When Todd Pollazzi started Hi-Tech Compressor & Pump Products Inc. in 1999, he envisioned serving the East Coast chemical plant and refinery compressor market. Pollazzi had been working with compressor wear parts since 1988, first learning about the workings of compressors and pumps from his father, who spent his entire career with Joy Mfg. working on compression and drilling machinery. Nestled in Tullytown, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, Hi-Tech rapidly carved a niche in supplying and servicing the wearing components of all kinds of reciprocating compressors and pumps in the northeastern United States.
Today, with a staff of 21 and 300 years of collective experience, Hi-Tech has grown into a respected supplier of reciprocating compressor and pump products for both original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and end-user markets throughout the U.S. and Canada. "We built our reputation on reliability, technical expertise and, above all, rapid turnaround that our customers need to keep up and running," Pollazzi said.
The company's modern 18,000 sq.ft (1,672 m2) facility is equipped to refurbish parts as well as to precision manufacture new components. The shop has boring mills and drills large enough to machine compressor cylinders up to 28 in. (711 mm) in diameter, lathes for turning pans up to 252 in. (6,401 mm) long and 56 in. (1,422 mm) in diameter, and a 50 ton (45.4 tonne) rod straightening press. It has computer numerical control (CNC) turning and milling equipment, grinders and lapping machines for the manufacture of valve seats and guards, piston rings, riders, packing rings and other components. The shop has equipment for sand and shot blast cleaning, parts washing, magnetic particle and all types of dimensional inspections, oven heating, component marking and valve and unloader leak testing. It also has capabilities for producing computer-aided design (CAD) drawings in Which customers prior to CNC programming can review models.
As the company has grown, it has added equipment to enhance its capabilities for cylinder sleeving (lining), with both vertical and horizontal honing, and thermal spraying of cylinder and liner bores, piston rods. bearing housings, crossheads. connecting rods. and pump casings and impellers. It also has added in-house thread rolling and piston rod manufacturing capabilities. as well as casting crack re· pair including cold locking and lacing services. "Our service includes keeping extensive records, and we often know customers' equipment better than they know it themselves," Pollazzi said. "The condition of all reconditioned parts is documented with detailed measurements, technical details and digital photos before and after repair."
"Every job has a thorough paper trail from start to finish, said Scott Weil, director of quality assurance. "We have spent significant time and money to improve our equipment and procedures, reducing our nonconformances to a minimum. Along with multiple tracking sheets such as 'as-received' and 'as·returned' client sheets, our quality focus has grown with the addition and replacement of many of our CNC's and manual machines: a Siemens CNC drawing program, NX9 CAM program, ultrasonic testing equipment, profilometer, nondestructive testing (NOT) machines for valve and piston rod inspection, positive material identification (PMI) gun and a 12 ft. (3.7 m) Faro arm coordinate measuring machine."
"HI-Tech strives for the fastest turnaround time in the industry, available for service to our customers 24/7/365," General Manager David Finan said.
The company has a fleet of six trucks and two trailers. Including a 13 ton (11.7 tonnes) stake truck, for picking up and delivering customer parts for turnaround repair and rebuild services. Hi-Tech's services include repairing and manufacturing compressor and pump parts as well as the running gear. In addition, It manufacturers new sealing products for two major OEMs, and it is an authorized distributor or reseller for ACI Services, Sloan Brothers, VaporKote, U.S. Seal, Bosch and Atlas Copco.
"Working together with our application engineers and distributors, we strive to offer the best combination of materials, designs, and services for specific applications," said Judy Plexico, customer service manager. "Our experience includes equipment in air separation, gas transmission, petroleum refining, chemical processing, industrial air (polyethylene terephthalate (PET)), cogeneration, power plant and LNG compressor and pump applications."
Shop Manager Adam Cojocaru described a wide range of equipment repairs that Hi-Tech has performed for end users. Several examples included resleeving and metal spraying Ariel and Knight KOC compressor cylinders for Marcellus shale and coalbed methane customers to re-establish bores back to their original size.
In another example, when a major New Jersey chemical plant spun a wrist pin bushing in a large Burkhardt polypropylene compressor, Hi-Tech expedited the restoration of the connecting rod and manufactured and installed a new bushing, all over a weekend.
Hi-Tech also came to the aid of a New Jersey refinery, which lost compressor cylinder cooling circulation on the coldest day of the year. After the cylinder cooling jackets in eight compressors (five 1-R FS-1 steam driven propane compressors, two I-R HHE compressors, and one Penn HOE hydrogen compressor) froze and cracked, Hi-Tech metal stitched the cylinder cooling jackets, putting the compressors back in service within a week.
Other examples included restoring two Worthington BOC hydrogen compressor frames, upgrading a Penn HOE-22 fuel booster clearance pocket unloader to prevent fugitive emissions, upgrading a Worthington HBB-2 boil-off compressor with nonlube wear components that increased service time from five months to five years, the repair and manufacture of 8.5 in, (216 mm) x 130 in. (3302 mm) Monel pump shafts, and purge panel upgrades.
"Our motto of being 'large enough to serve and small enough to care' helps us to establish and maintain old·fashioned relationships, treating our customers the way they want to be treated, with Impeccable customer service" Pollazzi said.