Helping a Glass Company during the Oil Crisis of the 70’s

This article was authored by:

Carrie Carlson
Technical Writer

Jim Madigan is the founder and past President of FEECO International.  Jim has great stories and knowledge from his time in the fertilizer industry.

Q. You started FEECO in 1951 and have provided solutions to a lot of companies and industries. Are there any projects in particular that stand out it your mind?

Jim: About 30 years ago, there was an oil shortage when the Middle Eastern oil producers cut production and made oil very expensive and in short supply. There was a large glass company in California that reduced their oil usage and cut production to 70% to save on the high cost of oil. The process they were using to manufacture glass involved putting their ingredients into a kiln, and melting them down. They were putting the dry feed in and the speed of the air would blow the feed up the stack and they would lose a lot of their raw material, making the process very expensive. So they came to us and asked if there was any way that we could help them.  We took a look at it, and determined that yes, we can agglomeratepelletize your feed going into the kiln. When we were able to feed the kiln with a granular product; it immediately reduced the amount going up the stack and they could increase the amount of air they were putting through.  They were able to save product from being wasted and increase their output back to full capacity.

Q: Why did you think this would be a successful project?

Jim: We had some bright engineers who were used to looking at all the aspects of a problem. We wanted to make sure that we could help them through agglomeration or pelletizing.  We had the ability to test it in the lab, we had the ability to test in the pilot plant and we certainly have the ability to take those findings and design it to tonnage per hour that is needed.

Q: Did this project help FEECO enter any new markets?

Jim: We’ve always been growing and taking on new challenges, but in the past 6 years in particular, we’ve been able to agglomerate for hundreds of industries. Agglomeration is an art; not a science. It’s absolutely an art.  If agglomeration was a science, you could set the liquid recycle rate, the speed of the drum, the time in the drum, the length of the drum, you could set all that up and hit a start button and you would have granules coming out. It doesn’t happen that way. It’s tweaking this and tweaking that and eventually getting anywhere from 5 ton an hour to 150 ton an hour of your product, and it’s on size and at the right moisture content and correct hardness, et cetera.

Q: Why did a company in California come to a company in Green Bay, Wisconsin to fix their problem?

Jim: We had a good reputation in California from doing work at fertilizer plants and bulk unloading projects for ships to railroad cars. We had a reputation as the place to go to if you had a problem. Even though it was out of the realm of fertilizer, they were confident that we could find a solution to their problem and it turns out that we were indeed able to help them.

This is an example of how FEECO embraces new challenges, regardless of the industry. If you’re looking for a solution to your process or material problem, contact us today.

About the Author . . .


Carrie Carlson is a technical writer and visual designer.

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