 Before  After |
Polywater continually strives to develop products that resolve our customers’ problems in the field. Interaction with customers during the product’s development phase and its subsequent application in the field is critical to this process. Such interaction facilitates the development of a product that meets customers’ performance requirements. Also, customer feedback during initial applications of the product allows Polywater to modify in-field procedures; making use of the product more efficient and economical. Below you will read how this interaction with a Standards Engineering Manager of a Colorado Power Utility leads to important feedback for field application of the InstaGrout Sealant Barrier. The engineer took photos and submitted this report to local agent Donna Sus of EAC/TSC, "I think you probably remember the beginning of our InstaGrout trial when we discovered bare chicken bones and rat droppings in the primary side of a transformer that supports Buffalo Wild Wings in Fort Collins. One primary concern stemming from this discovery is Hanta virus exposures for our utility workers. Rodents may also cause outages by dragging nesting materials into the transformer or they may chew on cables, elbows, and other energized components in the transformer termination compartments. "Thanks to EAC and Polywater, we performed a trial installation of the product that may help discourage rodents from getting into transformers. The expanding-foam product first spread out, then increased in volume to help fill crevices. While the amount of product that we applied didn't completely cover the bottom of the window, it looked as though it may very well have covered the entire area if the application method allowed for more uniformity. The use of the bucket as an application medium does have some associated risk related to clearances in the secondary and primary compartments of the transformer, so I think a change in method might help not only uniformity, but safety of application for large three-phase transformers such as this one. Our experience during installation was that, although the product certainly does spread out prior to expanding, the application method didn't allow for a very uniform application in the window of the transformer pad. "A thought from our Senior EE in Standards was that an applicator where the mixed product could be squeezed out of a bag through a flexible applicator tube seemed like a very good idea to me, so I pass it along. If the product could be mixed in and dispensed from a zip lock bag similar to those used in vacuum storage bag applications, it might work fairly well. As far as longevity and effectiveness goes, a visit to the site was in order to review performance. Inspection of the transformer later revealed that the installation of the InstaGrout did indeed discourage further rodent problems in the transformer. We appreciate your help and patience during this trial installation and hope that this information will prove useful to you." |
