In the early 1970's Dave Olson was searching for a better, more efficient and economical way to move difficult-to-handle solid materials.

Mechanical conveying systems and augers were inefficient, inflexible, hazardous and required high horsepower and frequent maintenance. Air pressure systems were expensive, fragile, complex, costly to operate and had to meet rigid safety regulations. They were also limited to well-mixed slurries that require low pumping pressure.

Pumping addressed some of the deficiencies of conveyors, augers and air pressure systems. However, ordinary pumps have difficulty accepting large solids and are more likely to plug up and cavitate. Their complex construction often results in high maintenance costs and their close tolerances make them susceptible to the abrasive action of the material being pumped.

The ideal, Olson believed, was a pump which could readily accept a variety of large, solid, unprocessed material and efficiently apply the pressure required to move it through a pipe. It would also have to survive the harsh interaction of abrasive material with the chamber wall, and the piston, or impeller.

After extensive research and trial-and-error prototypes, Olson discovered that a V-shaped piston moving within a triangular pumping chamber achieved an unusually high volume of material per piston stroke. The wide mouth created a very high ratio of intake opening size to chamber volume, which provided a fast, unrestricted flow of large, solid material from the hopper to the chamber.

The wide "bite" of the V-shaped piston proved to be extremely effective in capturing the loose material in the charging chamber and moving it to a pressurized condition and into the pipe. Furthermore, the backstroke plowing action of the piston agitated the remaining material and facilitated the feed into the charging chamber for the next stroke. It was also apparent that designing the shape of the hopper for a I specific material was critical in order to achieve flow into the chamber.

Plowing action of the piston on the backstroke
facilitates the flow of material into the pumping chamber.