Hammelmann’s 19-person West Carrollton operation at 600 Progress Road has dispatched maintenance personnel across the United States, Canada and Mexico during the past years. The company supports more than 400 pumps on offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil industry now accounts for the biggest share of Hammelmann’s U.S. business, about 30 percent, ahead of the auto industry, Mike Goecke, general manager of the West Carrollton operation, said Monday.
One of the most recent calls for help came from a customer in Nigeria, company officials said. If maintenance problems can’t be diagnosed and resolved by telephone, a service specialist is sent to wherever the customer is.
Hammelmann pumps come in various configurations and strengths, up to 1,000-horsepower units. In some cases, they are used to pump water at high pressure — up to more than 58,000 pounds per square inch, if needed — to blast slag off freshly rolled steel; remove nonskid surfacing from aircraft carrier decks or old concrete from highway bridge decks; or cut through walls at nuclear plant buildings.
At oil platforms in the Gulf, the pumps are used to force methanol or similar substances down hundreds or thousands of feet in order to prevent freezing within oil wells.
This year’s explosion and oil spill at a BP oil platform in the Gulf prompted a spurt of business as companies there stepped up safety examinations, said Rob Schock, a Hammelmann engineering specialist in West Carrollton.
Employees at the local operation order the pumps from the parent company’s location in Germany, then adapt and support them locally for a customer’s specific needs before shipping, said Chris Harris, shop supervisor.
Hammelmann is hoping to develop a new market in supplying equipment for pumping chemicals at specialty chemical companies, Goecke said.
The foreign-owned, closely held company doesn’t publicly report earnings or profits in this country, but it is on track to have its best year since its 1987 start in the Dayton area, Goecke said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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