AlpAccessʹs technical department that is responsible for the protective coatings services has just completed another major project that validates the involvement of our employees, the knowledge level, the experience of our inspectors certified in surface treatment, as well as the company’s available resources to achieve similar projects.
The services provided by AlpAccess include project management, surface preparation, protective coating application, quality control and quality assurance.
Next, the stages of the project management are described, starting with the research and design of the project initiation documents and following with the project planning, execution and monitoring of the protective coating system application for the industrial tank.
The innovative protective coating system provided by Akzo Nobel (International Paint) was applied on an industrial tank with the following specifications:
- Protected Tank parts: inner base and part of the shell, roof
- Metal: carbon steel
- Tank volume: 50.000 m3
1. Technical expertise
Our solutions for protective coatings approved by the beneficiary of the project were recommended based on the technical expertise performed prior to the project initiation phase, in order to establish the technical objectives and to plan the work execution procedure.
The technical expertise was performed based on:
- The characteristics of the structure - volume, alloy, shape of the structure, degree of degradation caused by the corrosion, type of fluid stored in the tank, accessibility / location;
- The atmospheric parameters: surface temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, paint temperature, dew point temperature, weather predictability;
- The environmental impact;
- The Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
2. Execution plan - Site mobilization
In order to ensure production performance of the technological flow, the time requirements were established, the necessary resources were forecast and all the industrial machines, tools and equipment were assigned for this project.
In order to observe the execution times, scenarios that included the influence of the external factors (for example the atmospheric parameters) on the activities were taken into consideration. Solutions for additional mobilization of resources were also defined.
The project was finalized in 7 weeks, as follows:
- 1 week Site organization
- 3 weeks External protective coatings system application - roof
- 3 weeks Internal protective coatings system application - inner base and part of the shell
3. Project execution – Protective coatings
After the training period of the entire team involved in this project, the site layout and organization started, in order to apply the operational procedure approved by the beneficiary.
The site efficiency was ensured by allocating a dedicated team of SSPC TrainTheTrainer certified sandblasters and painters and a FROSIO level 3 certified inspector.
The internal procedure describes the method in which the protective coatings system is applied for each stage and the parameters used under certain conditions by AlpAccess industrial painters in accordance with the international industry standards.
3.1 Steel Preparation
- The substrate was inspected checking the welded areas, corners and edges.
- The surface was decontaminated and tested for soluble salts and oil/grease contamination according to the ISO8502.
3.2 Surfaces preparation – Abrasive Blasting
- The blasting was conducted with GRIT (sharp), tested for contamination before being used.
- The compressed air supply was tested for contamination with oil and water in accordance with ASTM D 4285 standard.
- AlpAccess sandblasters made sure that the degree of cleanliness is Sa 2½, in accordance with ISO 8501-1 or SSPC – SP 10standards.
- The roughness evaluation was performed using the GRIT comparator, the digital surface profile gauge and Testex Pres-O-film bands, according to ISO 8503.
- After blasting, the surface was retested for soluble salt contamination and the used abrasive was removed.
- The dust was removed and the surface was retested for contamination, according to ISO 8502-3 standard.
- The abrasive blasting procedure was performed using 4 working stations.
3.3 Preparation of the paint components
The mixing of the paint components was done according to the product datasheets, using only full kits (Component A + component B), except stripe coating, where the weight ratio recommended in the product datasheet was used.
3.4 Protective coating application
External paint system
- Primer - Interzinc 52, Zinc rich epoxy primer for corrosion protection.
- Intermediate - Intergard 475 HS, high build epoxy, to ensure the thickness of the system.
- Top coat - Interthane 990 polyurethane for UV protection.
- Final Inspection.
Paint application was conducted in two stages for each layer:
- Stripe Coat on the corners, edges, welds.
- Full layer – using Airless spray painting method.
Internal paint system
- Stripe coat, Lining, TopCoat - Interline 984c, 100% solids, novolac-epoxy, graphite-based conductive paint.
- Final Inspection.
4. Monitoring the activity and the results
The Site Manager was responsible of tracking and monitoring the performance of the project, assuring the plan terms have been executed accordingly and the schedule requirements have been met, by managing the available resources in order to optimize the technological flow.
Quality performance evaluation done by AlpAccess inspectors who are certified by FROSIO, NACE and SSPC, level 3, was performed based on the assessment made between the project phases.
The Health and safety inspectors evaluated and analyzed the work environment and selected the risk scenarios for each team member. Preventive measures were taken during the entire execution period in order to achieve safe project closure.
5. Project completion
The tests measurements required and mentioned in the work procedure of the project were recorded in the interim inspection reports. The purpose of the final inspection was to confirm that the quality objectives meet all parameters and specifications of the project.
