James A. Rehkopf, president of Pulse Combustion Systems (PCS), announced today that the two Pulse Combustion Spray Dryers sold to Altair Nanotechnologies are now operational. The dryers were fabricated at PCS’s Payson, Arizona plant, and a PCS team installed the dryers at the Altairnano facilities in Reno, Nevada during February and March. Commissioning was completed in April, and the dryers are now in 24/7 operation, making powders that exceed Altairnano’s specifications.

“I talked to the president of Altairnano this morning,” Rehkopf said today in a company meeting. “He is pleased with the dryers we have provided and is planning to purchase more and larger dryers in the near future as their company expands.”

During the last few weeks of testing, the twin dryers have proven capable of higher throughput than originally promised. In addition, because the dryers were custom designed and built for the Altairnano application, they are producing better powder than what was demonstrated in PCS’s Pilot-scale dryer in Arizona.

As Rehkopf has said before, “We’re happy when the customer is happy.”

Pulse Combustion Systems is pleased to be the subject of a significant article in the April 2007 issue of Powder and Bulk Engineering. The article, entitled “Xtreme Drying,” describes the lab work and pilot-scale demonstrations that led to the sale of two dryers to Altair Nanotechnologies (Reno, Nevada).

The article also includes an overview of the PCS pulse drying technology and gives an inside look at PCS’s lab and testing department.

The PCS article at powderbulk.com may be purchased for a small fee, or downloaded freely as a PDF from our download center.

Pulse Combustion Systems (PCS) announced today that it would deliver two of its Model PCS P-0.4 Pulse Combustion Spray Dryers to AltairNano, Inc. of Reno, Nevada in January and February of 2007.

After extensive testing at PCS’s pilot plant facilities in Payson, Arizona, AltairNano determined that the pulse combustion spray drying technology offered by PCS makes a better powder than what AltairNano was making on its conventional spray dryer.

Altairnano is experiencing rapid growth, and needed to expand its spray drying capacity to meet customer demand for its innovative lithium battery technology. And, they needed the dryers fast. PCS was able to respond, producing the first dryer in just 14 weeks, and the second in 18 weeks.

“We were very pleased to get this order,” says PCS President James A. Rehkopf. “AltairNano has a state-of-the-art battery product, and as soon as we made some powders for them in our pilot dryer, they knew that our dryer could improve their process and their results. We were also able to meet their demanding schedule, and even exceed it. We are looking forward to starting these dryers up ahead of schedule, and making more and better powder than promised.”

Pulse Combustion Systems (PCS) announced today that its unique pulse combustion spray drying technology is featured in the September 2006 issue of Ceramic Industry.

“It was great to get a call from the editors of Ceramic Industry,” says PCS President James A. Rehkopf. “We had just finished some highly-successful tests and production runs for three innovative ceramics manufacturers, and we were able to turn the results into a highly interesting article for readers of their magazine. We appreciate the opportunity.”

The PCS article at ceramicindustry.com may be viewed directly, or saved as a PDF from our download center.

Pulse Combustion Systems (PCS) announced today that it has completed the fabrication and shipping of four of its Model P-3 Pulse Combustion Spray Dryer “Combustion/Atomizer Units” to South Africa. Three of the units went to one customer, who will use them on three dryers at one location, and the fourth one went to a second customer, who will install it on a dryer at another location.

“For overseas projects where there is a good industrial infrastructure is place, we like to just ship our value-added unit from the U.S.,” says company President James A. Rehkopf. “That way, the customer gets the benefit of pulse combustion spray drying without the cost and delay of sending a spray dryer from the U.S. to South Africa.”

The units will be started up in early 2007, and become the only pulse combustion spray dryers on the African continent.

Pulse Combustion Systems (PCS) has completed the sale of its existing Pilot-scale dryer to one of its customers who needed an immediate installation. The time from order to delivery was only 45 days.

PCS replaced the unit that was sold with a new Pilot-scale dryer, and commissioned it today. During dryer fabrication, PCS also completed a new, state-of-the-art sanitary room to house the new dryer. The new room is dedicated to the dryer only, and is suitable for complete wash down between products. The new dryer also features a unique hinged bottom cone to allow easy and complete cleaning of the drying chamber.

“We didn’t really expect to sell our demonstration and development dryer, but we had a customer with an urgent need, and we were pleased to be able to respond quickly,” says PCS President James A. Rehkopf. “Also, we are able to re-invest the sale proceeds into an even better dryer and a dedicated and very functional space to house the new dryer. We are excited about this opportunity to continue to improve our plant and our ability to meet customer needs.”

Pulse Combustion Systems (PCS) has completed the acquisition of a modern 6600 square foot steel building on property adjacent to its production facilities in Payson, Arizona. The new building will be used for offices, maintenance, warehouse, and shipping & receiving. It will also be the new home for PCS’s pilot dryer, which will be moved from one of the other buildings in the complex. The pilot dryer, which has an evaporative capacity of 40 pounds per hour, is used for demonstration and for development of drying parameters on new products. This move will pave the way for the installation of an additional production dryer to meet growing customer demand for contract drying.

Due to rising demand for its contract drying services, Pulse Combustion Systems (PCS) has announced expansion plans for its plant in Arizona. The first phase, to be completed by April 30, 2004, is an enlargement of the drying chamber of its P-1 Pulse Combustion Spray Dryer that will boost evaporative capacity by 33% to 400 pounds per hour. The enlarged chamber should also reduce drying chamber hang-up and thus produce a higher yield. The next expansion will be the installation of a new pulse dryer with an evaporative capacity of 1,000 pounds per hour.