphatizing process is one of the main ingredients to insuring proper coating weights and product quality. Temperature consistency, however, is almost impossible to maintain because this self-insulating scale mass grows hour by hour and reduces heat transfer efficiencies. If specified temperatures cannot be maintained, coating weights will be inconsistent, and off quality will increase. Chemical usage is not maximized, production rates will be lowered and labor and overhead costs will increase. In addition, cleaning and removing scale increases maintenance expense, and requires equipment downtime. It is always expensive, even if the downtime is "planned". All of these problems may result in capital expenditures being increased because boilers, immersion tubes, and heat exchangers have to be oversized to allow for these inefficiencies.

Do you need any more reasons to look at the Hydrosonic Pump Metal Phosphatizing System?

Our guarantee is that we eliminate scaling—forever! We eliminate scale-related downtime. We eliminate labor costs for scrubbing and cleaning scale. We improve your quality. We improve your costs. We improve your profits—forever!!

When we designed the Hydrosonic Pump Metal Phosphatizing System, we knew you would love a system that was simple to operate. Just flip a switch on in the morning—flip a switch off at night—and in between it just about takes care of itself! Since you don’t need a boiler operator to watch it all the time, you can even turn it on with a timer, so that the tanks are at temperature before the employees are on the job. It doesn’t take up a lot of floor space, either. Most of the time It will fit through a 40" opening.

Because there are only a few moving parts, maintenance is relatively simple. It basically requires only periodic greasing and replacing a seal or bearing every year or two.

The System will arrive at your plant almost completely assembled, with its own base, feed pump, and control panel. Position it on your plant floor and make the electrical connection. Hook up the "cold liquid in" and "hot liquid out" fittings and it’s just about ready to perform for you.

WHAT SIZE SYSTEM DO YOU NEED?

The energy output of the Hydrosonic Pump Metal Phosphatizing System is very predictable. The units are custom built to your needs, based on the actual tank liquid content, bath temperature needed, and the Btu’s necessary to replace the tank’s calculated normal heat losses during processing. The data below may be used as a general guide for your initial calculations.

Warranty

Every component of the Hydrosonic Pump Metal Phosphatizing System is warranted for a minimum of one year against manufacturing defects. The drive motor and the Hydrosonic Pump rotor are warranted for 5 years. Hydro Dynamics warrants that the Hydrosonic Pump will never have scale buildup during processing.

Give Us A Call

We will be glad to arrange a heating "trial" using any chemicals or solutions that are causing problems in your operations. Please call our office today to discuss how we can help you improve your profits by eliminating the problem of scale buildup—forever!

A NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT IS TRULY REVOLUTIONARY

Scale build up on evaporator surfaces during processing is an accepted, expensive burden in today’s pulp and paper mill. Within a short period of time after processing begins, the evaporator normally has to be shut down and cleaned, regardless of the construction material or the design of the equipment. Although improvements in equipment design and processing have been made over the years that extend "run time" between boilouts, no one has been able to solve the problem completely. The expense associated with scale buildup remains staggering.

The combustionless technology exemplified in the Hydrosonic Pump will completely eliminate that expensive nuisance of scale buildup. With our technology a pulp mill can process black liquor, green liquor, white liquor, and gray sludge at production rates and efficiencies never believed possible in the past. Our equipment will not and cannot scale during processing. We do not know of any other company in the world that can make that claim.

OUR TECHNOLOGY IS DIFFERENT

This technology is so revolutionary it’s patented. The Hydrosonic Pump does not use electric heating elements or fossil fuel to create heat energy. The Pump generates heat from "shock waves". These "shock waves" create millions of microscopic bubbles inside the liquid that release heat when they collapse. The process is combustionless; therefore, the Hydrosonic Pump is considered a non-explosive device. Based on the system configuration the Hydrosonic Pump can heat a liquid to any desired temperature. It can convert a liquid into vapor or steam at any temperature and pressure, or produce a combination of steam and hot liquid.

With conventional technologies, heat is transferred into a cooler liquid by a much hotter metal surface. The temperature differential between hot metal and cooler liquid forces impurities to migrate from the liquid and build up on the hotter metal surface. This buildup is called scale.

The Hydrosonic Pump heats liquids in a totally different way and creates the heat in a totally different place—"inside the liquid". The heat is created where it is needed. In the Hydrosonic Pump^TM there are no heat transfer surfaces—the metal surfaces are actually cooler than the liquid. Impurities will not migrate from a hotter liquid and build up on cooler metal—therefore, there is no reason for our system to scale. The delta T between the liquid and the metal has been eliminated.

BLACK LIQUOR EVAPORATION

Pulp and paper mills use diluted chemicals to cook chips in order to produce high quality pulp. This is known as the Kraft process. These chemicals must be recaptured and reused in the cooking process due to their high cost value. The liquid discharged from the cooking process is called black liquor and it contains chemicals plus a large volume of hydrocarbons.

The first step of chemical recovery involves concentrating the black liquor from approximately 15% solids to at least 65% solids so it can be burned in a recovery boiler. Some mills add crystallizers to their process to increase the percent solids going to the recovery boiler. In the past, black liquor evaporation has posed a serious problem for Kraft mills because of the inherent tendency of the black liquor to form scale on the surface of the heating elements.

In every black liquor composition there is a point at which the liquor becomes saturated with sodium salts. This saturation leads to the crystallization of salt out of the black liquor. Since the nucleation and growth of crystals are highly heat sensitive, the delta T between the heat source and the black liquor dictates the scaling tendency on the heating elements of the evaporator. As soon as the black liquor contacts the hot surfaces in the concentrator, calcium separates from lignin and forms calcium carbonate deposits on the heating elements. The calcium carbonate scaling rate doubles for every 5⁰ to 70^o rise in temperature of the heating surfaces above 240⁰F. Scaling begins during the first hour of ‘start up" and will eventually reach a point at which the heat transfer stops completely. Before that zero heat transfer point is reached, the evaporation train is shut down and boiled out.

In addition to the scale buildup that can be boiled out regularly, there is a cumulative silica buildup that begins to occur when the evaporator has been operating for approximately 3 years that can’t be removed. The combination of these different types of ‘scale buildup" affects the operation cost of a mill dramatically.

As the heat transfer rate decreases in the evaporator, production must be decreased in order to maintain the desired concentration of black liquor going to the recovery boiler. This lays the groundwork for an expensive situation. If there is a "boilout" every 15 days and production decreases from 100% to 70% of maximum capacity during this period of time, the average production rate for this period is only 85% of maximum. If boilout intervals are less than 15 days and zero production days are considered while the boilout occurs, average production percentages will be even lower. This results in large production losses not only in the black liquor area, but also in other areas of pulping and paper manufacturing.

Even though production is being reduced as scale buildup occurs, it still requires the same amount of energy as if the evaporators were running at maximum capacity. Over the life of an evaporator scaling can result in additional energy costs of over 50% on the average. If an evaporator is older, the additional costs could be much greater. Higher energy costs, higher maintenance and labor costs, coupled with lower production rates reduce a company s bottom line significantly. To say the least, scaling increases costs in a mill dramatically.

FINALLY THERE IS A REAL SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

Scaling causes the economics of a process to go awry. The production process begins. Scale buildup occurs. Costs escalate. Steam economy steadily decreases. Production is reduced in order to keep final concentrations of black liquor going to the recovery boiler consistent. A point in time is reached in which the economics of the process is unacceptable. The process is shut down. The evaporators are "boiled out" and the same scenario is repeated—again and again and again! The Hydrosonic Pump Concentrator System will put an end to this costly chain of events. It eliminates the problem forever. That is our guarantee.

The Hydrosonic Pump Concentrator System can basically replace the number one evaporator, the pre-concentrator and the concentrator with a simple, low maintenance, energy efficient and scale free system. The System can increase the solids content of black liquor to any concentration a mill may desire. Eighty five percent concentration levels have been obtained without scaling, and it appears that these percentages can be increased. We know of no other system that can operate at these high concentrations on a continuous basis. The Hydrosonic Pump^TM Concentrator can be placed at any point in the evaporation process to eliminate scaling problems. It doesn’t matter whether the problems begin at the 35% concentration level or higher. Production levels remain constant. This enables the mill to utilize plant equipment in the most efficient manner and could result in production increases of 30% or more.

The design of the Hydrosonic Pump Concentrator System is basically the same as a conventional concentrator used in pulp mills today. The lower concentrated incoming black liquor is fed into the system and mixed with very high concentration liquor and circulated through the Hydrosonic Pump at high temperatures. The steam produced is sent to another evaporator to maintain steam economy. The high concentration black liquor is sent to the recovery boiler.

The Hydrosonic Pump Concentrator System

There are numerous economic advantages from using the Hydrosonic Pump Concentrator System over conventional technology. The Hydrosonic Pump is very energy efficient because it produces the heat energy at the point of use—at the evaporator. Regardless of whether the Pump is powered by a steam turbine or an electric motor, the overall mill savings are staggering compared to the energy cost required to generate those savings.

The Hydrosonic Pump System reduces bottlenecks in the evaporator line caused by scaling. This allows equipment to run at maximum capacity day in and day out with the expected steam economy. Production increases of 30% may be obtained by installing a single Hydrosonic Pump System at a crucial point in the evaporator train. Higher production rates reduce direct labor costs. Maintenance and chemical costs associated with cleanup are eliminated. Replacement parts inventory is decreased. Mill overhead cost is reduced because of less downtime and increased production. Capital cost per pound of product is lowered. No spare evaporator lines are necessary.

Solids concentration levels can be achieved up to 85%, which greatly increases the Btu value of the black liquor. For each 2% increase in the solids level going into the boiler there is a 1% increase in overall boiler efficiency. The chart below represents approximate production increases that can be expected by using the Hydrosonic Pump Concentration System:

Production Increases Using the Hydrosonic Pump Concentrator

It is an established fact that scale buildup on evaporator surfaces is delta T related. Experts agree that reducing the delta T between the liquor and the heat transfer surfaces in an evaporator will reduce the rate at which scale builds up on the heating elements. Many methods have been tried to accomplish this—the most popular one being the use of a preheater prior to an evaporator. When a preheater is used, the scaling rate is reduced in the evaporator; however, there is normally severe scale buildup in the preheater.

Essentially, one heating surface is just sacrificed for the other one. The net effect on production and run time between boilouts does not change significantly.

The Hydrosonic Pump can increase the black liquor temperature to any desired level in order to minimize the delta T between incoming black liquor and the surface temperature of the heating elements of the evaporator. There is no scale buildup inside the Pump during this process. A pulp mill receives all the advantages of a low delta T in their evaporators without having to deal with the negatives of scale buildup that would always occur in conventional pre-heaters.

The Btu’s added to the liquor by the Hydrosonic Pump could accomplish several different objectives during processing. The mill has a choice of achieving maximum production through the evaporator line, maximum solids levels or a combination of both. Reduced maintenance, labor, overhead and chemical costs are added benefits.

The chart below represents approximate production benefits that can be expected by a 50% reduction of the delta T in an evaporator by preheating with the Hydrosonic Pump.

Production Increases Utilizing the Hydrosonic Pump Preheater

The design of the Hydrosonic Pump Preheating System is basically the same as a conventional preheating system used in pulp mills today. The Hydrosonic Pump is normally placed prior to an effect with a severe scaling problem.

The black liquor passes through the Hydrosonic Pumpand is heated to reduce the delta T between the heating elements of the evaporator and the black liquor.

Thermal Deactivation of Black Liquor

Another method for reducing calcium carbonate scale buildup is to heat the black liquor to a minimum temperature of 310⁰F and maintain that temperature level for a short period of time. At these high temperatures calcium is detached from lignin and forms calcium carbonate in the liquor prior to the concentrator. Because the calcium carbonate is formed prior to entering the concentrator, it will not scale. However, the heating surface used to raise the temperature to 310⁰F will scale severely. Another heating surface has been "sacrificed". The Hydrosonic Pump^TM can raise the temperature of black liquor to 310⁰F or higher without scale buildup.

In the heating of green liquor and white liquor in Kraft cooking, steam is injected into the liquid to raise its temperature to the desired level. This steam condenses and dilutes the liquor in both processes. If heat exchangers are used in the process, scaling will occur rapidly. The Hydrosonic Pump can apply direct heat to these liquors without dilution and without scale buildup inside the Hydrosonic Pump.

The Hydrosonic Pump can supply high-pressure steam at the point of need within a mill. It can supply steam for paper machines, drying, evaporation, etc. This can be accomplished on a stand-alone basis or as a supplement to the existing steam supplies.

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