Fred W. Gartner Jr. Part 3 of 4
Monday, October 12, 2009 at 02:56PM In 1971, Diamond Shamrock and Shell Oil in Pasadena, Texas, became the first petrochemical clients to venture out on the thermal spray limb. With the help of some motivated and passionate sales professionals, Fred and company began to solve longstanding problems in the oil field. These two refineries had historically battled through costly problems associated with dry-product chemical erosion and wear. The only known solution at that time was utilizing stainless steel, extremely expensive even without the added cost of replacement from rapid wear. Their primary dilemma involved a PVC process that moved residual, dry chlorine powder. Using pneumatic power as a propellant, extreme wear and erosion caused significant base material loss in a short period.
The question as far as Fred was concerned was not whether the coatings would work, but how to apply the coatings to the I.D. of elbows and long joints of pipe. Fred again rose to the challenge by doing what he did best, engineering an ingenious solution. Fred Gartner’s genius lie in an uncanny gifted mechanical aptitude. Without any formal training or higher education, Fred often created mechanical solutions that most certified engineers would envy. After considerable development, his answer to his new client's PVC wear problem was a flexible spray lance. Fred was able to devise a flexible lance for a wire gun that enabled Gartner to spray the I.D. of 45° and 90° pipe elbows. With minor rigid modifications to the lance, straight joints of pipe could be coated up to 40 feet in length. The benefits to his customers included increased wear life of 10 to 12 times the original life expectancy, and an opportunity to switch from stainless steel to heavy gauge aluminum base material. Total monetary gain for these clients over the past thirty years has been tremendous. As a result, F. W. Gartner was able to disseminate their now proven technology into additional arenas such as PVC manufacturers, rice mills, and the tobacco industry.
Reader Comments (1)
Yesterday, my friend bought a Polo Ralph Lauren which is so beautiful, i am surprised by the design and style. Do you have ralph lauren polos now? if not, go to online store and have one, it is so amazing!!! There are many online stores having Polo Ralph Lauren , i believe you gonna like it!