As industrial tank cleaning is one of the services we offer here at Hydroblast, we were recently contacted by a company who wanted to clean inside their large vertical storage tank.
The storage tank had no internal paddles or mixer blades, and the product stored inside the tank was molasses. The tank was due for a routine inspection; in the past, the client has had to install internal scaffolding which is both time-consuming and expensive. The problem of this method was made bigger due to all of the scaffolding having to be passed through a small man way at the bottom of the tank, meaning that lighting had to be installed alongside ventilation and gas monitors for men to be able to work inside (see picture below).
Previously, the client had to spend time erecting scaffolding (3-4 days to erect, 3-4 days to dismantle) and men had to climb up inside the tank. Men also had to work in confined space regulations to conventionally pressure wash the sides, which took five men over five days (equating to 25 man days), which all added up to a big cost.
Hydroblast’s Alternative Time Saving and Efficient
At Hydroblast, we were able to offer a quicker, safer and more efficient method to the tank clean. We were able to access the tank using the top man lids, sending our equipment down into the tank. This no-man entry tank cleaning method is much safer as no worker needs to go into the tank to carry out the work. Instead, the water jetting equipment does all of the work whilst operatives are safely outside of the tank. There are many benefits of tank cleaning with water jets, which the client recognised to be advantageous to the cleaning of their storage tank.
Our water jetting equipment was delivered to site in the 700 horse power, 1000 bar, 260 litres/minute roll on roll off shipping container, and was winched up the 20 metre storage tank and assembled on the roof.
Two 900mm arms were connected to our 3D tank cleaning nozzle. The nozzle, complete with arms, was then carefully lowered into the tank. The gimbal positioning tool was fixed to allow for nozzle positioning and manipulation inside the tank.
After set up, the power pack was set to run for two days, some 10 hours of jetting, which resulted in a clean and spotless tank.
The method of industrial tank cleaning meant less hours, less time, less cost, and most of all, a much safer method.
If you are looking for a solution to storage tank maintenance and require our tank cleaning service, please get in touch and we will be happy to supply you with more information.