The technologies provide custom solutions for corrosion control needs.
As a leading coatings solution provider, our commitment encourages us to stay on top of the latest advancements in the coating industry, including quality surface preparation for interiors and exteriors. Like robotic blast systems, we provide protection from corrosion that withstands a wide array of hazardous chemicals.
This article discusses robotic blast systems, their applications, and their advantages. We also dive a little deeper into surface prep before a coating application. Quality surface prep and application methods play a central role between the coating and substrate and offer resistance to the elements.
Free Guide: Find the Right Lining for your Industrial Application
This guide will help you make the right lining choice so you can be confident that your asset is protected and exceed its expected lifetime.
Applications for Robotic Blast Systems
Automated robots are primarily used in mass manufacturing settings, such as railcar, steel fabrication, and automotive industries. They are also excellent solutions for aerospace, high technology, military, and industrial manufacturing markets.
Watch the Blastman robot in action as it cleans a freight car. The solution can grit blast different types of rail cars inside and outside.
source: Blastman Robotics Ltd, Automatic blast cleaning robot - Robot blasting freight cars, via YouTube
Rail tank cars/freight cars are a critical part of establishing a secure global transportation mode bringing vital products to the market.
Regarding the transportation industry, we understand the need for impermeable barriers in tank cars and value-added coatings to protect your assets and safely store and transport your aggressive chemicals.
Advantages of Automated Blast Cleaning
The advantages of automated blast cleaning can range from quality, efficiency, reliability, flexibility, and safety. The technology offers solutions for surface preparation.
Here are some of the top benefits:
- Desired surface cleanliness and roughness
- Consistent surface quality (no human error)
- Slight surface shaping by controlling the blast pressure
- Efficiency and high precision
- Engineered for harsh environment
- Considerable savings in production costs
- Increased production capacity
- Exceptional health and safety implications (safer job site)
Robotic abrasive blasting is one of the best ways to keep workers safe while achieving optimal productivity and quality. The robots can be operated from outside the blast area.
This prevents a confined space entry which in recent years has garnered much attention. Confined spaces have limited or restricted means for entry or exit and are not designed for continuous occupancy. Examples of an enclosed space include tank containers, road tank trailers, tank railcars, and maritime cargo tanks.
In addition, eye injuries, one of the highest occurring blasting injuries, are dramatically reduced. As well as the limited exposure to any hazardous materials.
SpongeJet, a leader in clean, dry, low dust abrasive blasting, says,
Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) are the legal limits, as defined by OSHA, for the degree to which workers may be exposed to chemicals (and other hazards, such as noise) without suffering harm. “Because robots are operated remotely, workers are not exposed to harmful contaminants while blasting." (source)
As we look for ways to increase worker safety, robotic blasting is becoming more widespread. It serves a wide variety of industries, including marine and industrial.
In the next section, we discuss the importance of surface preparation to meet your needs.
Effective Surface Preparation and Selecting Coatings to Meet Surface Needs
Without proper surface prep, a coating will not adhere properly to the substrate. It is essential for treating steel and like substrates before they are coated or lined. Coating performance is dependent on adequate surface preparation and application.
Adhesion of the coating is extensively promoted by having a suitable surface (anchor) profile, and
this is usually achieved through different forms of blasting on metal surfaces. Just as important
as having the correct surface profile, but often overlooked, are sharp edges and corners, which,
if not properly rounded, can cause the coating to delaminate. All weld seams should also be ground
smooth as per NACE1/SSPC-SP-6.
Coatings Pro Magazine adds,
The most commonly accepted standards for contractors and organizations are the NACE International/Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) Joint Surface Preparation Standards. These standards do an excellent job of standardizing surface prep results and providing a template to meet job specifications.
More on the standards can be found in the resource section below.
Experience has proven that a coating system applied over a properly cleaned surface will increase the adhesion and decrease surface contamination.
Abrasion blasting can provide the best foundation for a coating system that will deliver a longer service life.
Conclusion
Understanding your project requirements will go a long way in helping to select the right coating material. Understanding the preparation required before a coating is invaluable and will save you from premature failures and having to recoat the entire project.
APC has decades of experience helping customers choose the suitable coating, guiding them through the process, and providing personnel on-site to ensure that everything goes right.
Get a quote today to see if our ChemLINE® polymer coating can fit your asset’s needs.
Or you can talk to a coatings expert today to learn more about how our proprietary technology in our line of industrial coatings can help you optimize your asset use, reduce downtime, and prevent corrosion.
