Hope Air Systems Installs Upgraded Blower Control Package for NH Gas Propane Distribution System

Hope Air Systems, an air compressor distributor and custom motion control fabricator, recently engineered and installed a custom blower system for the city of Keene, NH, which provided a stabilized pressure source for the propane gas distribution system used by residential and business customers. According to Marc LeBaron, of Sorensen Systems, an associated company of Hope Air Systems, the underground propane pipeline system operated by New Hampshire Gas Company is highly unusual. "Keene is the only city in the country that has a centralized, underground propane distribution network to provide propane gas at a required pressure and ratio to an entire community," said LeBaron.

According to David Jacques, of NH Gas Company, the current distribution system used multiple venturis to provide air to mix with the propane for the correct BTU ratio. Going forward, the requirement was to provide air over a broad 50 cfm to 1,400 cfm range, with enough available capacity to maintain pressure, even if one of the four Kaeser Omega Com-paK Plus blowers failed or was off-line for maintenance. Through a unique manifold package designed by Sorensen Systems, for Hope Air Systems, the four blowers were linked together with sensors to regulate the air requirements.

Hope Air Systems, headquartered in Northboro, MA specializes in air compressor, blower, cooling and nitrogen generators throughout New England and worldwide for selected products. For this application, four Kaeser rotary-lobe blowers were linked together to provide the required controlled pressure and internal back-up and redundancy capability. Its design engineers developed a pressure and flow controller package to integrate the existing digital controls for the system. A new pressure sensor was mounted on the existing line, which mixes the propane, to provide the correct ratios and proportioning to meet varying demands.

Hope Air Systems and Sorensen Systems are member companies of The Hope Group, a leading industrial distribution and motion control company with offices in Northboro MA, Fitchburg MA, Cranston RI, Manchester NH, Portland ME and Bangor ME.