Progressive Foundry is a jobbing foundry, one of the nation’s top gray and ductile iron manufacturers, making castings for municipalities, construction, agriculture and industry. The company expanded into a new facility and decided to replace three aging compressors.
One of their compressors had failed, and they didn’t want to invest more, so they junked it. They were also having issues with coolers and dryers.
Progressive Foundry presented a challenge for compressed air systems. “It’s a terribly dirty environment,” plant manager Josh Magill said. “I can’t imagine a worse environment to put a piece of equipment.”
“We never have any luck keeping them running,” Josh said. At times, they even had a diesel parked out in the street, plumbed into their system to keep their operation going. The company worked with Iowa Pump and Compressor, a Waterloo, IA independent compressed air consultant. The company conducted a compressed air audit, collecting load and pressure data for more than a week.
The company sought bids from several manufacturers but found the best value from Kaishan USA. Progressive Foundry purchased two of Kaishan’s KRSP2 premium rotary screw air compressors, a 250-HP and a 350-HP, the latter equipped with a variable-speed drive. The lifetime airend warranty was one of the most attractive parts of the package. And the compressors have oversized coolers.
“Those fans barely run at all to keep the machine cool,” Josh said. Not surprising for his industry, Josh was impressed by Kaishan’s “heavy metal.” The KRSP2’s weight was significantly more than competitors’ offerings, contributing to the impression of quality. “It’s just kind of a gut feel thing, really,” he said
“We’ve been very happy with it. We don’t have any compressor trouble. They run in the background. It’s something we just don’t talk about anymore.”
— Josh Magill, Plant Manager, Progressive Foundry
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